Village of The Branch, NY Article IV Residence A District

§ 275-6 District described.

The Residence A District is hereby described as all of that part of the Incorporated Village of the Branch not contained within the boundaries of any other zoning district of the Village.

§ 275-7 Permitted uses.

In the Residence A District, no building or structure shall hereafter be erected and no premises shall hereafter be used except for one or more of the following purposes:

A. Single-family dwelling.

B. Church, synagogue, temple or other place primarily devoted to public religious worship, located on a plot containing at least 217,800 square feet.

C. Public or private school on a plot containing at least 217,800 square feet; provided, however, that the grounds thereof shall be enclosed at the rear and at both sides by a Dubois-type fence or a woven-wire link-type fence not less than six feet in height.

D. Customary agricultural uses and pursuits, provided that the same shall not be commercial in nature or in any way conducted as a business or profession, and provided that the same shall only be permitted when such use or pursuit is in connection with the general use of the property for residential purposes, and provided further that no horse, sheep, cattle or nondomesticated animal shall be harbored or maintained on any property within 250 feet of any residence.

E. Any public purpose of the United States, the State of New York or the Incorporated Village of the Branch, provided that the same shall be conducted on premises owned by any or all of said governmental entities.

F. Accessory uses of such property on the same lot with and customarily incidental to any of the principal uses of the property described in Subsections A through E above; provided, however, that the same shall not be commercial in nature or in any way conducted as a business not permitted in the Residence A District.

§ 275-8 Nonconforming uses.

A. Experience has shown that the permitted maintenance of certain nonresidential uses of property in residential areas of the Incorporated Village of the Branch, especially the offices of certain professionals located within their principal residences, has often promoted traffic hazards and congestion in such areas, especially for young children; has often disturbed the quiet repose of the community and detracted from its principal character as a residential community; and has otherwise been contrary to the best interests of the health, safety and welfare of the community. In order to correct such conditions and to eventually bring all uses of property within the comprehensive development plan of the Village, it is declared to be the public policy of the Incorporated Village of the Branch to ascertain and enumerate the existence of such nonresidential uses, to restrict their further growth and development, to provide for their eventual elimination in the Residence A District within a reasonable period of time, and to encourage the transfer of such uses to other zoning districts in the Village which are better adapted to accommodate them.

B. Any and all uses of buildings, structures or premises which were permitted in a residential district prior to the enactment of this chapter and which hereby are expressly or impliedly not permitted in the Residence A District are hereby declared to be nonconforming uses in said zoning district.

C. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no such nonconforming use shall hereafter be enlarged, extended, altered, modified or changed except by the elimination or permanent discontinuance thereof; nor shall the same be resumed after elimination or discontinuance thereof, nor the right to continue the same be transferred or assigned to another in whole or in part; nor shall one be substituted therefor in whole or in part.

D. All nonconforming uses regulated by this section, and all rights thereto, vested or otherwise, shall be totally eliminated and discontinued on or before the 31st day of December 1975 or upon the date when such nonconforming use shall cease being contained in the present principal residence of the person exercising such use, whichever shall first occur.

E. Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, the use of a building, structure or premises hereby rendered nonconforming shall not be continued on or after the first day of June 1971, nor shall any right thereto be recognized thereafter as valid, unless prior to said date the person claiming the right to continue such nonconforming use as provided herein shall apply for and obtain a use permit therefor from the Building Department, which permit shall only be issued upon satisfactory proof of the legal, nonconforming status of the use in question and upon payment of the fee prescribed by § 112-16 of Chapter 112, Building Code Administration and Enforcement.

§ 275-9 Minimum lot size.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected in the Residence A District on a lot containing less than 21,780 square feet, nor shall more than one principal building or structure be erected on each 21,780 square feet of such lot.

§ 275-10 Maximum lot coverage.

In the Residence A District, not more than 25% of the area of any lot shall contain buildings or structures of any kind hereafter erected.

§ 275-11 Minimum lot frontage.

In the Residence A District, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected on any lot containing less than 100 feet fronting on any public or private street, road or highway when measured at the front setback line.

§ 275-12 Minimum setback requirements.

In the Residence A District, every part of a principal building shall be set back at least 40 feet from every public or private street, road or highway adjacent thereto, and every part of a detached accessory building or structure shall be set back at least 60 feet from such street, road or highway and in no event shall be erected or constructed nearer to such street, road or highway than the principal building contained on such lot.

§ 275-13 Minimum side yard requirements.

[Amended 1-5-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]

In the Residence A District, no principal building of any kind shall hereafter be erected on any lot containing a side yard less than 25 feet in width or containing less than a total of 50 feet in width for both of the required side yards.

§ 275-14 Minimum rear yard requirements.

[Amended 1-5-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]

In the Residence A District, no principal building of any kind shall hereinafter be erected on any lot containing a rear yard of less than 50 feet in depth.

A. Permanent accessory building. In the Residence A District, no permanent accessory building occupying in excess of 100 square feet of ground space shall hereinafter be erected on any lot within 25 feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. No accessory building of any kind or nature shall be erected so that the building extends in front of the rear building line as extended to the side yard lines of the lot on which it is placed. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent construction, erection, installation, modification, alteration, demolition or change of a swimming pool in such a rear yard so long as all provisions of Chapter 242, Swimming Pools, of the Code of the Incorporated Village of the Branch are met with respect thereto. In the Residence A District, no permanent accessory building occupying less than 100 square feet of ground space shall hereinafter be erected within five feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. Building permits and certificates of occupancy shall be obtained by any person constructing a permanent accessory building.

B. Temporary accessory building. In the Residence A District, no temporary accessory building of any kind shall hereinafter be erected within five feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. No building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be necessary for any temporary accessory building.

C. Number and size of accessory buildings. In the Residence A district, excluding swimming pools, no improved one-family residential building lot shall contain more than two accessory buildings, either temporary or permanent, and such accessory buildings shall not be more than 750 square feet in area.

[Amended 9-22-2022 by L.L. No. 4-2022]

§ 275-15 Height restrictions.

[Amended 1-5-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988; 6-17-1993 by L.L. No. 2-1993]

A. In the Residence A District, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected or altered so that any part thereof shall be more than 35 feet above ground level, except for accessory buildings, either temporary or permanent, which shall not be more than 14 feet above ground level; provided, however, that spires, belfries, cupolas and domes of churches, synagogues, temples or other places primarily devoted to public religious worship or buildings or structures owned by and used for the public purposes of the United States, the State of New York or the Incorporated Village of the Branch shall be excluded from the foregoing height limitations so long as no part thereof shall be used for human habitation.

B. In addition to the restrictions contained in Subsection A above, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected or altered so that the total amount of habitable space in any residential structure shall be in excess of double the habitable space of the ground floor of the residential structure.

§ 275-16 Parking requirements.

A. In the Residence A District, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected, enlarged or altered on any lot unless at least the following number of off-street parking spaces shall be provided for use in connection with such building or structure, which facilities shall be located on and/or underneath the premises on which such building or structure shall be situated:

Uses	Required Minimum Number of Parking Spaces
Single-family dwelling	2 per dwelling unit
Church, synagogue temple or other place of public religious worship	1 for every 50 net square feet of floor area or the equivalent thereof
Public or private school	1 for every person employed on the premises plus 1 for every student whom the school authorities shall permit to park a motor vehicle on such premises, or 1 for every 4 permanent seats contained in such school and all accessory premises, whichever shall be the greater

B. Each parking space shall have an area of not less than 200 square feet, and there shall be provided in addition thereto adequate areas for entering and leaving said parking facilities.

§ 275-17 Fences, hedges or walls.

[Amended 2-12-1985 by L.L. No. 2-1985; 7-14-1987 by L.L. No. 3-1987; 5-11-2021 by L.L. No. 3-2021]

A. Except as otherwise provided in this article or any other local law or ordinance of the Incorporated Village of the Branch,[1] or except where authorized by special exception granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals of the Village, no fence, wall or hedge shall hereafter be erected, continued or maintained in the front yard of any premises, and in no event shall any fence, wall or hedge, wherever located, be more than six feet in height. On a corner plot, the front yard will be divided into two front yard zones defined as the following:

(1) Primary front yard: will be determined on the street where the mailbox is located. Within the primary front yard, no fence, wall or other structure and no hedge, shrub or other growth shall be erected, continued or maintained. The only fencing in the primary front yard shall be in line with the front of the house as the code reads.

(2) Secondary front yard: the other intersecting street. The setback for the fence in the secondary front yard shall be 20 feet from the curb line. In no event shall any fence, wall or hedge, wherever located, be more than six feet in height.

[1] Editor's Note: For further information concerning trees and shrubbery on private land and, in particular, on corner lots, see Ch. 253, Trees, Shrubs and Hedges.

B. Any fence erected in the Village of the Branch which has a finished and unfinished side shall be constructed so that the unfinished side faces the fence owner's property and the finished side faces all neighboring properties.

§ 275-18 Donation of land or moneys by developer.

A. No map or plat relating to the subdivision of land in the Residence A District for residential or other purposes shall hereafter be approved by the Planning Board of the Incorporated Village of the Branch nor actually filed in the office of the County Clerk of Suffolk County, nor shall any building permit hereafter be issued for any construction on property contained on such subdivision map or plat,[1] unless the owner of such property shall first either set aside and donate to the Village 10% of the land to be so developed by way of fee title or pay to the Village a sum, to be determined by the Board of Trustees of the Village, equal to the market value, at the time of the approval of such map or plat, of 10% of the land to be so developed. The land so donated to the Village shall be solely used and developed by the Village for park, playground, recreation or conservation purposes; or if moneys are donated in lieu of land, such funds shall constitute a trust fund for park, playground, recreation or conservation purposes, including acquisition and/or development.

[1] Editor's Note: See Ch. 238, Subdivision of Land, for information as to subdivision maps and plats.

B. The determination of whether to accept lands or trust fund moneys shall be in the sole discretion of the Board of Trustees. In making its determination, the Board shall consider such factors as:

(1) The total existing acreage then owned by the Village and reserved for park, playground, recreation or conservation purposes.

(2) The size of the parcel under consideration for donation by the developer.

(3) The location of such parcel in the Residence A District.

(4) The number of single-family dwellings to be constructed in the proposed subdivision and the projected density of population therein.

(5) The topography of the land proposed to be donated and the general suitability thereof for park, playground, recreation, and/or conservation purposes.