In considering applications for subdivisions of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standards set forth hereinafter. The said standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article VIII herein.
A. 
Character of the land. Land to be subdivided shall be of such character that it can be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace.
B. 
Conformity to Official Map and Master Plan. Subdivisions shall conform to the Official Map of the town and shall be in harmony with the Master Plan if such exists.
C. 
Specifications for required improvements. All required improvements shall be constructed or installed to conform to the town specifications, which may be obtained from the Engineer for the town.
A. 
Width, location and construction. Streets shall be of sufficient width, suitably located and adequately constructed to conform with the Master Plan, if such exists, and to accommodate the prospective traffic and afford access for fire fighting, snow removal and other road maintenance equipment. The arrangement of streets shall be such as to cause no undue hardship to adjoining properties and shall be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system.
B. 
Arrangement. The arrangement of streets in the subdivision shall provide for the continuation of principal streets of adjoining subdivisions, and for proper projection of principal streets into adjoining properties which are not yet subdivided, in order to make possible necessary fire protection, movement of traffic and the construction or extension, presently or when later required, of needed utilities and public services such as sewers, water and drainage facilities. Where, in the opinion of the Planning Board, topographic or other conditions make such continuance undesirable or impractical, the above conditions may be modified.
C. 
Minor streets. Minor streets shall be so laid out that their use by through traffic will be discouraged.
D. 
Special treatment along major arterial streets. When a subdivision abuts or contains an existing or proposed major arterial street, the Board may require marginal access streets, reverse frontage with screen planting contained in a nonaccess reservation along the rear property line, deep lots with rear service alleys, or such other treatment as may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to afford separation of through and local traffic.
E. 
Provision for future resubdivision. Where a tract is subdivided into lots substantially larger than the minimum size required in the zoning district in which a subdivision is located, the Board may require that streets and lots be laid out so as to permit future resubdivision in accordance with the requirements contained in these regulations.
F. 
Dead-end streets. The creation of dead-end or loop residential streets will be encouraged wherever the Board finds that such type of development will not interfere with normal traffic circulation in the area. In the case of dead-end streets where needed or desirable, the Board may require the reservation of a 60-foot-wide easement, to provide for possible continuation of road and pedestrian traffic and utilities to the next street. Subdivisions containing twenty (20) lots or more shall have at least two street connections with existing public streets, or streets shown on the Official Map, if such exists, or streets on an approved subdivision plat for which a bond has been filed.
G. 
Intersection with collector or major arterial roads. Minor or secondary street openings into such roads shall, in general, be at least 500 feet apart.
H. 
Street jogs. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 125 feet shall be avoided.
I. 
Angle of intersection. In general, all streets shall join each other so that for a distance of at least 100 feet the street is approximately at right angles to the street it joins, but at an angle not less than 80 degrees.
J. 
Relation to topography. The street plan of a proposed subdivision shall bear a logical relationship to the topography of the property, and all streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many of the building sites as possible at or above the grade of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography.
K. 
Other required streets. Where a subdivision borders on or contains a railroad right-of-way or limited access highway right-of-way, the Planning Board may require a street approximately parallel to and on each side of such right-of-way, at a distance suitable for the appropriate use of the intervening land (as for park purposes in residential districts, or for commercial or industrial purposes in appropriate districts). Such distances shall also be determined with due regard for the requirements of approach grades and future grade separations.
All street construction shall be in accordance with town road specifications (see Appendix B[1]).
A. 
Widths of rights-of-way. Streets shall have the following widths. (When not indicated on the Master Plan or Official Map, if such exists, the classification of streets shall be determined by the Board.)
Type of Street
Minimum Right-of-Way*
(feet)
Minimum Road Surface
(feet)
Major streets
60
20
Collector streets
60
18
Local or minor streets
60
16
*NOTE: A wider right-of-way may be required due to topography.
B. 
Improvements. Streets shall be graded, have storm drainage facilities and may be improved with pavements, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, water mains, sewers, street lights and signs, street trees and fire hydrants, where applicable, except where waivers may be requested, and the Planning Board may waive, subject to appropriate conditions, such improvements as it considers may be omitted without jeopardy to the public health, safety and general welfare. Pedestrian easements shall be improved as required by the town road specifications. Such grading and improvements shall be approved as to design and specifications by the Engineer for the town.
C. 
Utilities in streets. The Planning Board shall, whenever possible, require that any underground utilities be placed in the street right-of-way between the roadway and street line to simplify location and repair of lines when they require attention.
D. 
Utility easements. Where topography is such as to make impractical the inclusion of utilities within the street rights-of-way, perpetual unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width shall be otherwise provided with satisfactory access to the street. Whenever possible, easements shall be continuous from block to block and shall present as few irregularities as possible. Such easements shall be cleared and graded where required.
E. 
Grades. Grades of all streets shall conform in general to the terrain, and shall not be less than one-half (1/2) nor more than 6% for major or collector streets, or 10% for minor streets in residential zones, but in no case more than 3% within 50 feet of any intersection. Steep grades shall be interrupted by sections of road with flatter slopes (less than 5%) every 750 feet.
F. 
Changes in grade. All changes in grade shall be connected by vertical curves which provide a minimum of 200 feet stopping sight distance but not less than 150 feet in length.
G. 
Curve radii at street intersections. All street right-of-way lines at intersections shall be rounded by curves of at least 20 feet radius and curbs shall be adjusted accordingly.
H. 
Steep grades and curves: visibility at intersections. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided. In order to provide visibility for traffic safety, that portion of any corner lot (whether at an intersection entirely within the subdivision or of a new street with an existing street) which is shown shaded on Sketch A shall be cleared of all growth (except isolated trees) and obstructions above the level three feet higher than the center line of the street. If directed, ground shall be excavated to achieve visibility.
I. 
Dead-end streets (culs-de-sac). Where dead-end streets are designed to be so permanently, they should not exceed 500 feet in length, and shall terminate in a circular turnaround having a minimum right-of-way radius of 100 feet and roadway radius of 75 feet. At the end of temporary dead-end streets a temporary turnaround with a roadway radius of 75 feet shall be provided, unless the Planning Board approves an alternate arrangement.
J. 
Watercourses. Where a watercourse separates a proposed street from abutting property, provision shall be made for access to all lots by means of culverts or other structures of design approved by the Engineer for the town. Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, drainageway, channel or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way as required by the Engineer for the town, and in no case less than 20 feet in width.
K. 
Curve radii. In general, street lines within a block, deflecting from each other at any one point by more than 10 degrees, shall be connected with a curve, the radius of which for the center line of street shall not be less than 400 feet on major streets, 200 feet on collector streets and 200 feet on minor and local streets.
L. 
Service streets or loading space in commercial development. Rear service streets paved according to town road specifications of not less than 18 feet in width, or in lieu thereof, adequate off-street loading space, suitably surfaced, shall be provided in connection with lots designed for commercial use.
M. 
Free flow of vehicular traffic abutting commercial development. In front of areas zoned and designed for commercial use, or where a change of zoning to a zone which permits commercial use is contemplated, the street width shall be increased by such amount on each side as may be deemed necessary by the Planning Board to assure the free flow of through traffic without interference by parked or parking vehicles, and to provide adequate and safe parking space for such commercial or business district.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix B is included at the end of this chapter.
A. 
Type of name. All street names shown on a preliminary plat or subdivision plat shall be approved by the Town Board. In general, streets shall have names and not numbers or letters.
B. 
Names to be substantially different. Proposed street names shall be substantially different so as not to be confused in sound or spelling with present names, except that the streets that join or are in alignment with streets of an abutting or neighboring property shall bear the same name. Generally, no street should change direction by more than 90 degrees without a change in name.
A. 
Corner lots. In general, corner lots should be larger than interior lots to provide for proper building setback from each street and provide for a desirable building site.
B. 
Driveway access. Driveway access and grades shall conform to requirements of the town road specifications.
C. 
Access from private street. Access from private streets shall be deemed acceptable only if such streets are designed and improved in accordance with these regulations.
A. 
Removal of spring and surface water. The subdivider may be required by the Planning Board to carry away by pipe or open ditch any spring or surface water that may exist either previous to or as a result of the subdivision. Such drainage facilities shall be located in the street right-of-way where feasible, or in perpetual unobstructed easements of appropriate width.
B. 
Drainage structure to accommodate potential development upstream. All culverts or other drainage facilities shall, in each case, be large enough to accommodate potential runoff from their entire upstream drainage areas, whether inside or outside the subdivision. The design and size of facility shall be based on anticipated runoff from a "25-year" storm under conditions of total potential development permitted by the Zoning Ordinance[1] in the watershed. Calculations shall be submitted by the subdivider for review by the Engineer for the town.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 205, Zoning.
C. 
Responsibility for drainage downstream. The subdivider's engineer shall also study the effect of each subdivision on the existing downstream drainage facilities outside the area of the subdivision during 25-year and 100-year storm events. This study shall be reviewed by the Engineer for the town. Where it is anticipated that the additional runoff incident to the development of the subdivision will overload an existing downstream drainage facility during a 100-year storm, the Planning Board shall notify the Town Board of such potential condition. In such case, the Planning Board shall not approve the subdivision until provision has been made for the improvement of said condition.
D. 
Land subject to flooding. Land subject to flooding as shown on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, or land deemed by the Floodplain Administrator to be uninhabitable, shall not be platted for residential occupancy, nor for such other uses as may increase danger to health, life or property, or aggravate the flood hazard, but such land within the plat shall be set aside for such uses as shall not be endangered by periodic or occasional inundation or improved in a manner satisfactory to the Floodplain Administrator to remedy said hazardous conditions.
E. 
Erosion and sedimentation control plan requirements. In order to reduce the amount of soil erosion that occurs when land is disturbed during construction activities, such as clearing, grubbing, excavation, filling, grading, etc., and to minimize the amount of sedimentation and resultant pollution of streams, natural drainageways, and other water sources, the Planning Board shall require that the developer submit an erosion and sediment control plan, prepared and sealed by the project engineer, with each final plat.
(1) 
Said plan will prescribe the following erosion and sediment control methods:
(a) 
Mulching.
(b) 
Seeding.
(c) 
Soil stabilization techniques.
(d) 
Construction of stilling basins and/or retention ponds.
(2) 
Said plan will also include:
(a) 
Design calculations.
(b) 
Actual design drawings.
(c) 
Description of the procedures to be followed, to control and minimize erosion and sedimentation during the construction of a subdivision development.
(3) 
Erosion and sedimentation control plans shall comply with the NY Guidelines for Urban Erosion and Sedimentation Control published by the Soil Conservation Service.
Dry hydrants and fire ponds will be encouraged if topographical and soil conditions permit.
A. 
Preservation of natural features. The Planning Board shall, wherever possible, establish the preservation of all natural features which add value to residential developments and to the community, such as large trees or groves, watercourses and falls, beaches, historic spots, vistas, wetlands and similar irreplaceable assets.