Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of this chapter, have the meaning herein indicated.
Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number
includes the plural and the plural the singular; the word "person"
includes a corporation, partnership, or other entity, as well as an
individual; the word "lot" includes the word "plot." The term "occupied"
or "used" as applied to any building, structure or parcel of land
shall be construed as though followed by the words "or intended, capable
of, arranged or designed to be occupied or used." The term "Board
of Appeals" shall be interpreted to mean the same as the term "Zoning
Board of Appeals" wherever used.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of this chapter, have the meaning herein indicated:
A term applied to a building or use clearly incidental or
subordinate to, and customarily in connection with, the principal
building or use on the same lot.
As it relates to Article XII, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, The activity of an active farm, including grazing and watering livestock, irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for growing agricultural products, and cutting timber for sale, but shall not include the operation of a dude ranch or similar operation, or the construction of new structures associated with agricultural activities.
The cultivation of soils for food products or other useful
or valuable growths in the field or garden or within structures, exclusive
of facilities for display of products or on-premises marketing except
as may be specifically permitted in this chapter. "Agriculture" shall
also be deemed to include poultry, ratitae, or livestock production
or breeding as permitted pursuant to this chapter, including the raising
of cattle or other livestock for the purposes of milk or meat production.
Agricultural or horticultural uses shall also be deemed to include
uses such as nurseries, greenhouses, orchards, field crops, vineyards,
and any other cultivation of soils and natural products thereof, as
well as the keeping, breeding, and raising of beef or dairy cattle,
horses, sheep or other permitted livestock. Horticultural uses shall
be included under the definition of "agriculture." Breeding pigs for
market and the commercial breeding and/or raising of fur-bearing animals,
including but not limited to mink, shall also be considered to be
an agricultural activity.
A change or rearrangement in the structural parts of a building,
or an enlargement, whether by extending to a side or by increasing
the height.
Any tower, apparatus or structure for the purpose of transmitting
or receiving radio waves or microwaves as defined by the Federal Communication
Commission. The height of the antenna shall be measured in a vertical
distance from the average elevation of the finished grade at the base
of the antenna to the highest point of the antenna, or, if mounted
on a building, from the elevation of the finished grade of the building
directly below the antenna.
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed
an application for a land development activity.
A home occupation involving the fabrication and/or retail
sale of curios, novelties, or handmade artwork and the repair or sale
of antiques or collectibles.
A home occupation involving the rental of up to four rooms
as transient accommodations, with breakfast served to guests, but
with no full service restaurant facilities.
A building containing a single dwelling unit and lodging
rooms accommodating, for compensation, two or more persons, who are
not the keeper's family.
A structure wholly or partially enclosed within exterior
walls and a roof, affording shelter to persons, animals or property.
The Town official who is responsible to administer this chapter
in addition to his role as enforcer and administrator of the local
Building Construction Code. All references to the "Building Inspector"
include the Deputy Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer.
Includes any tent, camping vehicle, or similar structure,
temporarily located on a campsite as temporary living quarters, but
shall not include any camping unit kept at a campground for storage
purposes only.
Includes any person who registers his party for occupancy
of a campsite or who otherwise assumes charge of or is placed in charge
of a campsite.
A plot of ground upon which two or more campsites are located,
established, or maintained and occupied by camping units as temporary
living quarters for a total of 15 days or more in any calendar year.
Includes the owner, lessee, tenant or other person authorized
to operate a campground as defined pursuant to this chapter.
Includes any licensed camp trailer, travel trailer or other
unit built or mounted on a vehicle or chassis designed without permanent
foundation which is used for temporary dwelling or sleeping purposes
and which does not exceed eight feet in width in its travel state.
Includes any plot of ground within a campground intended
for occupancy by a camp unit or units.
A system or systems under control and maintained by one ownership
that serves two or more dwelling units.
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and
banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
Any activity that directly or indirectly removes the vegetative
surface cover.
Wastes resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and
demolition of structures, road building and land clearing. Such wastes
include but are not limited to bricks, concrete and other masonry
materials, soil, rock, lumber, road spoils, paving material and tree
and brush stumps.
A one-story retail store containing less than 2,000 square
feet of gross floor area that is designed and stocked primarily to
sell food, beverages, and household supplies to retail customers.
Such establishments may include the retail sale of gasoline, oil and
other automotive fluids, although no repairs or servicing of vehicles
are permitted.
A facility licensed by the New York State Department of Social
Services pursuant to Social Services Law. A day-care center program
provides for more than three hours and less than 24 hours per day
of care away from the child's home by an individual, association,
corporation, institution or agency. A day-care center shall not include
any of the following: a day camp; an after-school program operated
for the primary purpose of religious education; or a facility operated
by a public school district.
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version including applicable updates, that serves as the official
guide for stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
A person who undertakes land development activities or acts
as an agent on behalf of another.
Any of various animals, including but not limited to the
horse or sheep, that is typically and customarily adapted to living
in a tame association with humans. Small pets that are not customarily
adapted to being harbored outdoors or in barns, including but not
limited to animals such as canaries, gerbils, and tropical fish, but
specifically excluding cats and dogs, are not regulated for purposes
of this chapter except where the same are harbored and/or bred on
a large scale for commercial, laboratory, fur, or other purposes.
A parcel of land or part thereof used for the disposal by
abandonment, dumping, burial, burning or any other means and for whatever
purpose of any unwanted material of any origin, including but not
limited to metal, stones, concrete, metal tanks, automobiles, automobile
parts, construction and demolition debris, barrels, metal cans, or
other metal containers, hazardous or medical waste materials, or garbage
and soil waste of any nature, and any materials or items which are
being disposed of and which require federal, state, and/or local permits
for the disposal of the same.
A building designed or used as the living quarters for one
or more families. The term "dwelling" shall include seasonal homes
and mobile homes, provided that they meet all of the requirements
of this chapter, the Building Code and all other federal, state or
municipal regulations, ordinances or local laws applicable to dwellings.
A building or entirely self-contained portion thereof containing
complete housekeeping facilities for only one family, and having no
enclosed spaces (other than vestibules, entrances and other hallways
or porches) or cooking or sanitary facilities in common with any other
dwelling unit. A boardinghouse room, dormitory, motel, inn, nursing
home, or other similar structure shall not be deemed to constitute
a "dwelling unit."
A detached building containing one dwelling unit only.
A detached building containing two dwelling units only.
Scrapers, loaders, crawler or wheel tractors, bulldozers,
off-highway trucks, graders, agricultural and industrial tractors,
and similar equipment. The promulgation of specific rules for compactors
and rubber-tired "skid-steer" equipment is reserved pending consideration
of standards currently being developed.
The most recent version of the "New York Standards and Specifications
for Erosion and Sediment Control" manual, commonly known as the "Blue
Book."
One or more persons living together as a single, stable,
bona fide housekeeping unit using all rooms and housekeeping facilities
of a dwelling unit in common. Any such number of persons shall not
be deemed to constitute a "family" if any one of such persons does
not have lawful access to all parts of said dwelling unit and/or if
any or more of such persons lease or rent any separate portion of
such dwelling unit from any other persons.
The sum of the gross horizontal area of the floor or floors
of a structure as measured from the exterior faces of the wall of
the building.
Including but not limited to domesticated birds such as pigeons,
chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and pheasants raised in confinement,
whether indoors or outdoors.
An enclosed space for the storage of one or more motor vehicles,
provided that no business, occupation or service is conducted for
profit therein nor space therein for more than one car is leased to
a nonresident of the premises.
Any garage other than a private garage, available to the
public, operated for gain, and which is used for storage, repair,
rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting, or equipping of automobiles
or other motor vehicles.
Excavation or fill of material, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
A for-profit or not-for-profit indoor or mixed indoor/outdoor
recreational and exercise facility that may include such facilities
as weight-lifting equipment, indoor and/or outdoor running tracks,
swimming pools, tennis, squash, handball, or racquetball courts, exercise
machines such as treadmills, rowers, stationary bicycles and the like,
and accessory facilities such as saunas, tanning rooms, showers and
locker rooms, but specifically excluding video game rooms as well
as all uses listed under § 250-61O(3) of this chapter as
prohibited recreational uses.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade along the side of the structure fronting on
the nearest street to the highest point of such structure.
Any gainful occupation customarily conducted within a dwelling
by its residents thereof, clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling
for living purposes, and that does not change the character of the
structure as a residence. Said activity shall not occupy more than
1/2 of the ground floor area of the dwelling or its equivalent elsewhere
in the dwelling if so used. Permissible home occupations include,
but are not limited to, art-and-craft studio, writer's studio, insurance
sales office, bed-and-breakfast establishment, dressmaking, offices
of a clergyman, lawyer, physician, dentist, architect, engineer, accountant
or similar professional; teaching, with musical, dancing and other
instruction limited to one pupil at a time; barbershop or beauty parlor
limited to one station, and office of real estate broker or salesperson.
However, home occupations shall not be construed to include uses such
as the following: clinic or hospital, restaurant, animal hospital,
or dog kennel.
Any domesticated animal used solely for the enjoyment of
the member(s) of a household and not for commercial purposes. Domesticated
animals shall not include wild individual animals that have been tamed
for household habitation, livestock, poultry, or ratitae.
Those surfaces, improvements and structures that cannot effectively
infiltrate rainfall, snowmelt and water (e.g., building rooftops,
pavement, sidewalks, driveways, etc.).
A state pollutant discharge elimination system permit issued
to a commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the
pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges
or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
Any area of land including buildings thereon which is used
primarily for the collecting, storage and sale of wastepaper, rags,
scrap metal, tires or discarded material; or for the collecting, dismantling,
storage or salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition
and for the sale of parts thereof. Two or more motor vehicles either
whole or complete, partially dismantled or parts thereof, stored outside
without current license plates, unregistered and uninsured, shall
constitute a "junkyard."
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
commonly known as "hydrophytic vegetation." Such areas may also have
government entities such as the New York State Department of Conservation
(NYSDEC) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) which
have jurisdiction over it.
A place where more than six adult dogs are kept for boarding,
breeding and/or training, raising, grooming, training or veterinary
care.
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill that results in land disturbance
of equal to or greater than one acre or activities disturbing less
than one acre of total land area that is part of a larger common plan
of development or sale, even though multiple separate and distinct
land development activities may take place at different times on different
schedules.
Domesticated animals raised as a part of or in connection
with an agricultural operation, including but not limited to horses,
cows, poultry, sheep, goats, mink and pigs. See "agriculture."
A piece or parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied
by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory
buildings or utilized for a principal use and uses, accessory or incidental
to the operation thereof, together with such open spaces as required
by this chapter, and having frontage on a public street.
The total area of a lot.
The percentage of the area of the lot covered by a building
or buildings.
Any boundary of a lot other than a street line.
The line separating a lot from a street.
The lot line generally opposite to the street line.
The distance between side lot lines at the required minimum
front yard depth measured along a line parallel to a line connecting
the end points of the front lot line.
A lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting
streets. Such a lot would have two front yards.
The minimum distance from the street line of a lot to the
rear lot line of such lot.
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction, and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
Any process whereby the nature, size or shape of articles
or raw materials are changed, or where articles are assembled or packaged
in quantity.
Any vehicle mounted on wheels, movable either by its own power
or capable of being drawn by another vehicle, and equipped to be used
for living or sleeping quarters or so as to permit cooking.
The term "mobile home" shall include vehicles if mounted on
temporary or permanent foundations with the wheels removed.
The term "mobile home" shall not include a camping trailer,
travel trailer, or office trailer.
Mobile homes are built with steel chassis, not requiring a foundation.
Mobile homes require a title and do not need to be registered with
the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles. Modular homes are placed on
a foundation or basement. Manufactured homes are similar to modular,
but require permanent wheeled chassis.
Any area of land occupied by two or more mobile homes that
are used for dwelling purposes.
Any area of land upon which mobile homes are placed for purposes
of sale or display.
A mobile home structure, transportable in two or more sections,
which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with
or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities.
An off-site fabricated, sectionalized transportable building
for dwelling purposes, designed to be used by itself or to be incorporated
with similar building sections and placed on a permanent foundation
at the building site.
Any establishment consisting of a building or group of buildings
providing living and/or sleeping accommodations with individual bathrooms,
and designed for use by transient automobile travelers. Length of
stay shall be limited to a period not to exceed 30 consecutive days
nor more than 90 days in a calendar year within any room in such a
facility.
Employs four or fewer employees at one time, generates little
or no heavy truck traffic, contains no outdoor storage yards, and
is situated in a building or portion of a building of not more than
2,500 square feet in floor area.
Any lot lawfully existing and on record on the effective
date of this chapter or any amendment thereto which does not meet
the minimum bulk requirements, including but not limited to lot area
and/or lot width, the depth requirements of this chapter for the zoning
district in which such lot is situated as a result of such enactment
or amendment.
Any structure which is lawfully in existence within a given
zoning district on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment
thereto, but which is not in conformance with the bulk table regulations[1] for that zoning district as a result of such enactment
or amendment.
Any use which is lawfully in existence within a given zoning
district on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereto
which does not conform to the district use regulations as a result
of such enactment or amendment.
Pollution from any source other than from any discernible,
confined, and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be
limited to, pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction,
subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
An instructional facility for preschool children, usually
between ages three and five, providing care for less than three hours
a day. Schools may hold two sessions daily.
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation,
group, partnership, or entity.
As it relates to Article XII, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, clearing a parcel of land in distinct pieces or parts, with the stabilization of each piece completed before the clearing of the next.
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment
(such as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation) and any other
pollutant that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any
water body that will receive a discharge from the land development
activity.
In any residence district, the residential structure shall
be deemed the principal structure on the lot when a residence is situated
on the lot.
A graduate forester from a Society of American Foresters'
accredited forestry curriculum who has at least two years of experience
in the field of forest management or timber harvesting.
As it relates to Article XII, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, land development activity.
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
A fully enclosed permanent store for the sale of retail goods
and commodities of various types. This definition shall include a
department store and also personal service shops such as hair care
salons, nail salons and the like. However, establishments involving
the sale of gasoline or other fuels, new or used motor vehicles, heavy
machinery or farm equipment, trailers or modular homes, or used automotive
parts shall not be included in this definition.
These categories consist of private, public and parochial
facilities that provide a curriculum of elementary and secondary academic
instruction, as well as higher education, including kindergartens;
elementary, middle, junior and senior high schools; and two- year,
four-year and advanced degree institutions. Nursery schools and day-care
facilities licensed by the state are covered under "nursery schools"
and "day care."
Measures that prevent eroded sediment from leaving the site.
A public facility for dead storage of personal, household
or business property which is serviced by the owner of the stored
property or an agent of the owner. The term "self-storage center"
includes all similar uses and terms, but shall not be construed to
mean a warehouse.
Dwelling units, either rental or condominium, established
for primarily individuals and families age 55 and older with not more
than two bedrooms per unit.
Cold-water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater
recharge areas, water supply reservoirs, habitats for threatened,
endangered or special concern species.
Any letter, word, model, banner, pennant, insignia, trade
flag, device, or representation used as, or which is in the nature
of, an advertisement, attraction or directive.
Includes all faces of a sign measured as follows:
When such sign is on a plate or framed or outlined, all of the
area of such plate or the area enclosed by such frame or outline shall
be included;
When such sign consists only of letters, design, or figures
engraved, painted or projected or in any manner affixed on a wall,
the total area of such sign shall be deemed the area within which
all of the matter of which such sign consists may be inscribed.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) issued to developers of construction activities to
regulate disturbance of one or more acres of land.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) issued to municipalities to regulate discharges from
municipal separate storm sewers for compliance with EPA established
water quality standards and/or to specify stormwater control standards.
As it relates to Article XII, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, the use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
An order issued which requires that all construction activity
on a site be stopped.
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations
of hydrocarbons, trace metals or toxicants than are found in typical
stormwater runoff, based on monitoring studies.
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are
designed to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate its adverse impacts
on property, natural resources and the environment.
One or a series of stormwater management practices installed,
stabilized and operating for the purpose of controlling stormwater
runoff.
An employee or officer designated by the municipality to
accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the
plans to the applicable municipal board and inspect stormwater management
practices.
Measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing flood damage
and preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
A plan for controlling stormwater runoff and pollutants from
a site during and after construction activities.
Flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
A space between the surface of any floor and the surface
of the next higher floor, or if no floor above it, the space between
the surface of any floor and the ceiling immediately above it.
A public way which affords principal means of access to abutting
properties.
Anything constructed or erected on or under the ground or
upon or attached to another structure or buildings or any other use
attached to another use or structure attached to the ground, including
but not limited to stadiums, platforms, radio towers, underground
utilities, sheds, storage bins, portable concrete batch plants, billboards,
and display signs.
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals,
the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial seas of the state of New
York and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial,
inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those
private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural
surface or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within
or bordering the state or within its jurisdiction. Storm sewers and
waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons which
also meet the criteria of this definition are not waters of the state.
This exclusion applies only to man-made bodies of water which neither
were originally created in waters of the state (such as a disposal
area in wetlands) nor resulted from impoundment of waters of the state.
A private swimming pool, pond or tank that is constructed,
installed or maintained upon any premises by any person for his own
or his family's use and for the use of his guests and invitees, and
shall also mean and include a wading pool or tank, artificially constructed
or installed, not designed or used for swimming with a surface area
of more than 120 square feet and a water depth of more than 18 inches.
This definition shall explicitly exclude farm ponds.
An activity that fells standing trees and/or removes trees,
stems, tops or branches within any twelve-month period whose volume
is greater than 20 standard cords of wood or 2,560 cubic feet of wood
or 10,000 board feet of timber, as measured by international 1/4 inch
log rule on any one parcel or series of contiguous parcels in the
same ownership.
A dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided
or offered for transient guests for compensation, to include, but
not limited to "rooming house," "lodging house," "group dwelling,"
and "tourist accommodation."
Any type of portable structure, whether on wheels, skids,
rollers, blocks or foundation supports which is capable of being used
for living or sleeping purposes or the transportation or storage of
material. The term "trailer" shall include, but is not limited to,
camping trailer, utility trailer, travel trailer, office trailer,
or truck trailer.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is used
or occupied or maintained.
Structural components of a transmission or distribution system
using a physical medium such as pipe, wire, cable or conduit, for
such services as electricity, gas, water or telephone. Also, the structural
components of a transmission or distribution system using a nonphysical
medium such as air for such services. Ham radios and private radio
services or providers shall not be considered a utility for the purposes
of this definition.
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
As it relates to Article XII, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, a channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or to the public storm drain.
An open space which lies between the principal building or
groups of buildings and the nearest lot line and is unoccupied and
unobstructed from the ground upward, except as herein permitted:
YARD, FRONTAn open space extending the full width of the lot between the principal building and the front lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
YARD, REARAn open space extending the full width of the lot between a principal building and the rear lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
YARD, SIDEAn open space extending from the front yard to the rear yard, between the principal building and the nearest side lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also the bulk tables included in attachments
to this chapter.
