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Town of Greenfield, NY
Saratoga County
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A. 
Pursuant to Article 16 of the New York State Town Law and according to the authority granted by the Town Board in a resolution adopted June 20, 1973, and amended June 12, 1975, the Town of Greenfield Planning Board has been authorized to develop and enforce standards for the control of land subdivision within the Town of Greenfield.
B. 
The regulations, standards and procedures contained herein are developed to ensure that the land to be subdivided is suitable for building purposes without creating dangers to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace. The regulations ensure that proper provisions will be made for drainage, water, sewerage and other needed improvements. Streets and highways must meet the minimum Town standards and must accommodate the expected volume of traffic. Where appropriate, the regulations establish standards for preserving and developing open space areas for playground and other recreational purposes.
C. 
It is the further policy of these regulations to ensure optimum overall conservation, protection, development and use of the scenic, aesthetic, wildlife, recreational, open space, historic, ecological and natural resources of the Adirondack Park.
These regulations may be known and cited as the "Town of Greenfield, New York, Subdivision Regulations."
A. 
For the purpose of these subdivision regulations, words used in the present tense include the future; the plural includes the singular; the word "lot" includes the word "plot"; the word "building" includes the word "structure"; the word "shall" is intended to be mandatory; and the word "occupied" includes the words "designed for occupancy" or "intended to be occupied."
B. 
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD
An area in a community that has been identified as susceptible to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year. A 1% probability flood also is known as the "one-hundred-year flood."
AREA REGULATIONS
The regulation of building size, setbacks or yards, parking and loading requirements and similar regulations which are not related to a specific land use, but excluding performance standards.
BASE FLOW
The portion of stream flow that is not due to storm runoff; is supported by groundwater discharge into a channel.
BOND
A written agreement issued by a qualified agent which guarantees either the performance of a certain agreed-upon activity or an equivalent consideration if the activity is not completed as required.
BUILDING
Any structure wholly or partially enclosed within exterior walls and columns or within exterior walls and party walls and a roof, affording shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. When such a structure is divided into separate parts by one or more fire walls extending from the ground up, each part is deemed a separate building except as regards minimum side yard requirements.
CENTRAL PRIVATE UTILITY
A sewerage or water system which serves a subdivision and which is paid for with nonpublic funds and without special district taxation.
CLERK OF THE PLANNING BOARD
That person who shall be designated to perform the duties of the Clerk of the Planning Board for the purposes of these regulations.
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT OR AVERAGE DENSITY DEVELOPMENT
A development design technique that concentrates buildings in specific areas on a site to allow the remaining land to be used for recreation, common open space and preservation of environmentally sensitive areas, without exceeding the overall maximum density permitted by this chapter. Refer to § 281 of the Town Law.
COMMON OPEN SPACE
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water, designed and intended for the private or public use or enjoyment of the space, and may include such appurtenant structures as are necessary to allow the enjoyment of the space.
CROSSWALK or WALKWAY
An accessway designed for pedestrian traffic and dedicated to public use.
CUL-DE-SAC
A designated turnaround area for vehicles at the end of a street.
DEVELOPER
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of all the land proposed to be included in a development proposal. The holder of an option or contract to purchase, a lessee having a remaining term of not less than 20 years or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land shall be deemed to be a developer for the purposes of this chapter.
DOUBLE-FRONTAGE LOT
A lot with the rear and front lot lines abutting existing or proposed streets and/or rights-of-way.
DRY WELL
Similar to an infiltration trench but smaller with inflow from pipe; commonly covered with soil and used for drainage areas of less than one acre such as roadside inlets and rooftop runoff.
EASEMENT
A property right giving the holder thereof right of access to land for a specified purpose.
ENGINEER
An individual duly qualified and licensed to perform engineering work in the State of New York.
EXTENDED DETENTION
A practice designed to store stormwater runoff by collection as a temporary pool of water, usually having less than a twenty-four-hour residence time; a practice which is used to control peak discharge rates and which provides gravity settling of pollutants.
FIRST FLUSH
The delivery of a disproportionately large load of pollutants during the early part of storms due to the rapid runoff of accumulated pollutants. The first flush in these guidelines is defined as 1/2 inch of runoff per acre of land which has been made more impervious from predevelopment (natural) conditions through land clearing, land grading and construction/development activities.
FLOODPLAIN
For a given flood event, that area of land adjoining a continuous watercourse which has been covered temporarily by water.
FOREBAY
An extra storage area or treatment area, such as a sediment pond or created wetland, near an inlet of a stormwater management facility to trap incoming sediments or take up nutrients before they reach a retention or extended detention pond.
FRONTAGE
That side of a lot abutting a Town road or a road meeting Town road standards, ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot. For the purposes of determining yard requirements on corner lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to a road shall be considered frontage.
[Amended 4-9-1998 by L.L. No. 2-1998]
HEC-2
United States Army Corp of Engineers Computer Program 723-X6-L202A, intended for calculating water surface profiles for steady or gradually varied flow in natural or man-made channels.
HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION
A contract agreed to by owners of homes in any area that provides regulations for the operation and maintenance of commonly owned facilities and/or open space, in accordance with New York State law.
IMPERVIOUS AREA
Impermeable surfaces, such as pavement or rooftops, which prevent the infiltration of water into the soil.
INFILTRATION
A practice designed to promote the recharge of groundwater by containment and concentration of stormwater in porous soils.
INFILTRATION BASIN
An impoundment made by excavation or embankment construction; commonly serves a drainage area of five to 50 acres, usually closer to 50.
LANDSCAPING
The act of changing or enhancing the natural features of a plot of ground (usually around a building) so as to make it more attractive, as by adding lawns, trees, bushes, etc.
LOT
A parcel of land having a distinct and defined boundary as described in a separate deed, occupied or capable of being occupied by a building or buildings and for accessory buildings and/or uses, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter, and having frontage on an existing or proposed road.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION
The division of a single parcel into at least two or more lots in such a way that it requires the construction of a new street or public utility or the expansion or extension of an existing street or public utility for the parcels to be developed or which involves the creation of more than four lots.
MINOR SUBDIVISION
The division of a single parcel into at least two but not more than four lots in such a way that it does not require the construction of a new street or public utility or the expansion or extension of an existing street or public utility for the parcels to be developed.
OFFICIAL MAP, TOWN
The map established by the Town Board under § 270 of the Town Law, showing the streets, highways and parks theretofore laid out, adopted and established by law and all changes and additions thereto made under the provisions of the Town Law.
OUTFALL
The terminus of a storm drain where the contents are released.
PEAK FLOW
The maximum instantaneous flow of water during a storm, usually in reference to a specific design storm event.
PEAK FLOW ATTENUATION
The reduction of the peak discharge of storm runoff by storage and gradual release of that storage.
PLAN, SKETCH
A discretionary feature of major subdivision review which provides the applicant the opportunity to outline the general nature of the proposal for subdivision prior to official application for subdivision review. The sketch plan is intended to provide the Planning Board with sufficient information to evaluate the proposal and advise the subdivider on the proper method of application, the general acceptability of the concept, the consistency with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and any other special concerns which should be addressed prior to submission by the applicant for preliminary plat approval.
PLAT, FINAL
The final plans, drawings and supplementary details of a subdivision which are to act as a guide for the actual development of the land and which, if approved by the Planning Board, shall be submitted for filing with the County Clerk.
PLAT, PRELIMINARY
The salient features of a proposed subdivision, including drawings and supplementary details indicating all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures and intensity of use or density of development, private streets, ways and parking facilities, to be submitted to the Planning Board for its consideration. The phrase "provisions of the plat," when used in these regulations, shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
RETENTION
A practice designed to store stormwater runoff by collection as a permanent pool of water without release except by means of evaporation, infiltration or attenuated release when runoff volume exceeds the permanent storage capacity of the permanent pool.
REVERSE-FRONTAGE LOT
A lot, parcel or site where the rear line abuts an existing or proposed street.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
See "easement."
RIPARIAN AREA
A relatively narrow strip of land that borders a stream or river.
RIPRAP
A combination of large stone, cobbles and boulders used to line channels, stabilize streambanks, reduce runoff velocities or filter out sediment.
RISER
A vertical pipe extending from the bottom of a pond that is used to control the discharge rate from the pond for a specified design storm.
ROAD
(1) 
ALLEYA public or private way permanently reserved as a secondary means of access to abutting property.
(2) 
ROAD, STREET or HIGHWAYA public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road and any other thoroughfare except an alley.
(3) 
ROAD, STREET OR HIGHWAY CENTER LINEThe line determined by connecting the midpoints of the surfaced portion of any street, road or highway.
(4) 
ROAD, STREET OR HIGHWAY LINELimit of street or highway right-of-way line. For the purposes of this chapter, road line, street line and highway line shall mean the same.
(5) 
ROADS, PRIMARY (also known as "arterials")Interregional roads conveying traffic between towns, boroughs and other urban centers. Efficient movement is the primary function of "arterial roads," hence, they are designed to provide fast moving, free-flowing traffic.
(6) 
ROADS, SECONDARYA road or street designated for the movement of traffic between primary roads and local roads as well as for serving adjacent land uses.
(7) 
ROADS, LOCALA road or street designed to collect traffic from individual properties and distribute it to secondary and/or primary roads, not intended for through traffic movement.
(8) 
MARGINAL ACCESS ROADA form of local road, parallel and adjacent to primary and secondary roads, which provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
SAND-ATTENUATING FILTER
A chamber open to the surface containing a surface layer of sand over a high-void aggregate base; these are innovative but apparently effective practices for atypical situations such as where a site is unsuitable for stormwater infiltration or retention.
SEWERAGE, COMMUNITY
A system whereby waterborne wastes from toilets, wash laundry and/or other facilities in dwellings, accessory buildings, business or industrial establishments, or any combination thereof, on two or more lots are conducted through pipes to a treatment plant (other than a septic tank) where wastes are treated, the solids and liquids separated and the effluent, which has been treated to a level measuring against pollution, is discharged through an outfall sewer into an acceptable stream or other permanent body of water.
SEWERAGE, PRIVATE
An on-site method of sewage treatment (usually a septic tank and a drainage field or fields) designed, installed, operated and maintained by the owner of the premises in accordance with the requirements and standards of the State Department of Health.
SHEETFLOW
Runoff which flows over the ground surface as a thin even layer, not concentrated in a channel.
SPDES
An acronym for the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; a regulatory permit program administered under Article 17 of the Environmental Conservation Law by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to control point-source discharges of water pollution.
STORM FREQUENCY
The average frequency of occurrence of events having a given volume and duration; for example, a two- , ten- , or one-hundred-year storm.
STORM DRAIN
Any open or closed conduit designed to convey stormwater.
STORM DURATION
The length of time over which a precipitation event occurs [e.g., 24 hours].
STORM VOLUME
The total amount of precipitation occurring over the storm duration.
STRUCTURE
That which is built or constructed, or a portion thereof, either on site or prebuilt.[1]
[Amended 5-8-2008 by L.L. No. 1-2008]
SUBDIVIDER
The developer or contractor who will subdivide, the owner of the land to be subdivided or any authorized agent of the developer, contractor or owner.
SUBDIVISION
Any division of land into two or more lots, parcels, blocks or sites, whether adjoining or not, for the purpose of sale, lease, license or any form of separate ownership or occupancy (including grading, road construction, installation of utilities or other improvements or any other land use and development preparatory or incidental to any such division) by any person or by any other person controlled by, under common control with or controlling such person or by any group of persons acting in concert as part of a common scheme or plan. "Subdivision of land" shall include any map, plat or other plan of the division of land, whether or not previously filed. "Subdivision of land" shall not include the lease of land for hunting and fishing and other open space recreation uses.
SWALE
A natural depression or wide shallow ditch used to temporarily route or filter runoff.
TOWN LAW
McKinney's and McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated, Book 61.
TR-20
A rainfall runoff model developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service for hydrologic analyses of a watershed under present conditions of land cover/use and structural or channel modifications using single-event storm/rainfall-frequency data. Output consists of peaks and/or flood hydrographs, their time of occurrence and water surface elevations at any desired cross section or structure.
VARIANCE
Permission by the Zoning Board of Appeals to use land for a use or in a configuration which is not in accordance with or is prohibited by the applicable zoning regulations.[2]
VARIANCE, AREA
Permission by the Zoning Board of Appeals to construct or alter a structure in a manner otherwise inconsistent with the yard, height or other dimensional requirements of the Zoning Chapter.[3]
VARIANCE, USE
Permission by the Zoning Board of Appeals to use a parcel for a use which is otherwise prohibited by the Zoning Chapter.
WATER SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, COMMUNITY
A supply of water from a reliable source adequate to meet the daily needs of dwellings and their permitted accessory buildings or business or industrial establishments, or any combination thereof, on two or more lots or parcels of land and having a system of intake conduits or pipes, pumps, purification and storage equipment and facilities, hydrants and other ancillary equipment and a system of distribution mains and pipes whereby the potable water is conducted to the dwellings, accessory buildings, business or industrial establishments, or any combination thereof, located on the lots served by the system.
WATER SUPPLY, PRIVATE
A supply of potable water from a reliable source adequate to meet the daily needs of a dwelling and its permitted accessory buildings or a business or an industry on a lot or parcel of land meeting the area and frontage requirements for use in the district in which it is located and which supply of water is approved as to potability and reliability and adequacy by the State Department of Health. Such private water supply may be from an on-site well or from a spring, stream, river, lake or other permanent source of water.
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR
The individual appointed by the Town Board for the purpose of handling the daily administration of the Zoning Law.[4]
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definitions of "structure, attached" and "structure detached," which immediately followed, were repealed 7-12-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 105, Zoning.
[3]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 105, Zoning.
[4]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 105, Zoning.
A. 
The subdivision regulations for the Town of Greenfield shall apply to any person, partnership, association, joint venture or corporation which wishes to effect a subdivision after the effective date of these regulations.
B. 
Any subdivision which has been duly approved by the Town of Greenfield Planning Board but which does not meet the standards for subdivisions as described in these regulations and which is not, as yet, developed shall be exempt from complying with such regulations for a period of three years after the recording date of the subdivision plat. After three years, any construction or development taking place in such subdivision shall be subject to the regulations set forth herein. This shall include any subdivision with partially sold lots.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection C, which provided for the division of property between family members, added 11-12-1992, was repealed 4-10-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003.
A. 
The subdivision regulations for the Town of Greenfield shall be administered by the Planning Board in cooperation with the Town Board, the Zoning Administrator, the Town Engineer and other agencies.
B. 
All requests for information, application forms or other related materials should be directed to the Town of Greenfield Planning Board.
C. 
It is recommended that any potential applicant for subdivision review contact the Zoning Administrator to discuss the nature of his proposal on an informal basis prior to initiating a formal request for review. At such a meeting, the proposed subdivision will be classified as either a major or minor subdivision as defined in these regulations and any requirement of this Code shall be clarified. If there is no meeting, then the proposed subdivision will be classified by the Planning Board at the time of formal application submission.
D. 
Whenever any subdivision of land, hereinbefore defined, is proposed to be made and before any contract for the sale of or any offer to sell such subdivision or any part thereof is made, the subdivider shall apply, in writing, to the Planning Board for the approval of such subdivision. The application of the subdivider shall conform to the specifications in Articles II and III of these subdivision regulations, and the applicant must be in compliance with all sections of the Town of Greenfield Zoning Law,[1] except for the item or items encompassed in that particular application.
[Amended 9-12-1991 by L.L. No. 4-1991]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 105, Zoning.