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Town of LeRay, NY
Jefferson County
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A. 
Planned Development Districts (PD) may be established in the Town and designated as specific locations on the Zoning Map. The purpose of the PD Planned Development District is to provide flexible land use and design regulations for the design and construction of development projects within the Town of LeRay that incorporate a variety of residential and nonresidential uses, and contain both individual building sites and common property which are planned and developed as a unit. This district encourages innovations in site planning and design that provide a diversity of type, design, and arrangement of dwellings, commercial, industrial and mixed-use structures and functional open spaces through efficient land use. Planned developments do not require a mix of residential and nonresidential uses to be considered for Planned Development District status. However, development projects consisting only of single-family residential units shall not be eligible for Planned Development District status. The appropriate mix of land uses for each Planned Development District shall be determined by the Planning Board based on both the intensity and density of proposed residential, commercial and industrial uses.
B. 
While the standard zoning function (use and bulk) is appropriate for the regulation of land use in some areas or neighborhoods, these controls represent a type of regulatory strictness which may be inappropriate to the innovative techniques of quality land development contained in the Planned Development District concept. A rigid set of space requirements along with bulk and use specifications would frustrate the application of this concept. Thus, where PD techniques are deemed appropriate through the rezoning of land to a Planned Development District by the Town Board, the use and dimensional specifications found elsewhere in this chapter are herein replaced by the general requirements and site plan review criteria outlined below.
A. 
Administratively permitted uses:
Home occupation, minor
Parks and open space
Solar energy system
Swimming pool, private
B. 
Uses requiring site plan approval:
Accessory structure (except sheds for residential uses)
Apartment building
Apartment complex
Bed-and-breakfast inn
Building, mixed-use
Building, office
Car wash
Cultural use facility or museum
Day-care facility
Drive-through facility
Dwelling, multiple-family
Dwelling, townhouse (including parent parcel)
Dwelling, two-family
Essential services
Family/caregiver apartment
Golf course
Greenhouse, personal
Motel/hotel
Motor vehicle parking facility
Movie theater
Nursery school
Recreational vehicle park
Restaurant, fast food
Restaurant or diner
Retail, convenience
Retail, small
School, private or public
Solar farm
Swimming pool, public
C. 
Uses requiring a special use permit and site plan approval:
Bar, tavern or pub
Dwelling, single-family
Home occupation, major
Manufactured home
Manufactured home park
Modular home
Nightclub
Recreational facility, limited
Retail shopping center
Telecommunications facility
Wind energy conversion system, small
The following dimensional requirements apply to all Planned Development Districts:
A. 
Setback distances shall apply only to the periphery boundary of the Planned Development District and not to lot boundaries internal to the Planned Development District.
(1) 
Minimum front yard building setback: 40 feet.
(2) 
Minimum rear yard building setback: 40 feet.
(3) 
Minimum side yard building setback: 30 feet.
(4) 
Minimum parking lot and drive setback: 30 feet.
(5) 
Minimum distance between buildings on the same lot:
(a) 
The minimum permitted per the New York State Building Code for the types of construction involved.
(b) 
In no instance less than 10 feet.
B. 
Minimum lot area: 15 acres.
C. 
Minimum floor area requirement per dwelling: 1,350 square feet.
D. 
Maximum building height: 45 feet.
E. 
Maximum impervious surface coverage: 60%.
F. 
Maximum development density:
(1) 
The density of development within a proposed PD shall not exceed that which would be permitted pursuant to this chapter for the existing zoning district(s).
The following design standards shall be utilized for new development applications within Planned Development Districts, in addition to those standards contained within Articles IX through XV of this chapter; and Chapter 158 Attachment 2, Town of LeRay Commercial Corridors Design Guidelines. The following standards shall supersede where conflicts exist between Chapter 158 Attachment 2 and this article.
A. 
Building materials.
(1) 
Standard masonry block walls shall be prohibited on any primary facade.
(2) 
Decorative masonry materials such as split-face and textured-finish blocks shall be permitted as a primary finished building material.
(3) 
The following materials or systems are prohibited on finished building or signage exteriors:
(a) 
Unfinished dimensional or sheet lumber;
(b) 
Treated lumber (permitted only on outdoor structures for residential uses and signage);
(c) 
Vertical aluminum or metal siding;
(d) 
T-111 siding;
(e) 
Glass block; or
(f) 
Spandrel glass or glass curtain walls.
B. 
Buffer zones and landscaping requirements.
(1) 
Where a Planned Development District proposes a nonresidential use adjacent to residential uses or districts on lots outside of the proposed PD, the Planning Board shall require an appropriately designed and engineered buffer area 20 feet in depth. At its discretion, the Planning Board may also require a buffer area meeting these requirements between multifamily uses and single-family uses.
(2) 
Within the buffer area, an opaque screen six feet to eight feet in height consisting of vegetation shall be placed and shall be a fully functioning screen at the time of installation.
(3) 
The use of approved fencing no greater than six feet in height shall be permitted, in addition to vegetation, but shall not be permitted as a sole means of screening.
(4) 
The Planning Board shall also assess the degree and necessity of requiring a buffer area internal to the PD between residential and nonresidential uses, which shall be considered based on noise levels, traffic inflow and outflow, environmental and pollutant effects, visual and other negative impacts.
(5) 
A minimum of one planting unit shall be required for each:
(a) 
Forty linear feet or fraction thereof of lot frontage along a road; and
(b) 
Five hundred square feet or fraction thereof of gross floor area.
C. 
Lighting systems.
(1) 
Fixture heights shall be between 12 feet and 20 feet in height, with shorter poles along sidewalks and pedestrian zones and taller poles within parking areas.
D. 
Parking and parking lots.
(1) 
The following off-street parking space requirements shall apply within the Planned Development District:
(a) 
Dwellings: a maximum of two spaces per unit.
(b) 
Commercial office uses: a maximum of one space per 200 gross square feet.
(c) 
Commercial retail uses: a maximum of one space per 250 gross square feet.
(d) 
Restaurant uses: a maximum of one space per two dining room seats, plus one space per employee; the minimum number of spaces for such use shall not equate to less than two spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area.
(e) 
Public and private assembly uses: a maximum of one space per each 1.5 seats at maximum lawful occupancy as determined by the Fire Marshal.
(f) 
All other uses: a maximum one space per 330 gross square feet, plus one space per employee.
(2) 
In no instance shall the number of parking spaces be less than 70% of the required maximum as stated above.
(3) 
Parking lots shall be divided into rooms of no more than 160 parking spaces through the use of vegetative medians between six feet and 10 feet in width.
(4) 
Landscape islands shall be installed such that no single row of parking stalls exceeds 15 spaces without an island to provide a visual break. Double rows of parking stalls shall not exceed 30 spaces without a landscape island.
(5) 
All islands shall be a minimum of six feet in width. Interior parking lot islands along double rows shall be 40 feet in length. Perimeter islands and those along interior single rows shall be 20 feet in length.
(6) 
No more than 20% of required off-street parking spaces shall be located between the front building facade(s) and the primary abutting street(s). This standard shall also be upheld for corner lots.
(7) 
The Planning Board may provide a waiver for § 158-34D(1) in the event of an approved shared parking arrangement pursuant to § 158-89.
E. 
Open space and recreation.
(1) 
The following minimum public open space requirements shall apply to all Planned Development Districts:
(a) 
A minimum of 15% of the area of a contiguous development shall be devoted to publicly accessible open space for the use and enjoyment of customers, tenants, and residents of the development.
(b) 
The area devoted to required buffer zones pursuant to § 158-34B shall not be included in the calculation of required public open space.
(c) 
The aggregate area of internal parking lot medians and islands shall not be included in the calculation of required public open space.
(2) 
Public open space shall consist of vegetated and paved areas, such as:
(a) 
Plazas, gathering or performance spaces;
(b) 
Pedestrian circulation space;
(c) 
Outdoor seating or dining areas; and
(d) 
Areas of enhanced landscaping adjacent to building entrances.
(3) 
Public open spaces must contain a minimum of 20% of required planting units pursuant to § 158-34B(5).
A. 
Ownership.
(1) 
The tract of land for a project may be owned, leased or controlled either by a single person or corporation or by a group of individuals or corporations.
(2) 
An application must be filed by the owner or jointly by owners of all property included in a project. In the case of multiple ownership, the approved plan shall be binding on all owners.
B. 
Common property.
(1) 
Common property is not required to be considered for PD status.
(2) 
Common property in a PD is a parcel or parcels of land, with or without the improvements thereon, the use and enjoyment of which are shared by the owners and occupants of the individual building sites.
(3) 
When common property exists, the ownership of such common property may be either public or private. When common property exists in private ownership, arrangements satisfactory to the Planning Board must be presented for the improvement, operation and maintenance of such common property and facilities, including private street, drives, service and parking areas, and recreational and open space areas.
The following procedural steps shall be followed when applying for PD District status:
A. 
Zoning Map amendment. In order to establish a Planned Development District, the Zoning Map must be amended by the following procedures outlined herein and the prescribed regulations for amendments to this Zoning Law found in § 158-154.
B. 
Application for establishment of a Planned Development District.
(1) 
An application shall be made to the Town Board by the owner(s) of property proposed to be included in the district.
(2) 
Within seven working days of the applicant filing a complete and acceptable application with the Town Board, the Town Board shall:
(a) 
Refer such application to the Town Planning Board for consideration and recommendation; and
(b) 
Refer such application to the Jefferson County Planning Department pursuant to General Municipal Law § 239-m for consideration and recommendation.
(3) 
A complete and acceptable application shall provide a development plan and detailed program which would enable the Town Board and Planning Board to evaluate the proposed development and its effects on nearby land uses and public services. Such a plan and program shall meet the requirements specified under Article XX, Site Plan Review.
(4) 
Where appropriate and upon request by the Town Board or Planning Board, the applicant shall furnish a phasing plan and implementation schedule for the development of the Planned Development District and the construction of said improvements.
C. 
Planning Board action.
(1) 
Upon the referral of a complete application from the Town Board, the Planning Board shall review the proposal in light of the requirements specified for Planned Development District in this article VII.
(2) 
The Planning Board must discuss the proposal with the applicant at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board within 30 days of referral from the Town Board.
(3) 
A public hearing shall also be scheduled within 30 days of referral from the Town Board upon receiving an application that is deemed to be complete by the Planning Board, to be held separately from or concurrently with the regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Board.
(4) 
The Planning Board must deliver its report and recommendations to the Town Board within 10 working days of the conclusion of such meetings.
(5) 
The report of the Planning Board will be delivered to the Town Board within 62 days of the date of the public hearing.
(6) 
The Planning Board shall consider, where appropriate:
(a) 
The need for the proposed uses in the proposed location;
(b) 
The application's consistency with the Town Comprehensive Plan and the existing character of the neighborhood in which the uses would be located; and
(c) 
The safeguards proposed to mitigate possible detrimental effects of the proposed uses on the adjacent properties, on public services and on the historic character of the area.
(7) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to prescribe conditions for the proposed uses and make a conditional recommendation for PD status to the Town Board.
D. 
Town Board action.
(1) 
It is the Town Board's authority to review the Town Planning Board and Jefferson County Planning Department PD recommendations and enact or disapprove a Zoning Map amendment thereon.
(2) 
Within 45 days of receipt of the Planning Board recommendation, the Town Board must, following public notice provided by this chapter (see § 158-154), hold a public hearing on the proposal.
(3) 
Within the forty-five-day period, the Town Board must approve, approve with modifications or deny the application for establishment of a Planned Development District. Such action must include the following information:
(a) 
In approval, list any and all conditions upon which the approval shall be based, and the penalty to be enforced upon the applicant if stated conditions are not met.
(b) 
In denial, list the reasoning and basis for denial, including supporting evidence from the Town Comprehensive Plan.
E. 
Applicant action. Upon Town Board approval:
(1) 
If the proposal is approved by the Town Board, and the Zoning Map has been amended to create the appropriate Planned Development District, the applicant must within six months submit an application for site plan approval as provided in Article XX of this chapter.
(2) 
An application for site plan approval following such Zoning Map amendment shall be confined to the specific designated area and adhere to the approved development plan and program.
(3) 
The application for site plan approval shall include a phasing plan and implementation schedule for the development of the Planned Development District and the construction of said improvements. Deviations of the phasing plan and implementation schedule between district establishment and site plan approval must be outlined and substantiated prior to receiving final site plan approval.
F. 
Deviations and variances.
(1) 
Any of the above time frames for establishment of a Planned Development District may be extended upon agreement of both the applicant and the Town Board.
(2) 
Any deviation from an approved application constitutes a violation of this Zoning Chapter and shall require approval by the appropriate review board.
(3) 
Deviations in proposed land uses, development density, phasing and implementation schedule shall require approval by the Town Board in accordance with § 158-36B above.
(4) 
Deviations in the site plan and arrangement of buildings, roadways, open spaces and other Planned Development District elements shall require approval by the Town Planning Board as an amended site plan in accordance with § 158-145.
(5) 
Deviations in setback, area and yard requirements shall constitute variances and shall require approval by the Town Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with § 158-151.
G. 
Development phasing and site plan approval extensions.
(1) 
An applicant shall be allowed to undertake phased improvements and development within the established Planned Development district in accordance with an approved phasing and implementation schedule, subject to the following limitations.
(2) 
The time period between receipt of the initial site plan approval and the receipt of the initial building permit for Phase One from the Jefferson County Fire Prevention and Building Code Department shall not exceed 12 months.
(3) 
The time period between receipt of the building permit for Phase One and the building permit for Phase Two shall not exceed 36 months.
(4) 
The time period between receipt of any subsequent building permits for additional phases of development shall not exceed 36 months.
(5) 
In the event that the time period between the receipt of authorizing development permits or approvals exceeds the above maximums, the applicant shall be required to reapply for site plan approval in accordance with § 158-143, at which time the time periods as discussed in § 158-36G shall begin anew.
(6) 
The applicant shall be afforded the opportunity to make an application to the Planning Board requesting an extension of site plan approval, with said application received by the Planning Board at least 30 days prior to the expiration of said site plan approval. The Planning Board may grant up to two separate extensions of six months each.
(7) 
If, at the conclusion of extension periods, the applicant has failed to receive an active building permit from the Jefferson County Fire Prevention and Building Code Department, the applicant shall be required to reapply for site plan approval in accordance with § 158-143, at which time the time periods as discussed in § 158-36G shall begin anew.
H. 
Preexisting uses. Any use lawfully established prior to, and lawfully continuing in existence on the date of, adoption of this chapter and which is located in a Planned Development District that is permitted under the terms of this chapter shall be deemed a conforming use without further action, application or review, unless a preexisting use permit expires, or unless such use ceases to continue for a period of more than six consecutive months.
I. 
Discontinuance. A Planned Development District shall be perpetual.