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.
