Town of Riverhead, NY Article VII Agriculture Protection (APZ) Zoning Use District [1]

[Added 6-22-2004 by L.L. No. 13-2004]

[1] Editor's Note: Original Art. VII, Business A District (Resort Business), of the 1976 Code, as amended, was repealed 5-17-2005 by L.L. No. 14-2005.

§ 301-35 Purpose and intent.

The intent of the Agriculture Protection Zoning Use District (APZ) is to facilitate existing and future agricultural land uses; to preserve existing prime agricultural soils; to maintain highly productive agricultural lands by limiting encroachment of nonagricultural development; to minimize the conflicts between agricultural and nonagricultural uses; to discourage residential sprawl and minimize adverse fiscal impacts through the extension of municipal services; to maintain agricultural vistas; to promote agro-tourism; and to preserve the rural character of the Town of Riverhead.

§ 301-36 Uses.

In the APZ District, no building, structure or premises shall be used or arranged or designed to be used, and no building or structure shall be hereafter erected, reconstructed or altered, unless otherwise provided in this chapter, except for the following permitted uses or specially permitted uses and their customary accessory uses:

A. Permitted uses:

(1) Agricultural production, including but not limited to the following:

(a) Field crops, including corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, hay, potatoes, and dry beans.

(b) Fruits, including apples, peaches, grapes, cherries and berries.

(c) Vegetables, including tomatoes, snap beans, cabbage, carrots, beets and onions.

(d) Horticultural specialties, including nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees and flowers.

(e) Livestock and livestock products, including cattle, sheep, hogs, goats, horses, poultry, farmed deer, farmed buffalo, fur-bearing animals, milk, eggs and furs.

(f) Christmas trees grown in a managed Christmas tree operation, whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump.

(g) Commercial horse-boarding operations.

(2) Dwelling, one-family.

(3) Attached single-family dwellings within a cluster subdivision.

[Amended 7-19-2005 by L.L. No. 34-2005]

(4) Riding academy, corral or facilities for the training of horses, including but not limited to private polo chukkers.

(5) Greenhouse, provided that the subject parcel is a minimum of five acres. A permanent greenhouse to be used for retail sales shall be subject to site plan review and approval.

[Amended 9-6-2006 by L.L. No. 36-2006]

B. Specially permitted uses, by special use permit of the Town Board:

[Amended 1-21-2009 by L.L. No. 5-2009; 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 11-2009]

(1) Bed-and-breakfast.

(2) Overhead electrical power transmission and distribution lines in excess of 13 kilovolts.

(3) Kennel, commercial.

(4) Educational institution without boarding facilities or dormitories, private.

(5) Day-care facility conducted in a residence.

(6) An accessory dwelling unit with a maximum living area of 1,000 square feet on a lot of 10 acres or more, provided that the total number of dwelling units yielded by the original subdivision creating such lot is not exceeded.

(7) Professional offices of attorneys, architects, medical doctors, or dentists, provided that the subject real property conforms to the following conditions:

(a) The property is improved with a single-family residence at the time of the adoption of this Subsection B(7).

(b) The professional office use shall be within the building footprint of the existing single-family residence.

(c) The property has frontage along New York State Route 25 between Route 105 and the Town boundary with the Town of Southold.

(8) Home occupations or professions conducted within an accessory building by the residents thereof.

[Added 6-2-2010 by L.L. No. 13-2010]

C. Accessory uses. Accessory uses shall include those uses customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses or specially permitted uses when located on the same lot. Specifically permitted are the following:

(1) Home occupations or professions conducted within the dwelling by the residents thereof.

[Amended 6-2-2010 by L.L. No. 13-2010]

(2) The sale at retail of homegrown or homemade products, provided that all retail uses shall be subject to approval pursuant to Article LIIA, Farm Stand Review, of this chapter and all provisions set forth in Article LIIA, including but not limited to the definitions and principal use criteria set forth in §§ 301-283.2 and 301-283.4.

[Amended 5-6-2008 by L.L. No. 16-2008; 10-6-2015 by L.L. No. 19-2015]

(3) Agricultural worker housing pursuant to the requirements of § 301-239.

(4) Farm operations.

§ 301-37 Accessory buildings and structures.

A. Location.

(1) No accessory building or structure shall be erected, reconstructed or altered so as to be situate as follows:

(a) In a front yard.

(b) In a side yard, unless the accessory building is 60 feet from a side street line, 25 feet from a property line and 10 feet from any other building.

(c) In a rear yard, unless the accessory building is 20 feet from a property line, 10 feet from any other building and 60 feet from a side street line and rear street line.

(d) One accessory building with a maximum floor area of 144 square feet or less, a maximum height of 12 feet or less, located in the rear yard, shall be excepted from the provisions of Subsection A(1)(c) and additionally shall not require a permit. It shall be permitted five feet from a property line, 10 feet from any other building and 60 feet from a side street line and rear street line.

[Amended 7-19-2011 by L.L. No. 21-2011]

(2) Excepted from Subsection A(1)(a), (b) and (c) of this section are fences not exceeding four feet in height which may be erected on the lot lines of the front yard or any existing street line of a one-family dwelling, and fences not exceeding six feet in height which may be erected on other lot lines of a one-family dwelling. Fences on a corner lot must comply with § 301-245. On lots used for other than one-family dwellings, wire strand or open woven wire fences up to six feet in height may be erected on all lot lines. If such fence is erected along any street, the permitted height thereof shall be measured from the existing elevation of the center line of such street.

B. Where an accessory building is constructed as a building subordinate to the use of a park or playground, the building shall be erected, reconstructed or altered in conformity to the requirements hereof for a main building.

§ 301-38 Living area.

No dwelling shall be erected unless provisions shall be made therein as follows:

A. For a single-family dwelling, exclusive of attached garages, carports, unenclosed porches and breezeways, there shall be provided not less than 1,500 square feet of living area.

§ 301-39 Lot, yard, bulk and height requirements.

No buildings shall be erected nor any lot or land area utilized unless in conformity with the Zoning Schedule[1] incorporated into this article by reference and made a part hereof with the same force and effect as if such requirements were herein set forth in full as specified in said schedule, except as may be hereafter specifically modified. Further, all nonagricultural buildings constructed within the APZ shall be of a design and incorporate exterior materials as to exhibit rural character.

[1] Editor's Note: The Zoning Schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.

§ 301-40 Cluster development and additional subdivision requirements.

[Amended 1-21-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]

A. Purpose and intent. It is the purpose of this article to require cluster development pursuant to § 278 of the Town Law in order to allow for maximum flexibility in achieving a compatible arrangement of agricultural and residential land uses and to protect prime agricultural soils and scenic vistas without impeding agricultural land use on a portion of a property or on adjacent or nearby properties.

B. In order to accomplish the clustering of residential lots within the APZ, an applicant for subdivision shall provide a standard yield plan and a cluster plat which succeeds in preserving agricultural land for agricultural use to the greatest extent practicable. In its review of a cluster subdivision plat, the Planning Board shall consider the following:[1]

(1) The location and extent of prime agricultural soils;

(2) The location of wooded areas;

(3) The location and extent of natural features;

(4) The general topography and the location and extent of sloped areas;

(5) The spatial relationship of the property to contiguous or neighboring preserved agricultural land;

(6) The general stormwater tributary area and the extent and direction of overland drainage.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 101, General Provisions, Art. I).

C. Cluster development in this article shall require that a minimum of 70% of Class I or Class II prime agricultural soils are preserved through the creation of farm lots or preservation of 70% of land as open space, recording of agricultural or open space easements which restrict division of said lot(s), coverage and such other items as the Planning Board deems appropriate to preserve the agriculture and scenic vistas created by the farm lot or open space area.

D. The Planning Board may approve a cluster subdivision with a reduced percentage of preserved prime agricultural soils or open space based upon unique characteristics of land such that public utilities, streets, arrangement of lots or existence of natural features require development with less than 70% preservation of prime agriculture soils or open space. In the event that the Planning Board approves a cluster subdivision that preserves less than 70% of prime agricultural soils or open space, the Planning Board must set forth all considerations, practical difficulties, and/or reasons supporting a decision to approve the cluster plat within the resolution approving the preliminary plat. In no event may the Planning Board approve a cluster subdivision plat with less than 50% of the area of the tract being preserved as prime soils or open spaces area.

§ 301-41 Guidelines for cluster development.

[Amended 1-21-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]

The following guidelines are to be applied in addition to Article LIII, Subdivision Regulations, and Article LIV, Cluster Development, in this chapter, and shall apply to all cluster subdivisions within the APZ:

A. The cluster subdivision plat shall be designated so as to situate the agricultural lots or open space along Sound Avenue or NYS Route 25 or adjacent to existing agricultural lots or preserved land or such other location such that maximum preservation of agricultural and scenic vistas are achieved.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 101, General Provisions, Art. I).

B. The cluster subdivision plat must locate and arrange the residential lots so as to protect, to the maximum extent practicable, that portion of the tract preserved for agricultural use.

C. The cluster subdivision plat must depict an arrangement of residential lots so as to reduce, to the maximum extent practicable, any nuisance or conflict between residential and agricultural uses, both within the tract and in relation to adjoining and nearby tracts and to demonstrate compatibility of the cluster plat with existing residential development and agricultural land uses.

D. The residential portion of the cluster subdivision plat must be so laid out, and protected during construction, as to remain as harmonious to the greatest extent practicable with the natural environment, minimizing the clearing of treed areas, the grading of earth, removal of soils, and precluding the disturbance of surface waters and wetlands and other similar disturbances of the natural environment pursuant to Chapter 295, Wetlands, of the Riverhead Town Code.

E. The agricultural lot shall be laid out so as to provide for one building area, and said building area shall be counted towards yield. The Planning Board shall describe the square footage of the building area, and the Planning Board may, in its discretion, require that the building area be plotted on the subdivision map. The Planning Board shall require covenants and restrictions to enforce dimensional requirements, lot coverage, impervious surface limits, retention or plan for all stormwater runoff for both the residential and agricultural component of the subject property as set forth in the Town Code, and such other items the Planning Board deems appropriate to conform with the intent of the cluster regulations, including, but not limited to, location and limitation of parking, outdoor storage, clearing limits, and means of ingress and egress. The Planning Board shall require covenants and restrictions to be filed affecting the aforestated prior to issuance of final plat approval.

F. The agricultural lot must be laid out so as to provide a minimum lot size of 10 acres. An agricultural lot with a lot size greater than 20 acres shall only be divided if required to ensure appropriate arrangement of lots, streets and public utilities or preserve or highlight existence of natural features. An agricultural lot shall prohibit erection, construction or placement of any structures, permanent or temporary, without prior approval of the Planning Board.

G. The Planning Board shall not cluster lots in order to create golf courses, playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools or any other amenity as required open space. The sole purpose of the cluster plat is to preserve agricultural land for agricultural use and other natural features and open space to the greatest extent practicable.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 101, General Provisions, Art. I).

H. The Planning Board may review applications for cluster subdivisions which preserve standard golf courses that exist as of the date of enactment of the amendment of this Subsection H, subject to the following restrictions:

[Added 1-21-2009 by L.L. No. 11-2009]

(1) The yield shall be 66% of the yield allowed in the applicable zoning use district.

(2) As set forth in § 301-207, there shall be no allocation of preservation credits made for the real property improved with a standard golf course, including that portion designated for the residential cluster.

(3) Cluster subdivision shall be limited to homeowner association realty subdivisions. The Planning Board shall not entertain or approve condominium maps pursuant to Article LVIII, Condominium Maps, of this chapter.

(4) All residential units shall be restricted to owners and occupants of the age of 55 years or older with the following exceptions:

(a) A husband and wife under the age of 55 years who resides with his or her spouse who is 55 years of age or over.

(b) Children and grandchildren residing with their parents or grandparents where one of said parents or grandparents with whom the child or children or grandchild or grandchildren is/are residing is 55 years of age or older, provided that said child or children or grandchild or grandchildren are over the age of 19 years.

(c) Adults under 55 years of age may be admitted as permanent residents if it is established to the satisfaction of the Town Board that the presence of such person is essential for the physical care and economic support of the eligible older person.

§ 301-42 Nonconforming lots.

With the exception of lots improved prior to the enactment of zoning within the Town of Riverhead, a lot held in single and separate ownership and having legal improvements upon it at the effective date of this article shall not be considered nonconforming pursuant to § 301-222 as to lot area and setback requirements. Such improved properties shall be entitled to maintain the existing lot areas and setbacks that were required at the time the structures were issued certificates of occupancy. To preclude an unintended merger of nonconforming lots due to the zoning changes adopted herein, a twelve-month grace period commencing with the effective date of this article shall be imposed to provide those whose lots would merge by operation of law the opportunity to checkerboard the ownership of their lots to preclude the merger.