A. 
Scope. This chapter shall regulate and restrict the location, construction, alteration, occupancy and use of buildings and structures and the use of land in the Town of Copake and for said purposes divides the Town into zoning districts.
B. 
Title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Zoning Code of the Town of Copake, New York."
C. 
Enacting clause and purposes. This chapter is enacted pursuant to Article 16 of the Town Law of the State of New York and the New York Municipal Home Rule Law, to protect and promote public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, economy, Town aesthetics and the general welfare and for the following additional purposes:
(1) 
To promote and effectuate the orderly physical development of the Town of Copake.
(2) 
To encourage the most appropriate use of land in the community in order to conserve and enhance the value of buildings.
(3) 
To provide adequate and suitably located commercial facilities.
(4) 
To protect and enhance existing wooded areas and waterways and to preserve where appropriate the essentially rural character of the Town.
(5) 
To encourage agriculture to continue as a land use activity in the Town because of its importance to the local economy and the preservation of open space.
(6) 
To regulate building densities in order to assure access of light and circulation of air, in order to facilitate the prevention and fighting of fires, and in order to lessen congestion on streets and highways.
(7) 
To improve transportation facilities and traffic circulation, and to provide adequate off-street parking and loading facilities.
(8) 
To realize a development plan properly designed to conserve land.
(9) 
To assure privacy for residences and freedom from nuisances and things harmful to the senses, including air and water pollution.
(10) 
To protect the community against unsightly, obtrusive and noisome land uses and operations.
(11) 
To enhance the aesthetic aspects throughout the entire community and maintain its present natural beauty.
(12) 
To minimize the hazards of flooding.
(13) 
To encourage the conservation of energy and the appropriate use of solar and other renewable energy resources.
(14) 
To assure that development will occur in a reasonable manner, with consideration of land capabilities to support development, and to assure freedom from problems (either current or future) associated with inappropriate land development methodologies.
(15) 
To provide a range of housing opportunities for all segments of the local population with due consideration for regional housing needs.
(16) 
To provide a flexible system of land use regulation that enables the Town to grow, while preserving its most important natural, historic, architectural and cultural features.
(17) 
To base such flexible land use regulations on the unique characteristics of the landscape, the needs of the people of the Town, the impact of proposed land uses on the natural and human environment, and the purposes articulated in this chapter and in the Comprehensive Plan, and to avoid a suburban pattern of development characterized by uniform lots laid out in a geometric pattern across the landscape.