Town of Fallsburg, NY Townhouse Developments in MX, PRD, R and HR Districts

Subdivision of individual townhouse unit lots, when proposed, shall be in accordance with Chapter 260, Subdivision of Land. Property lines shall run from the front lot line through the center of the common party walls of attached interior units and continue to the rear lot line. Each townhouse lot shall be configured in a manner that allows for separate ownership of the lot and dwelling unit thereon. Townhouse developments may be developed as a subdivision or condominium, subject to a requirement to include common recreation facilities per § 310-17.3I(1), a townhouse association being provided, and other requirements imposed by the Planning Board.

A site plan in accordance with Article VII of this chapter shall be required for any proposed townhouse project.

A townhouse building must contain at least three attached one-family dwelling units and may not contain more than seven townhouse units.

Only townhouse developments connected to public water and sewer shall be permitted.

Size of lot and density of development.

The minimum lot size for townhouse developments shall be as follows:

Planned Resort Development (PRD) and Residence (R) Districts: 10 acres.

Hamlet Residence (HR) District: five acres.

(c)

Mixed Use (MX) District: No minimum lot size.

The permitted density for townhouse developments shall be as follows:

A minimum of 14,500 square feet of lot area shall be provided per dwelling unit for proposed townhouse projects in a PRD or R Districts.

A minimum of 12,500 square feet of lot area shall be provided per dwelling unit for proposed townhouse projects in the HR District.

(c)

A minimum of 10,000 square feet of lot area shall be provided per dwelling unit for proposed townhouse projects in the MX District.

The maximum percentage of lot coverage for main and accessory buildings shall be as follows:

Planned Resort Development (PRD), Residence (R) and Hamlet Residence (HR) Districts: 30%.

Mixed Use (MX) District: 80%.

Yard and setback requirements.

It is the intent of this section to treat the yard and setback requirements for townhouse developments differently when located in hamlet centers or when located in areas surrounding hamlet centers. When located outside of hamlet centers, townhouse developments should be visually buffered from surrounding uses. When located in hamlet centers, townhouse developments should be integrated with the hamlet streetscape, visually compatible with existing hamlet development, and strongly connected to the pedestrian and street facilities.

Yard and setback requirements for any structures in townhouse developments, from front, side and rear property lines, shall be as follows:

Planned Resort Development (PRD) and Residence (R) Districts:

[1]

Front: 150 feet.

[2]

Side and rear: 50 feet.

Hamlet Residence District (HR) District:

[1]

Front: 50 feet.

[2]

Side and rear: 50 feet.

Mixed Use (MX) District: See 310 Attachment 1, Town of Fallsburg Supplemental Standards for MX Mixed-Use District Placement of Townhouses.

Front: five feet.

Side and rear: 10 feet.

Buffer and separation requirements.

In the PRD and R Districts, a minimum front yard setback of 150 feet from an external public right-of-way or frontage street shall be provided, and any existing vegetation shall remain undisturbed within 75 feet of the street line or right-of-way line of the road giving access and street frontage to the development. Driveways, parking and maneuvering spaces, stormwater management facilities and other accessory uses other than buildings may be located behind the seventy-five-foot vegetative buffer in the remainder of the 150-foot required front yard.

In the PRD, R and HR Districts, an undisturbed vegetative buffer of a minimum of 50 feet shall also be provided around the perimeter of the townhouse development site along the side and rear lot lines. This vegetative buffer shall provide year-round screening of the townhouse development from the public right-of-way and adjacent properties. No driveways, parking lots, stormwater management facilities or accessory structures shall be located within the buffer.

The Planning Board, in its discretion, may require any existing vegetation to be supplemented with earthen berms, trees, shrubs, and landscaping to achieve the objective of a year-round vegetative buffer in a quantity and type to be determined by the Planning Board.

The location of the edge of any required undisturbed buffer shall be flagged prior to the commencement of clearing, grading or construction to prevent incursions during the site development process.

The minimum separation distance between townhouse buildings shall be as follows: front wall to front wall, 85 feet (including street right-of-way); side wall to side wall, 31 feet; and rear wall to rear wall, 50 feet. If fire flow calculations can be met, then the required separation distance between buildings from side wall to side wall can be reduced to a minimum of 25 feet. The only items permitted within the separation distance are walkways, and landings or decks of less than five feet in width. No porch or similar structure shall protrude or be installed into this required separation.

Minimum and maximum floor area per dwelling unit.

The minimum habitable floor area per townhouse unit with three or more bedrooms shall be 1,100 square feet.

The minimum habitable floor area per two-bedroom townhouse unit shall be 950 square feet.

The minimum habitable floor area per one-bedroom townhouse unit shall be 800 square feet.

The maximum footprint for each townhouse unit shall not exceed 1,200 square feet, and the number of allowable bedrooms for each townhouse unit shall not exceed four.

Architectural design.

The architectural design of townhouse buildings and any accessory buildings shall be reviewed by the Planning Board, and may be referred to an architectural consultant for recommendations. Design elements such as dormers, roof and gable end overhangs, covered entryways, windows with shutters, etc., are encouraged to provide visual interest, particularly in areas with higher visibility to adjacent development, pedestrian, or street traffic. Decorative details that are undersized and nonfunctional such as nonoperable shutters are discouraged.

The front yard setback for individual townhouse units shall be varied so that no more than two abutting units have the same setback in order to break up the mass of the horizontal building wall of the townhouse building.

Variations in the design and materials of individual townhouse units shall be incorporated into the townhouse building so that no more than two abutting units have the same total facade details or appearance.

Rooflines of individual units, including such elements as porticos, dormers, etc., shall be varied to provide visual interest.

Townhouse units shall be separated by a common party wall that is designed to meet the New York State Uniform Building Code.

(6)

Garages shall be designed so as not to dominate the front building facade through the use of offsets and variation in the details of doors.

(7)

In the HR and MX Districts, building facades, walkways, and any features of the front yard shall be oriented, connected, and integrated to the pedestrian facilities of the frontage street of the hamlet. Chain link fences shall be prohibited, and any fencing shall be no higher than four feet. See 310 Attachment 1, Town of Fallsburg Supplemental Standards for MX Mixed-Use District Placement of Townhouses.

Access, circulation and parking.

A circulation system shall be designed to provide safe and convenient access to townhouse units and community facilities. The internal circulation system shall be sufficient for vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian movement and must accommodate fire and emergency access needs. The road right-of-way for an interior road shall be 35 feet with a paved street width of 24 feet; six-inch curb on each side; a four-foot sidewalk on at least one side of the street and a six-foot grass median between the sidewalk and curb.

A minimum of two off-street parking spaces shall be provided for each townhouse unit. For townhouse developments with more than 25 units, an additional 1/2 space per townhouse unit shall be provided within a common parking area for visitors.

In the Mixed-Use MX District, off-street parking shall only be permitted in the rear yard. See 310 Attachment 1, Town of Fallsburg Supplemental Standards for MX Mixed-Use District Placement of Townhouses.

Internal sidewalks shall be provided within all townhouse developments that are a minimum of four feet in width in order to provide for the safe movement of pedestrians between townhouse units and to and from all common recreation facilities. Both internal and external pedestrian sidewalks that extend the public sidewalk system may be required by the Planning Board within all townhouse developments and along their public street frontage. Sidewalks shall be separated from the edge of the road by a six-foot median planting strip that shall be provided for the planting of street trees or grass.

The outside storage of recreational vehicles and/or boats on individual townhouse lots shall be prohibited. The Planning Board may authorize the provision of recreational vehicle storage spaces within a designated area, provided such area is screened from public view and used solely for townhouse residents.

Landscaping. A landscaping plan designed by a professional landscape architect who understands the local climate and growing patterns shall be submitted to the Planning Board for its review and approval. The following minimum standards shall apply:

Lawns of all townhouse units shall be properly graded and seeded to provide for grass lawns.

Street trees shall be provided in a quantity that is equivalent to that of spacing the trees 30 feet on center. Such trees shall then be grouped into groves in order to simulate a more natural stand of trees, rather than repetitive rows. Groves of street trees shall be a minimum height of six feet to eight feet with a two-and-one-half-inch caliper at breast height at the time of planting and a dripline diameter of 20 feet to 40 feet at full growth.

Front lawn trees shall have a height of three feet to four feet with a one-and-one-half-inch caliper at breast height at the time of planting and a dripline diameter of eight feet to 15 feet at full growth. Species shall be consistent with the flowering type.

Rear and side yard trees should include a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Evergreens shall be a minimum height of six feet at the time of planting and be used to provide visual separation (buffer). Deciduous trees shall be four feet to six feet with a two-inch caliper at breast height at the time of planting and a dripline diameter of 15 feet to 30 feet at full growth and be located in a manner that provides shade in the summer and sun in the winter.

Shrubs and ground plantings shall be shown on the landscaping plan.

(6)

All landscaping within common areas owned by the townhouse association or condominium association shall be well maintained and kept in a healthy condition. When plantings die, they shall be replaced.

Common areas and recreational facilities.

Every townhouse development shall provide for common open space and recreational amenities for project residents that are maintained by a townhouse association or condominium association in accordance with the following standards:

In the PRD, R and HR Districts, a minimum of 300 square feet per townhouse unit shall be provided as common open space and/or recreational facilities.

For any townhouse project that includes more than 25 townhouse units, a common recreation clubhouse shall be provided that is at least 2,000 square feet in size. Such structure shall provide one off-street parking space for each three persons based upon maximum permitted occupancy and be maintained by the townhouse or condominium association.

Utilities.

All electric, telephone, and cable shall be located underground within the proposed townhouse project.

All utility junction boxes shall be contained within a vault that is placed underground in a manner where the top of the vault is flush with the grade of the finished lawn.