Except where specifically defined herein, all words used in
this chapter shall carry their customary meanings. Words used in the
present tense shall include the future tense, and the plural includes
the singular, unless the natural construction of the term indicates
otherwise.
A.Â
The term "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership,
trust, company, corporation, individual, or any other entity.
B.Â
The term "shall" is mandatory and directory.
C.Â
The term "may" is permissive.
D.Â
The term "used" includes the terms "designated, intended or arranged
to be used."
E.Â
The term "lot" includes the words "plot" and "parcel."
F.Â
The term "buildings" includes the word "structure."
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and terms
shall be defined as:
A building or use which is customarily incidental and subordinate
to the principal building or use in extent, area, and purpose and
located on the same lot with the principal building or use.
An establishment having, as a significant portion of its
stock-in-trade, books, films, magazines and other periodicals which
are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or
describing sexual conduct or specified anatomical areas.
The provision of temporary or long-term residential care
and services to adults who, though not requiring continual medical
or nursing care as provided by facilities licensed or operated pursuant
to Article 28 of the Public Health Law or Articles 19, 23, 29 and
31 of the Mental Hygiene Law, are, by reason of physical or other
limitations associated with age, physical or mental disabilities or
other factors, unable or substantially unable to live independently.
A facility, other than a family-type home, which provides
adult care. For the purposes of this chapter, an adult-care facility
shall include the following: adult home, enriched housing program,
residence for adults, shelter for adults, public home and private
proprietary adult-care facility, as defined by New York State Department
of Social Services Chapter II, Subchapter D, Part 485.
A commercial establishment that permits or allows dancers
to display or expose specified anatomical areas. Any establishment
on whose premises an employee, who need not be the same employee,
displays or exposes specified anatomical areas on more than one day
in a thirty-day period shall be deemed an "adult dancing establishment"
under this chapter.
An enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished
or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or describing sexual
conduct or specified anatomical areas.
Any activity or business which provides entertainment services
or materials to customers with an emphasis on matter depicting or
relating to sexual activities or specific anatomical areas or which
customarily excludes minors by reason of age. Adult uses include:
X-rated video stores and bookstores, live or video peep shows, topless
or fully nude dancing establishments, combination X-rated video/book
stores, nonmedical massage parlors, hourly motels, swingers clubs,
X-rated movie theaters, escort service clubs, or any combination or
variation thereof.
Any business which is designed to directly support or is
engaged in the production operations of an agricultural operation,
the manufacture or distribution of farm equipment and supplies, or
the processing, storage, and distribution of farm commodities. Agri-businesses
may include: farm markets, agri-tourism, and direct marketing businesses
associated with agriculture.
Land used principally as a bona fide agricultural operation
by the owner or tenant; the use of land for agricultural purposes,
including farming, silviculture, viticulture, fish culture, animal
and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for packing,
treating, or storing the produce, provided that the operation of the
accessory use is clearly incidental to the agricultural activity;
the business of garbage feeding of hogs, fur farms, or the raising
of animals for use in medical or other tests or experiments is excluded.
Commercial logging and timber harvesting are also excluded.
A tract of land that is maintained for the landing and departure
of aircraft, together with facilities to shelter, repair and supply
aircraft.
Narrow supplementary thoroughfare for the public use of vehicles
or pedestrians, affording access to abutting property.
Any change, rearrangement or addition to or deletion from
a building other than repairs and modification in building equipment
systems (i.e., heating, cooling, electrical, etc.).
Any mechanical, electric or electronic device used or designated
to be operated for entertainment or as a game by the insertion of
a coin, slug, token, plate, disc, key or any other article into any
slot, crevice or other opening or by paying money to have it activated.
Not included are rides, bowling alleys, any devices maintained within
a residence for use of occupants thereof and their guests, any gambling
devices or jukeboxes.
A facility that provides medical care to animals which is
run by a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). Animals may be kept
in the facility during the recovery period or while under medical
treatment. Animal hospitals may include boarding of animals.
The use of land and such accessory uses incidental to the
raising of domestic animals. Domestic animals include but are not
limited to: cattle, horses, rabbits, goats, sheep, swine and poultry.
A dog kennel, stable and similar uses oriented to the care
of animals, whether commercial, nonprofit or private, not including
agricultural uses such as dairy or beef cattle farms.
A system of electrical conductors that transmit or receive
frequency signals. Such signals shall include but not be limited to
radio, television, cellular, paging, digital and/or data communications,
personal wireless communications services (PWS) and microwave communications.
This definition excludes short wave or ham radio equipment used for
personal communication.
An antenna that is attached to an existing communications
tower, smokestack, water tower or other existing structure and that
is less than 15 feet higher than the existing structure on which it
is mounted.
An antenna that is not mounted on an existing structure or
is located 15 feet higher than the existing structure on which it
is mounted.
Includes areas duly designated as Wellhead Protection Zone
(Z1), Aquifer Recharge Zone (Z2) and Watershed Zone (Z3) on the Village
or Town Aquifer Protection Map. The Aquifer Protection Map shall be
an overlay on the Zoning Map and the rules and regulations of the
Wellhead, Aquifer Recharge and Watershed Protection Zone shall apply
in addition to the requirements of this chapter.
A residential facility providing supervision, monitoring,
or assistance with the daily activities for more than 25 elderly or
disabled persons in a residential setting. Such facilities may include
a congregate dining room. Group homes and boardinghouses are not included
in this definition.
A mechanized consumer banking device operated by a financial
institution for the convenience of its customers, whether outside
or in an access-controlled facility. ATMs located within a building
shall be considered accessory to the principal use unless the ATM
is likely to be an independent traffic generator.
Any building, structure or land used for the repair and/or
maintenance of passenger vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, trailers,
or similar vehicles used for noncommercial purposes.
The sales or leasing of new or used automobiles, motorcycles,
trucks, and recreational vehicles, which includes storage and any
incidental maintenance.
Establishments used or intended for use of one or any combination
of the following activities:
Retail dispensing of motor vehicle fuels.
Retail selling and installing of liquids, coolants, or lubricants
where substantial disassembly is not required.
Engine tune-ups, body work, frame straightening, painting, electrical
work, transmission repair, or any other repair services not specifically
listed.
Vehicle dismantling for the resale of salvaged parts, including
tires, is not included in this definition. (See "junkyard.")
Establishments licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises
consumption.
A story, partly below ground level but having at least 1/2
of its height above ground level.
A plant for the manufacture or mixing of concrete, cement,
and concrete and cement products, including any apparatus and uses
incident to such manufacturing and mixing.
A residential dwelling used for providing overnight accommodations
and a morning meal to not more than 10 transient lodgers and containing
not more than five bedrooms for such lodgers (Ref: NYS Uniform Code).
A man-made earthen mound (usually from two to six feet in
height) designed to provide visual interest on a site, screen undesirable
views, reduce noise, or fulfill other such purposes.
A sign which directs attention to a business, industry, profession,
commodity, service, organization, activity, institution, product,
or entertainment neither sold, located nor offered upon the property
where the sign is situated.
Unsightly condition of a structure or lot, including, but
not limited to, broken windows, peeling paint, the accumulation of
debris, litter, rubbish, or rubble; fences characterized by holes,
breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling or rusting; landscaping
that is dead, characterized by uncontrolled growth or lack of maintenance,
or damaged; and any other similar conditions of disrepair and deterioration
regardless of the condition of other properties in the neighborhood.
The length of a street between two intersections.
A dwelling occupied by one nuclear family with four or more
boarders, lodgers or roomers, who are lodged with or without meals,
and in which there are provided such services as are incidental to
its use as a temporary residence for some of the occupants. A "rooming
house" is a "boardinghouse."
The United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation
Service.
Abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial
facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real
or perceived environmental contamination.
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls
and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals
or property.
The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main
finished grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings,
exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces and steps. All dimensions
shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.
Establishments which specialize in the retail sale of new
building and construction materials and related supplies; general
home repair and improvement materials and supplies are excluded. Establishments
in this category may have display equipment designed to handle lumber
and related products and supplies that may be kept either indoors
or outdoors in approved areas (Ref: 2002 NAICS United States Census).
The percentage of the lot area covered by the combined area
of the primary and accessory buildings. This definition excludes driveways,
swimming pools, decks, parking areas and parking lots and other impermeable
surfaces on such lot, excluding patios, terraces and pedestrian walkways.
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
The line of that face of the building nearest the street
line, or if there are street lines on two or more sides of the building,
it is the line of that face of the building frontage on that street
line where the principal entrance is located. This face includes covered
porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat or mansard roofs and to the average
height of pitched, gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
The duly designated Building Official of the Town of Union
or Villages of Johnson City or Endicott.
A permit issued by the Code Enforcement Officer or other
Building Official to enable the construction or alteration of a building
to begin. The permit shall only be issued after the proper documentation
and information have been submitted and necessary approvals have been
granted.
A building in which is conducted the principal or primary
use of the lot on which it is situated.
The size and shape of buildings and nonbuilding uses and
the physical relationship of their exterior walls to lot lines and
other buildings or walls and all open spaces required in connection
with a building. Bulk requirements include lot area, lot area per
dwelling unit, lot frontage, lot width, setbacks, yards, building
heights, spacing between buildings on a single lot, density and the
number of buildings in a row.
Includes furniture stores, major home appliance stores, carpet
and flooring stores, equipment rental, auction houses and similar
uses. It does not include vehicle sales or rental businesses.
A facility dedicated to the start-up and growth of small
businesses, accomplished through management and facility support systems.
For purposes of this definition, management support systems include
access to professional advice, information on small business regulations,
management, advertising, promotion, marketing, sales, inventory, employees,
labor relations, and financial counseling. Facility support systems
include clerical and reception staff, cleaning and building security,
and access to copy and facsimile machines, computers, faxes, and other
electronic equipment.
An area of land in which a collection of more than one nonindustrial
business is located.
A horticultural method of measuring the diameter of nursery
stock. For trees less than four inches in diameter, the measurement
should be taken at six inches above ground level. For trees greater
than four inches in diameter up to and including 12 inches, the caliper
measurement must be taken at 12 inches above the ground level. For
trees greater than 12 inches in diameter, the trunk is measured at
breast height (diameter at breast height or DBH), which is 4.5 feet
above the ground.
Any one or more of the following:
TYPE 1Any area of land or water on which are located two or more cabins, tents, trailers, recreational vehicles, shelters, or other accommodations of a design or character suitable for seasonal or temporary living purposes, regardless of whether such structures or other accommodations actually are occupied seasonally. This excludes mobile homes, manufactured homes, mobile home parks, and manufactured home communities.
TYPE 2Any land, including any building thereon, used for any assembly of persons for what is commonly known as "day camp" purposes, whether or not conducted for profit and whether occupied by adults or by children, either as individuals, families or groups.
Hospitals, places of detention or schools offering general instruction
are excluded from this definition.
The lot or space in any camp which may be assigned to, or
used and occupied by any one cabin, tent, trailer, recreational vehicle,
shelter, or other accommodation for transient or temporary living
purposes for overnight, weekend or seasonal camping.
An establishment for the consumption of cannabis in an area
licensed as provided for in the New York State Cannabis Law.
[Added 2-6-2023 by L.L. No. 1-2023]
An establishment to solicit or receive an order for, to keep
or expose for sale, and to keep with intent to sell, made by any licensed
person under the New York State Cannabis Law, whether principal, proprietor,
agent, or employee, of any cannabis, cannabis product, cannabinoid
hemp or hemp extract product to a cannabis consumer for any purpose
other than resale.
[Added 2-6-2023 by L.L. No. 1-2023]
An open-sided roofed automobile shelter, either freestanding
or formed by extension of a roof from the side of a building, in which
case it shall be deemed part of the structure to which it is attached.
In either case, a carport shall not be deemed a garage.
Any building or premises, or portion thereof, the use of
which is devoted to the business of washing automobiles for a fee,
whether by automated cleaning devices or otherwise.
Is an enclosed space having more than 1/2 of its height below
ground level.
Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the animal
or human dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including crematories,
mausoleums, crematorium, and columbaria.
A statement, signed by the Code Enforcement Officer or Building
Official, setting forth that a building, structure, or use complies
with all of the requirements of this chapter only and such adjustment
thereto granted by the Board of Appeals and/or the Planning Board.
A document issued by the Code Enforcement Officer or Building
Official allowing the occupancy or use of a building and certifying
that the structure or use has been constructed or will be used in
compliance with all the applicable municipal codes and ordinances.
A certificate issued by the Code Enforcement Officer or Building
Official upon the meeting of all requirements of this chapter, except
those elements of the site plan for which a performance bond has been
accepted by the Town Board. The temporary certificate of occupancy
shall not be issued for a period exceeding one year.
Facility intended as a gathering place for organized religious
worship and related activities.
Includes YMCA, YWCA, YMHA, fraternity, sorority, lodge, religious
and similar membership clubs which may have dormitory accommodation
on the premises.
A building or use catering exclusively to private club members
and their guests for recreational or athletic purposes, and not operated
primarily for gain or profit.
A development design technique that concentrates buildings
in specific areas on a site to allow remaining land to be used for
recreation, common open space, or the preservation of historically
or environmentally sensitive features. The design divides land into
not more than the number of lots permissible in a conventional subdivision
of the same property in the same zone, but where the size of individual
lots may be reduced in order to gain common open space.
The person officially designated by the Village Board of
Trustees or the Town Board that is responsible for the administration
and enforcement of this chapter.
An area unobstructed by buildings, but may include walks,
paths, landscaping or other site features in public or common ownership.
Recreation buildings may be included as part of common open space.
A meeting hall or place of assembly intended for use as a
gathering place by diverse members of the community.
A private or public facility for cultivation of fruits, flowers,
vegetables, or ornamental plants by more than one person or family.
A place, area, structure, or other facility owned or operated
by a governmental entity or certified nonprofit organization used
by persons in the community to carry out recreational activities including
outdoor and indoor facilities such as tennis courts, swimming pools,
soccer fields, etc.
A supervised community home, operated in compliance with
the New York State Mental Hygiene Law, which houses not more than
14 individuals and provides client supervision on a twenty-four-hour
basis. For the purposes of this chapter, an approved community residence
as defined herein is considered a one-family dwelling.
Having a pleasing or congruent arrangement of elements in the
design and/or appearance between two or more attributes of a structure;
Having a pleasing or congruent arrangement of elements in the
design and/or appearance between two or more structures;
Having a pleasing or congruent arrangement of elements in the
design and/or appearance between two or more attributes of a neighborhood;
or
Having a pleasing or congruent arrangement of elements in the
use or function between two or more attributes of a neighborhood or
area.
The ownership interest in dwelling units and other facilities
pursuant to Article 9-B of the Real Property Law of New York State.
A building or group of buildings providing a continuity of
residential occupancy and health care for elderly persons. Such facility
typically includes dwelling units for independent living, assisted
living facilities, plus a skilled nursing care facility of a suitable
size to provide treatment or care of elderly residents (55 years or
older). It may include ancillary facilities for service or care of
residents.
A plant with foliage that persists and remains green year-round.
Also known as "evergreen."
See "hospital."
The ownership interest in dwelling units and other facilities
by a corporation organized pursuant to the Cooperative Corporation
Law of New York State.
A business engaging in the reproduction of photographic impressions
through mimeographic, electrostatic, or thermal copy process, whether
wet or dry.
An unoccupied open space other than a yard. An "outer court"
is one which extends to the front, side or rear yards; an "inner court"
is any other court.
A stone or concrete boundary usually marking the edge of
a roadway or paved area.
The length of the opening along the road curb providing vehicular
ingress and/or egress between property and an abutting public street.
A facility providing custodial care and treatment in a protective
living environment for persons residing voluntarily or by court placement,
including, without limitation, correctional and post-correctional
facilities, juvenile detention facilities, and temporary detention
facilities.
Establishments or work space dedicated to artists, artisans,
musicians, dancers, or other individuals practicing one of the fine
or performing arts or skilled in an applied art or craft. Incidental
retail sales of work produced on the premises or related to the studio
may be included in the business's permitted function. This definition
excludes all adult-oriented uses.
The provision of care to individuals over the age of 18 for
periods less than 24 consecutive hours, but not including schools,
provided that such day care conforms to all applicable licensing and/or
registration requirements of New York State.
Any program or facility caring for children for more than
three hours per day per child in which child day-care is provided
by a licensed child day-care provider except those programs operating
as a group family day-care home, a family day-care home, and a school-age
child care program as defined by § 390.1 of the Social Services
Law of the State of New York (Ref: New York State Social Services
Law).
A unit of measurement of the intensity (loudness) of sound.
Sound level meters which are employed to measure intensity of sound
are calibrated in decibels.
A plant with foliage that is shed annually.
The comprehensive evaluation of a development and its impact
on neighboring properties and the community as a whole, from the standpoint
of site and landscape design, architecture, materials, colors, lighting,
and signs, in accordance with a set of adopted criteria and standards.
A set of guidelines regarding the architectural appearance
of a building, or improvement, that governs the alteration, construction,
demolition, or relocation of a building, or improvement.
An area that is designed to capture specific quantities of
stormwater and to gradually release the stormwater at a sufficiently
slow rate to avert flooding.
Any man-made changes to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations,
excluding normal maintenance of farm roads.
The required plans submitted to the Planning Board, provided
that approvals have been granted for preliminary plans and the change
of zone (which constitute the first two phases for a Planned Unit
Development or Mobile Home Park District).
A preliminary development plan shall include the following
information:
A plan for the improvement and development of single-family
attached residential, multifamily, commercial, office, industrial,
institutional, Planned Unit Development District and Mobile Home Park
District properties. The plan shall be submitted to and approval obtained
from the Planning Board prior to the issuance of a building permit.
Includes fraternity, sorority, nurses' home and dormitory.
A change in the zoning classification of land to a classification
permitting development that is less intensive or dense, such as from
multifamily to single-family or from commercial to industrial to residential.
A change in the opposite direction is called "upzoning."
An establishment, including outdoor theaters and restaurants,
where a patron generally does not enter the building but is served
or entertained in a motor vehicle.
A building or use, from which, by design of physical facilities,
a product is sold to or a service performed for customers while they
are in or near their motor vehicles, including but not limited to
fast-food restaurants, drive-up bank tellers, film-processing service
booths, etc.
Land used as access to and situated on the property or lot
by vehicular traffic.
Facilities which provide dropoff and pickup of garments and
other textile items for dry-cleaning services off-site. (Actual dry
cleaning services are not performed on site.) Dry cleaning outlets
do not include any coin-operated facilities.
Facilities which provide on-site specialty cleaning services
for specific garments and textile items, except carpets and upholstery.
A detached building designed or used exclusively as living
quarters for one or more persons or families; the term shall not be
deemed to include motel, hotel, boarding or rooming house, recreation
vehicle, tourist home or tent.
A building designed or used as living quarters by three or
more families living independently of each other; may include apartment
buildings, townhouses, or row houses.
A building designed or used as living quarters by one family.
A row of two or more adjoining dwelling units each on its
own lot and separated from each other by one or more party walls.
A building separated from lot lines and other buildings by
open space on all sides.
A building designed and used exclusively for occupancy for
two families living independently of each other and which is separated
from lot lines or other buildings by open space on all sides.
One room, or a group of rooms joined to each other and not
regularly locked in the interior, located in a dwelling, designed
and maintained as a unified living quarter, occupied by an individual
or a family, containing integrated facilities used for living, sleeping,
cooking, eating and sanitation.
Any authorization by a property owner for the use by another,
for a specified purpose, of any designated portion of a lot.
The projecting lower edges of a roof overhanging the wall
of a building.
Any public or private school or other organization conducting
a regularly scheduled curriculum of study and operated under the Education
Law of New York State.
Any building or group of buildings devoted to and supported
by charity.
Elevations above mean sea level of the flood levels which
have a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given
year, as defined on the Flood Insurance Rate Map.
The official form used by an agency, in compliance with SEQRA,
to assist it in determining the environmental significance or nonsignificance
of actions. An EAF may consist of the short or full EAF as detailed
in § 617.6 of the Environmental Conservation Law.
A person or business association who or which furnishes,
offers to furnish or advertises to furnish escorts as one of its primary
business purposes for a fee, tip or other consideration.
A tree, shrub, or plant having foliage that persists and
remains green throughout the year.
Reptiles, ferrets, snakes, tropical birds, turtles, and any
species of animal whose natural or usual habitat within the State
of New York is either in the wild or in a zoo but which is being housed
or sustained by a person.
Any number of individuals related by blood, marriage, operation
of law, or adoption, or any number of individuals not related by blood,
marriage or adoption living together and who meet the indicia for
a functional and factual family equivalent.
As defined in § 390(1)(e) of the Social Services
Law (SSL) as a program where day care is provided for three to six
children for more than three hours per day in a family home occupied
as a residence. The home may care for an additional one or two school-age
children if those children receive care primarily before or after
school.
Any parcel of land containing at least three acres which
is used for the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry
and dairy products. It includes necessary farm structures within the
prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. It excludes the
raising of fur-bearing animals, riding academies, livery or boarding
stables and dog kennels.
The seasonal selling or offering for sale at retail of homegrown
vegetables or produce, occurring in a predesignated area, where the
vendors are generally individuals who have raised the vegetables or
produce or have taken the same on consignment for retail sale.
A wood or vinyl fence, including any gates in said fence,
that is 80% or more opaque.
Any material that is not hazardous as defined in the Solid
Waste Disposal Act or the regulations of the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation Parts 370 through 374 and 376, such
as earth, clay, sand, gravel, and concrete that is placed, stored,
or dumped upon the surface of the ground resulting in an increase
in the natural surface elevation. "Fill" shall not include solid waste
as defined in Parts 360 and 364 of the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation Law, garbage (putrescible animal, vegetable
waste), refuse (putrescible and nonputrescible liquid or solid waste),
rubbish or debris (household or commercial trash), recyclable materials,
junk or junk vehicles, parts, explosives, pathological waste, or biological
waste.
The depositing of fill on land, whether submerged or not,
including nonhazardous earth, clay, sand, or gravel.
The sum of the horizontal area of the floors of a building
and its accessory buildings on the same lot, excluding unfinished
basement or cellar floor areas not devoted to habitable use, but including
the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces. All dimensions shall
be measured between interior faces of walls.
The floor area of rooms in a dwelling unit used for bedrooms,
living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens.
Facilities which transform and process livestock and agricultural
products into products for eventual consumption and package the processed
goods for distribution to wholesalers or retailers.
A biological community dominated by trees and other woody
plants covering a land area of one acre or more. This also includes
forests that have been cut but not cleared. In other areas, a biological
community dominated by trees and other woody plants covering a land
area of 10,000 square feet or greater. Forest includes:
The use of land for the raising and harvesting of timber,
pulp woods, and other forestry products for commercial purposes, including
the temporary operation of a sawmill and/or chipper to process the
timber cut from that parcel or contiguous parcels. Excluded from this
definition shall be the cutting of timber associated with land development
approved by the Town, which shall be considered accessory to the development
of the property.
The extent of a building or a lot along one public street
as defined herein.
Forty-two inches below the final grade surface of the ground.
A group of unrelated individuals living together and functioning
together as a traditional family. In determining whether or not a
group of unrelated individuals comprise a functional and factual family
equivalent, the Zoning Board of Appeals may consider the following
factors:
Whether the occupants share the entire dwelling unit or act
as separate roomers.
Whether the household has stability akin to a permanent family
structure. The criteria used to determine this test may include the
following:
Length of stay together among the occupants in the current dwelling
unit or other dwelling units.
The presence of minor dependent children regularly residing
in the household.
The presence of one individual acting as head of the household.
Proof of sharing expenses for food, rent or ownership costs,
utilities and other household expenses.
Common ownership of furniture and appliances among the members
of the household.
Whether the household is a temporary living arrangement or a
framework for transient living.
Whether the composition of the household changes from year to
year.
Any other factor reasonably related to whether or not the group
of persons is the functional equivalent of a family.
A building used for the preparation of the deceased for cremation
or burial and the display of the deceased and ceremonies connected
therewith before burial or cremation.
A building or place containing five or more amusement games
as defined herein. (See "amusement.")
A garage having a common wall or a portion thereof with a
principal residential building and used for the storage of motor vehicles,
boats or trailers and in which no home occupation, business or service
for profit is maintained.
An enclosed space for the storage of motor vehicles, provided
that no business, occupation or service is conducted for profit therein.
A building used as an accessory use to a principal residential
building for the storage of motor vehicles, boats or trailers and
in which no home occupation, business or service for profit is maintained.
Any building, other than a private garage, which is available
to the public, operated for gain and used for storage of automobiles.
A sale of used household or personal articles (as furniture,
tools, or clothing) held on the seller's own premises.
A public or private recreation establishment having no fewer
than nine holes; each improved with tees, greens, fairways, and hazards
for playing the game of golf. Miniature golf and driving ranges are
excluded.
The completed surface of grounds, lawns, walks, paved areas
and roads brought to grade as shown on plans and designed related
thereto in existence at the time the certificate of occupancy is issued.
An enclosed structure, typically constructed of glass or
plastic, in which agricultural or horticultural stock is grown in
climate-controlled conditions and protected from outside elements.
A building used to house people with health problems. Such
facility shall be under the direction and supervision of trained medical
or mental health professionals.
As defined in § 390(1)(d) of the Social Services
Law (SSL) as a program in which day care is provided in a family home
occupied as a residence for seven to 10 children, including not more
than four children under two years of age, or up to 12 children where
all of the children in care are over two years of age. Care may also
be provided for up to two additional school-age children outside of
school hours.
A facility where one or more residents are:
An establishment in which members use health and fitness
facilities and equipment, and includes any outdoor equipment or facilities
owned by the establishment.
An area of land used exclusively for the takeoff and landing
of helicopters. A helicopter is an aircraft whose support in the air
is chiefly derived from the aerodynamic forces acting upon one or
more rotors turning on vertical axis.
Includes areas duly designated within definable geographic
boundaries as an Historic District by the Historic District Commission
which may have within its boundaries properties or structures that,
while not of such specific historic and/or architectural significance,
nevertheless contribute to the overall visual characteristics of the
Historic District. The Historic District shall be an overlay on the
Zoning Map and the rules and regulations of the Historic District
shall apply in addition to the requirements of this chapter.
An occupation or profession of a service character conducted
within a dwelling by a member of the residing family, which is clearly
secondary to the dwelling use for living purposes and does not change
the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary
use.
The ownership of dwelling units, common elements and other
facilities by an association organized pursuant to the laws of New
York State.
Any land or structures, including greenhouses, used for the
commercial production, sale, or research of vegetative products.
Any facility, structure or place for diagnosis and treatment
of human illnesses, injuries or ailments. This includes a sanitarium,
clinic, rest home, nursing home, convalescent home, home for the aged.
A building containing rooms which are used, rented or hired
out to be occupied for sleeping purposes and where a general kitchen
and dining room may be provided within the building or in an accessory
building.
Any number of persons living together who meet the indicia
for a functional equivalent of a traditional family.
Small, domesticated animals or fish kept for pleasure and
not for utility or commercial purposes. Pets include animals such
as, but not limited to, dogs, cats, hamsters, nonvenomous snakes,
fish and nonfowl birds (not raised for meat or eggs).
A residential complex containing multifamily units which
is designed for the needs of the elderly and which is subject to the
management or other legal restrictions that require that the project
shall be occupied by households wherein at least one person is 55
years or over. Such facilities may include a congregate dining room.
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used
or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied or which are
occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and where only a single kitchen
and dining room are provided within the buildings or in an accessory
building. (See "lodging.")
A large-scale business activity that specializes in a specific
aspect of agriculture or farming and uses specialized equipment or
buildings to process farm products for their delivery to market. The
raising of livestock or processing of agricultural products grown
on the premises may be subordinate to such use.
A collection of sites for the location of various industries
which may or may not be related to one another.
A facility that provides a public service and is operated
by a federal, state, or local government, public or private utility,
school, church or similarly recognized and legally established sect,
public agency, tax exempt organization, or quasi-public organization.
Old, discarded or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries,
paper, trash, rubber, waste or junked, scrapped, ruined, dismantled
or wrecked motor vehicles or parts thereof, iron, steel and other
old, discarded or scrap ferrous or nonferrous material, tires, lumber,
pallets and other wood debris.
A lot, land or structure or part thereof used for the collecting,
storage or sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal or discarded material,
or for collecting, wrecking, dismantling, storage, salvaging or sale
of machinery parts or vehicles not in running condition.
An establishment for boarding, breeding, grooming, training
for a fee, or selling household pets, domestic animals or exotic animals
other than personal pets of the property owner or lessee.
The raising or keeping of five or more household pets.
A disposal facility or part of one at which solid waste,
or its residue after treatment, is intentionally placed in or on land,
at which solid waste will remain after closure, and which is not a
landspreading facility, a surface impoundment, or an injection well.
All accumulations of grass or shrubbery cuttings, leaves,
tree limbs, and other materials accumulated as the result of the care
of lawns, shrubbery, vines, and trees.
A business premises equipped with individual clothes-washing
machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive of laundry facilities
provided as an accessory use in an apartment house or an apartment
hotel.
A building or site that is classified as meeting certain
building and construction standards set forth by the United States
Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED).
Any domestic animal, such as cattle, horses, donkeys, mules,
burros, sheep, hogs or goats of greater than three months' age.
An off-street space not less than 12 feet wide and 35 feet
long with an overhead clearance of at least 15 feet, exclusive of
passageways, driveways, ramps, columns and other areas, and which
is used for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading
or unloading merchandise or materials.
A single building or group of buildings containing guest
rooms or apartments, with parking space for such rooms or apartments,
which is primarily designed for the accommodation of transient travelers
and does not contain individual cooking facilities. Lodging facilities
may also provide additional services to guests, such as food and beverages,
limited recreational facilities, conference rooms, and laundry. Hotels
and motels are considered lodging.
Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory
buildings, together with such open spaces as are required, having
not less than the minimum area, width and depth required for a lot
in the district in which such land is situated and having frontage
on a street or other means of access as may be determined by the Planning
Board to be adequate as a condition of the issuance of a building
permit for a building on such land.
The total horizontal area within the property lines, excluding
any part lying within the boundaries of a public street or proposed
public street.
In the performance standard bulk requirements, the average
size of all lots of the same use in the same development.
A lot located at the junction of and fronting on two or more
intersecting streets.
A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at the
intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curved street
shall be considered a corner lot if the tangents to the curve at the
points of intersection of the side lot lines intersect at an interior
angle of less than 135°.
The mean horizontal distance from the street line of the
lot to its opposite rear line measured at right angles to the building
front line in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.
The distance measured across the width of the lot at the
building front line or the proposed building front line.
In the case of a lot abutting upon only one street, the line
separating the lot from the street right-of-way; in the case of a
lot abutting more than one street, each street line shall be considered
a front lot line.
The lot line which is generally opposite the front lot line.
If the rear lot line is less than 10 feet in length, or if the lot
comes to a point at the rear, the rear lot line shall be deemed to
be a line parallel to the front line, not less than 10 feet long,
lying wholly within the lot and farthest from the front lot line.
The property lines bounding a lot.
The property line or lines extending from the front lot line
to the rear lot line.
Any lot which has been established as such by plat, survey
or deed prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance from which
this chapter is derived and as shown on the records of the County
Clerk.
The total area within the property lines, excluding any portion
lying within the boundaries of a public street or future street right-of-way.
The mean horizontal distance between the side lot lines,
measured at right angles to the lot depth.
A factory-manufactured dwelling unit built on or after June
15, 1976, and conforming to the requirements of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Manufactured Home Construction
and Safety Standards, 24 CFR Part 3208, 4-1-1993, transportable in
one or more sections, which in traveling mode, is eight feet or more
in width or 40 feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is
320 square feet minimum, constructed on a permanent chassis and designed
to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to
the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, cooling,
and electrical systems therein. The term "manufactured home" shall
not include any self-propelled recreational vehicle. Manufactured
homes shall also include single-wide manufactured homes as a part
of this definition.
A manufactured home consisting of two sections, combined
at the site, with a combined width of no less than 20 feet, while
still retaining their individual chassis for possible future movement
and complying with the federal requirements specified in the "manufactured
home" definition. This definition does not include modular homes.
Any lot, piece, or parcel of ground whereon more than two
mobile/manufactured homes are placed, or are designed for such placement,
and whether a charge is or is not made for such use (may also be referred
to as a "mobile home park").
Any factory, shop, yard warehouse, mill or other nonresidential
premises utilized in whole or in part for the processing, preparation,
production, containerizing, storage or distribution of goods, wares,
commodities, parts, materials, electricity and the like. The processing,
preparation and production activities customarily deal with man-made
or raw materials and other manufactured items which are altered, restored
or improved by the utilization of biological, chemical or physical
actions, tools, instruments, machines or other such similar natural,
scientific or technological means. "Manufacturing" shall not include
the handling of any waste products and materials. Manufacturing processes
and treatments include but are not limited to such operations as mixing,
crushing, cutting, grinding and polishing; casting, molding and stamping;
alloying and refining; assaying, cleaning, coating and printing; and
assembling and finishing. Recycling shall not be considered a form
of manufacturing.
[Amended 2-1-2021 by L.L. No. 1-2021]
Any permanent roof-like structure projecting beyond a building
or extending along and projecting beyond the wall of the building
generally designed and constructed to provide protection from the
weather.
A site or premises or portion thereof upon which any person
who is an employee manipulates the superficial tissues of the body
of another person with any portion of the hand, foot, leg, arm or
elbow, but not including the following: licensed massage therapists,
licensed health care facilities, licensed physicians, chiropractors,
physical therapists or nurses engaged in the practice of their professions
or educational athletic facilities, if the massage is a normal and
usual practice in such facilities.
Includes medical, dental and clinical outpatient offices
for the diagnosis and treatment of human ailments.
A development or redevelopment that allows for more dense
development in a single building or on a single lot and includes a
mixture of uses including, but not limited to, two or more of the
following: residential, commercial and industrial.
A factory-manufactured dwelling unit built prior to June
15, 1976, with or without a label certifying compliance with NFPA,
ANSI, or a specific state standard, transportable in one or more sections,
which in the traveling mode, is eight feet or more in width or 40
feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 square feet
minimum, constructed on a permanent chassis and designed to be used
with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required
utilities and includes the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical systems
therein. The term "mobile home" shall not include travel trailers
or any self-propelled recreational vehicle.
A parcel of land which has been planned and improved for
the placement of mobile or manufactured homes for nontransient use
or a group of individually owned lots that were developed as a single
development project.
The lot or space in any manufactured home community or mobile
home park which shall be assigned to, or used and occupied by any
one mobile/manufactured home.
A parcel of land under single ownership in which a single
lot or lots are developed and eventually sold by the landowner to
persons for the placement of a mobile home.
A factory-manufactured dwelling unit, conforming to applicable
provisions of the NYS Uniform Code and bearing insignia of approval
issued by the State Fire Prevention and Code Council, which is constructed
by a method or system of construction whereby the structure or its
components are wholly or in substantial part manufactured in a manufacturing
facility, intended or designed for permanent installation, or assembly
and permanent installation.
A single, self-supporting pole-type structure, tapering from
base to top and supporting a fixture designed to hold one or more
antennas.
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used
or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied or which are
occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and where only a general
kitchen and dining room may be provided within the building or in
an accessory building. (See also "lodging.")
Any device in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported upon a public street or highway except such
as are operated exclusively by human power.
An open parking facility which is not accessory to a building
or use on the same or another lot.
Any building or structure used for repair and servicing of
motor vehicles for profit or as part of a commercial operation.
Administrative, clerical, or public offices or buildings
of a government agency (local, county, state, or federal), including
postal facilities, together with incidental storage or accessory uses/buildings.
Any building, land or part thereof, existing at the effective
date of this chapter, which does not meet the bulk requirements for
the use and for the district in which it is located.
A building or structure that does not conform to the regulations
of the district in which it is located upon the effective date of
this chapter.
An established use of a building or structure or of land
existing at the effective date of this chapter which does not conform
to the use requirements of the district in which it is located.
All uses of land and buildings except one-family dwellings,
two-family dwellings and multiple-family dwellings.
Any place in which the primary purpose is to allow a person
who appears in a state of nudity or who displays specified anatomical
areas to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed
or similarly depicted by other persons who pay money or any form of
consideration. Nude model studios shall be distinguished from model
studios where nude modeling is an incidental function.
An enterprise that conducts the retail and/or wholesale sale
of plants that may have been grown on the premises, as well as prepackaged
accessory items (but not power equipment, such as gas or electric
lawn mowers and farm implements) directly related to their care and
maintenance.
A residential facility established for profit or nonprofit,
which provides nursing care and related medical services on a twenty-four-hours-per-day
basis to individuals due to illness, disease or physical or mental
infirmity. This does not include hospitals, clinics, or facilities
providing surgical or emergency medical services, drug addiction,
alcoholism, or mental health services.
The New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code,
which shall include all subunits (Residential Code, Building Code,
Plumbing Code, Mechanical Code, Fuel Gas Code, Fire Code, Energy Code,
and Property Maintenance Code) as currently in effect and as hereafter
amended from time to time. The Uniform Code shall also be referred
to as the "NYS Uniform Code."
Firms or organizations providing professional, executive,
management, or administrative services, such as those listed in the
"professional services" definition.
The map adopted by the Town or Village Boards, showing the
streets, highways and parks laid out and additions resulting from
the approval of subdivision plats by the Planning Board and the subsequent
filing of such plats.
That portion of a lot which is open, unobstructed and unoccupied
from the ground upward and includes permeable walkways not used by
vehicles, landscaping, uncovered patios, and uncovered recreation
facilities.
The storage of items, merchandise, materials, or vehicles
outside of an enclosed structure for more than four consecutive days
that are not being displayed for sale.
An individual, firm, association, organization, partnership,
trust, corporation, or company holding title to the property.
That portion of a building wall that rises above the level
of the roof.
An off-street area containing one or more parking spaces,
with passageways and driveways appurtenant thereto.
Includes all required off-street parking spaces, loading
areas, stacking spaces, aisles, driveways and landscaping as required
in this chapter.
An off-street space used for the temporary location of one
licensed motor vehicle, not including access driveway, having direct
access to a street or alley.
Parking services provided by a business for patrons of the
facility, whereby automobiles are driven to and from the parking facility
by an employee of the business.
Ground surface covered with cobblestones, clay-fired bricks,
concrete precast paver units (including, but not limited to) poured
concrete with or without decorative surface materials, blacktop, or
other asphaltic or rubber mixture which may include sand or gravel
as an ingredient and which creates a hard surface. A graded natural
surface or one covered with rolled stone or overlaid with loose gravel
is not considered a paved surface.
A bond, letter of credit, cash or securities posted by the
developer and accepted by the Board of Trustees, to guarantee that
the developer will construct, or cause to be constructed, within one
year all required improvements set by the Planning Board as conditions
under site plan approval.
Land not less than 10 feet in width located adjacent to a
street, side, and rear lot lines designed for visual separation between
uses or activities, excluding required driveways. Landscaping of the
strip may include trees, shrubs, lawn, or planted ground cover that
must be permanently maintained to present an attractive, well-kept
appearance. Landscaped areas shall not be surfaced in part or whole
with concrete, asphalt, or other surface material, but shall contain
earth, and may contain organic mulch, inorganic fillers such as wood
shavings, bark, volcanic rock or other similar mulch material.
The Permit Department of the Town or Villages.
Places primarily providing services oriented to personal
needs, such as barber and beauty shops, shoe repair shops, household
appliance repair shops, dry cleaning and laundry pickups, shoe shine
parlors, and other similar establishments. Retail sales shall be allowed
as incidental uses in personal service establishments.
The officially designated Planning Board for the Town or
Villages, as established by the Board of Trustees or the Town Board
in accordance with New York State Town and Village Law.
The Planning Department of the Town of Union or the designated
department within the Villages of Endicott and Johnson City.
The duly designated Planning Director of the Town or Villages.
The primary use of the building or land requiring the greater
setback, larger area or greater yard shall be deemed the principal
building/use.
A building or an enclosed space used for the collection and
processing of materials. "Processing" means the preparation of material
for efficient shipment, or to an end-user's specifications, by such
means as baling, briquetting, compacting, flattening, grinding, crushing,
mechanical sorting, shredding, cleaning, and remanufacturing.
A registered professional engineer (PE) authorized to practice
engineering as defined by New York State laws.
Individuals or organizations that provide specialized services,
including, but not limited to, medical practitioners, attorneys, architects,
engineers, photographers, brokers, and other similar services. This
classification excludes hospitals, banks, and savings and loan associations.
A line bounding a lot. Also known as a "lot line."
Includes auditorium, theater, public hall, school hall, meeting
hall, church, temple and synagogue.
A building or lot used and/or owned by a government agency,
school district or fire company.
A building or lot used in connection with the transmission
or distribution of water, sewage, gas, electricity, telephone or other
public services.
A building or lot used for or in connection with the transmission,
distribution or regulation of water, sewage, gas, electricity, telephone,
cable television, telecommunications or other public utility service
by a municipal corporation or by a corporation subject to regulation
by a state and/or federal regulatory agency. It does not include the
administrative offices of the utility.
A passage or path designated for pedestrian activity or walking.
A lot of land or part thereof used for the purpose of extracting
stone, sand, gravel or other minerals, or topsoil for sale, as an
individual operation, and exclusive of the process of grading a lot
preparatory to the construction of a building for which application
for a building permit has been made in conformance with the NYS Uniform
Code.
Includes a bowling alley, theater, pool hall, skating rink,
gymnasium, health spa, video machine arcade, swimming pool and similar
places of indoor commercial recreation, both public and private, as
well as accessory uses, including user supplies, food service and
sales, service and storage of recreation equipment and accessories.
Includes a privately or publicly owned marina, golf course
and clubhouse, trap, skeet and archery ranges, swimming pool, skating
rink, park, beach, tennis court, racquetball court, camping area,
picnic area and similar places of outdoor recreation, as well as accessory
uses, including user supplies, food service and sales, service and
storage of recreation equipment and accessories.
A trailer or self-propelled motor vehicle structure without
permanent foundation, which can be towed, hauled or driven, and is
primarily designed as temporary living accommodation for recreation,
camping and travel use and including, but not limited to, travel trailers,
truck campers, camping trailers and self-propelled motor homes.
Facilities used for the receiving, temporary storage, or
transfer of materials for recycling or reuse. Junkyards are excluded
from this definition. Recycling centers may also include ancillary
sales of recycled materials.
Persons who are parent/grandparent and child/grandchild to
each other and persons who are brother and sister to each other and
persons who are aunt or uncle or niece or nephew to each other by
reasons of a legal adoption.
Persons who are parent and/or grandparent and child and/or
grandchild to each other; persons who are brother or sister to each
other, including brother or sister of the half blood; persons who
are aunt or uncle and niece or nephew to each other.
Persons who are husband and wife to each other; persons who
are mother- or father-in-law and son- or daughter-in-law to each other;
persons who are brother- or sister-in-law to each other; persons who
are stepparent and stepchild to each other.
Includes church, temple, synagogue, mosque, parish house,
convent, seminary and retreat house.
A building or groups of buildings in which are located facilities
for scientific research, investigation, materials testing, or experimentation,
but not facilities for the manufacture or sale of products.
Includes one-family dwelling, two-family dwelling, and multiple-family
dwellings.
An establishment for the sale and on-premises consumption
of food and beverages, including alcoholic beverages.
A business for the quick counter service of food in a packaged
form where the patron has the option to consume the packaged food
on or off the premises.
An establishment for the sale of goods, articles or consumer
services individually or in small quantities directly to the consumer.
Retail store or service shall not be interpreted to include the following:
drive-up service, gasoline station, motor vehicle repair service,
new or used car sales and service, and trailer or mobile home sales
and service.
A formal request to the Board of Trustees or Town Board to
have the Zoning Map amended.
The boundary of a road, street, highway, or expressway owned
and maintained by any federal, state, or local municipal entity.
One which is described in the United States Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 6888 and on which are illustrated graduated shades
of gray for use in estimating the light-obscuring capacity of smoke.
The number of the Ringelmann Chart that coincides most nearly
with the visual density of smoke emission.
In any dwelling unit, the rooms used for bedrooms, living
room, dining room and kitchen.
Any dwelling or that part of any dwelling containing 10 or
less rooming units, in which space is let by the owner or operator
to more than three persons who are not related by blood, marriage
or adoption to each other or the owner or operator.
[Amended 10-10-2017 by L.L. No. 2-2017]
In the case of a flat roof, the uppermost line of the roof
of a building; in the case of a pitched roof, the lower edge of the
eave; or in the case of an extended facade or parapet, the uppermost
height of said facade or parapet, provided that the facade or parapet
extends around the entire perimeter of the building at the same elevation.
A facility where logs, partially processed cants, or bark
are sawn, split, shaved, stripped, chipped, ground or otherwise processed
to produce wood products, not including the processing of timber for
use on the same lot by the owner or resident of that lot.
Parochial, nursery, private and public school, college, university
and accessory uses operated under the Education Law of the State of
New York and governed by the New York State Department of Education
and shall exclude commercially operated schools of beauty, culture,
business, dancing, driving, music and similar establishments which
are not so governed.
A building or group of buildings divided into separate units
or compartments used to meet the temporary storage needs of businesses
and residential users. A warehouse operated for a specific commercial
or industrial establishment shall not be considered a self-service
storage facility.
New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.
Includes those parts of any lot which are used primarily
to provide access for servicing the use on the lot, including land
used for delivery of goods, storage, and collection of wastes and
provisions for maintenance.
Any building or land that is used for the sale of motor fuel,
oil, and motor vehicle accessories and which may or may not include
facilities for minor repairs of motor vehicles or an accessory food
store. Includes facilities not selling gasoline but specializing in
oil and other automobile fluid changes.
The least required horizontal distance between property line,
and any structure on the lot measured at the shortest point, including
terraces, porches, or any covered projection thereof, but excluding
steps.
The setback to the rear lot line.
The setback to any property line other than a street or rear
lot line.
The setback to the street or front lot line. On corner lots,
both yards bordering the street shall be considered as street setbacks.
Such street setback shall be measured from the public right-of-way.
Alleys shall be considered streets for this requirement, except as
noted within this chapter.
Includes the following:
General term used herein to refer to any matter, material,
device or performance, whether or not otherwise specifically enumerated
herein, which depicts, describes or relates to any sexual conduct
or to a specified anatomical area.
Any establishment having as a substantial or significant
portion of its profit or stock-in-trade, the selling, leasing, trading
or renting thereof, for any form of consideration whatsoever, instruments,
devices and/or paraphernalia, which depict, describe or relate to
any sexual conduct or to a specified anatomical area.
A group of three or more stores, shops or similar businesses
offering a variety of goods and services, occupying adjoining structures,
whether attached or detached, having a common interrelated parking,
loading and site circulation system with consolidated access to public
roads. Also known as "malls," "retail centers," and "plazas."
Any material, structure or device, or part thereof, composed
of lettered or pictorial matter which is located out-of-doors, or
on the exterior of any building, or indoors as a window sign, displaying
an advertisement, announcement, notice or name, and shall include
any declaration, demonstration, display, representation, illustration
or insignia used to advertise or promote the interests of any persons
or business or cause when such is placed in view of the general public.
FRAME SIGN— A portable sign with two or more steeply angled sides; also known as a "sandwich board" sign.
AWNING or CANOPY SIGNAny visual message incorporated into an awning, canopy or other fabric, plastic or structural protective cover over a door, entrance, window or outdoor service area.
COPY-CHANGE SIGNA sign on which the visual message may be periodically changed.
DIGITAL MESSAGE SIGNSigns whose alphabetic, pictographic, or symbolic informational content can be changed or altered on a fixed display screen composed of illuminated segments. A sign that only displays time and/or temperature shall not be considered a digital message board/center.
DIRECTIONAL SIGNAn on-site sign that is designed and erected solely for the purposes of directing vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic within a project or site.
FREESTANDING SIGNAny sign not attached or part of any building but separate and permanently affixed by any other means, in or upon the ground. Included are pole signs, pylon signs and masonry wall-type signs.
ILLUMINATED SIGNAny sign illuminated by electricity, gas or other artificial light, either from the interior or exterior of the sign, and which includes reflective and phosphorescent light.
OFF-PREMISES SIGNA sign unrelated to a business or a profession conducted, or to a commodity or service sold or offered, upon the premises where such sign is located.
PORTABLE SIGNA sign, whether on its own trailer, wheels or otherwise, designed to be movable and not structurally attached to the ground, a building, a structure or another sign.
PROJECTING SIGNA sign which is attached to the building wall or structure and which extends horizontally more than 15 inches from the plane of such wall, or a sign which is perpendicular to the face of such wall or structure.
REPRESENTATIVE SIGNA three-dimensional sign built so as to physically represent the object advertised.
SANDWICH BOARD SIGNA portable sign with two or more steeply angled sides; also known as an "A-frame sign."
TEMPORARY SIGNA sign related to a single activity or event having a limited timeframe as specified in Part 5, Article 52, of this chapter.
WALL SIGNA sign which is painted on or attached to the outside wall of a building with the face of the sign in the plane parallel to such wall and not extending more than 15 inches from the face of such wall.
WINDOW SIGNA sign visible from a sidewalk, street or other public place, painted or affixed on glass or other window material, or located inside within four feet of the window, but not including graphics in connection with customary window display of products.
The entire area within a single, continuous perimeter enclosing
all elements which form an integral part of the sign. The structure
supporting a sign shall be excluded unless the structure is designed
in a way to form an integral background for the display. If the sign
consists of more than one section, all areas will be totaled.
A listing of two or more business enterprises, consisting
of a matrix and sign components.
The supports, uprights, bracing and framework for the sign.
In the case of a sign structure consisting of two or more sides where
the angle formed between any two of the sides or the projections thereof
exceeds 30°, each side shall be considered a separate sign structure.
A plan of a lot or subdivision on which is shown topography,
location of all buildings, structures, roads, rights-of-way, boundaries,
all essential dimensions and bearings and any other information deemed
necessary by the Code Enforcement Officer or the Planning Board.
Authority delegated to the Planning Board by the Board of
Trustees or Town Board which enables the Planning Board to approve,
approve with conditions or disapprove the site development plans for
all buildings or uses where site plan review is required.
The orientation of streets and lots to the sun so as to permit
individual properties to use passive and/or active solar energy resources.
Includes flat plate, concentrating and tracking collectors,
dissipators, roof ponds and updated appurtenances.
An arrangement or combination of components and structures
designed to provide heating, cooling, hot water or electricity through
the process of collecting, converting, storing, protecting against
unnecessary dissipation and distributing solar energy.
A solar energy system designed to provide heating, cooling,
hot water or electricity that requires external mechanical devices
for operation.
A solar energy system which relies upon the design and elements
of a building to enhance the use of natural forces, including solar
radiation and nighttime coolness, to provide heating, cooling or hot
water and which is not primarily dependent upon mechanical devices
for operation.
The space between a solar collector and the sun which must
be free of obstructions for a solar energy system's effective operation.
A document approved by the Planning Board that allows a specifically designed use that would not be appropriate generally or without restrictions throughout the zoning district but which, if controlled as to number, area, location, or relation to the neighborhood, would promote the public health, safety, welfare, morals, order, comfort, convenience, appearance, prosperity or general welfare. See Article 66.
Includes less than completely and opaquely covered:
Human genitals or pubic region.
The cleavage of the human buttocks.
That portion of the human female breast encompassed within an
area falling below the horizontal line one would have to draw to intersect
a point immediately above the top of the areola (the colored ring
around the nipple). This definition shall include the entire lower
portion of the breast but shall not be interpreted to include any
portion of the cleavage of the breast exhibited by a dress, blouse,
shirt, leotard, bathing suit or other wearing apparel, provided that
the areola is not so exposed.
Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely
and opaquely covered.
A building in which horses are kept for public or private
use, remuneration, hire or sale.
A temporary space, eight feet by 18 feet, to be used by motorists
while waiting to use drive-in units, car washes, gas pumps or other
similar uses.
Part of a building which is between one floor level and the
next higher floor level or, if there is no floor above it, then the
ceiling above it.
A public or private way which affords the principal means
of access to abutting properties.
A line midway between and parallel to two street frontage
property lines.
The lot lines which abut a public street or right-of-way
of a planned street.
The officially established grade of the street upon which
a lot fronts. If there is no officially established grade, the existing
grade of the street shall be taken as the street grade.
The right-of-way line of a street as dedicated by a deed
or record. Where the width of the street is not established, the street
line shall be considered to be 25 feet from the center of the street.
A combination of materials to form a construction for use,
occupancy or ornamentation, including but not limited to buildings,
mobile homes, towers, flagpoles, swing sets, antennas, satellite dishes,
or gas or liquid storage tanks, that are principally above ground.
Any constructed body of water or structure to contain water
and any accessory equipment pertaining thereto, designed to be used
or intended to be used for swimming or bathing by any family or persons
residing on the premises and their guests. Portable wading pools,
two feet or more deep, shall be considered "swimming pools."
Towers and/or antennas and nonhabitable accessory structures
used in connection with the provision of cellular telephone service,
personal communication services, digital and/or data communication
services, paging services, radio and television broadcast services
and similar broadcast services (also referred to as "facilities" or
"equipment"). Examples of such structures include utility or transmission
equipment storage sheds or cabinets.
A facility which is used for the transfer of goods or materials
from one form of transportation to another (e.g., from a tractor-trailer
to a home delivery truck). Such transfer of goods or materials is
typically done within an enclosed structure.
A building or part of a building devoted to the performing
arts or the viewing of motion pictures.
Open land with its appurtenant facilities devoted primarily
to the showing of moving pictures or theatrical productions to patrons
seated in automobiles or on outdoor seats.
A structure designed to support antennas. It includes, but
is not limited to, freestanding towers, guyed towers, monopoles and
similar structures.
The elected legislative body, Town of Union, New York.
The Town Clerk of the Town of Union.
The local laws, ordinances, rules, certain resolutions, and
regulations of the Town of Union that are collectively known as the
"Code of the Town of Union," and hereafter referred to as the "Town
Code."
One of a series of single-family dwellings connected by common
party walls and forming a continuous group of homes.
The Public Works Department of the Town of Union as described
in the Code of the Town of Union.
A motor vehicle designed and used as the power unit in combination
with a semitrailer or trailer, or two such trailers in tandem. Any
such motor vehicle shall not carry cargo except that a tractor and
semitrailer engaged in the transportation of automobiles may transport
motor vehicles on part of the power unit. (Ref: New York State Vehicle
and Traffic Law § 151a.)
Any vehicle not propelled by its own power drawn on the public
highways by a motor vehicle as defined in this section, except motor
vehicle side cars, vehicles being towed by a nonrigid support and
vehicles designed and primarily used for other purposes and only occasionally
drawn by such a motor vehicle.
The removal, felling or destruction of 50% or more of a tree,
but does not include trimming branches for tree maintenance purposes.
The destruction of any tree by cutting, girdling, interfering
with the water supply, applying chemicals, or regrading around the
base of the trunk.
The ultimate right-of-way as set forth in the Town of Union
Official Map. The ultimate right-of-way incorporates the area for
future street widening, sidewalks and future street construction.
The land may or may not be in public ownership.
Dry wood which has been milled and dried but which has not
been treated or combined with any petroleum product, chemical, preservative,
glue, adhesive, stain, paint, or other substance.
The specific purpose for which land, a building or a structure
is designed, intended, arranged, used or maintained.
Any change in the type or nature of occupancy of a building
or land, except the following:
A change in the volume of use without any physical extension
of sales and/or service area.
An expansion or substitution of accessory or incidental uses
in connection with the established principal use, except that in no
case shall such an accessory or incidental use dominate in area or
purpose the principal lawful use.
A change in ownership.
A change to a generically similar use.
Any use specifically allowed in the district, excluding illegal
uses and nonconforming uses.
The authorization of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the use of land which is not allowed by the dimensional or physical requirements set forth in this chapter. Procedures and criteria for use variances are found in Article 67.
The authorization of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the use of land for a purpose which is otherwise not allowed or prohibited by this chapter. Procedures and criteria for use variances are found in Article 67.
An amusement center having coin-operated video machines for
entertainment. A video machine arcade is an indoor recreation facility.
An area within range of vision in any direction from a particular
site or location.
The elected legislative body, Village of Endicott or Johnson
City.
The Village Clerk of the Village of Endicott or Johnson City.
The local laws, ordinances, rules, certain resolutions, and
regulations of the Villages that are collectively known as the "Code
of the Village of Endicott" or the "Code of the Village of Johnson
City," and hereafter referred to as the "Village Code."
The Public Works Department of the Village of Endicott or
Johnson City as described in the Village Code.
A building, typically enclosed, designed or used for the
storage of commodities; includes warehouse, wholesale establishment,
discount house, bulk storage and bulk sales outlet.
Areas designated as freshwater wetlands by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or the Army Corps of Engineers, as prescribed by law and subject to Chapter 125, Freshwater Wetlands, of the Code of the Town of Union.
A business that deals with the buying or selling or arranging
for sale of goods or commodities, usually in bulk, for purchasers
other than individual customers, to include offices, freight distribution
centers, large storage facilities and the use of delivery trucks in
the routine operation of the business.
Includes bird sanctuary, zoo, forest reserve, game reserve
and botanical garden.
An open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied
and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided
herein.
A yard between the front lot line and the front line of a
building extended to the side lot lines of the lot. The depth of the
front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building
and the street line.
A yard between the rear lot line and rear line of a building
extended to the side lot lines of the lot. The depth of the rear yard
shall be measured between the rear lot line and the rear line of the
building.
The area between the side building line and the related side
lot line and between the front yard and the rear yard.
The officially established Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town and Villages with the duties and responsibilities identified in Part 6 of this chapter; also referred to as the "Zoning Board" or "Board of Appeals."
