Village of Fishkill, NY Design Standards

The Planning Board, in considering an application for the subdivision of land, shall be guided by the following standards, which shall be deemed to be the minimum requirements for the convenience, health, safety and general welfare of the village.

§ 139-40 Land subject to fire, flood and other hazards. [1]

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. Land subject to such hazards shall not be subdivided nor developed for residential purposes nor for such other uses as may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate a flood hazard, but such land may be set aside for such uses as shall not involve such danger nor produce unsatisfactory living conditions.

[1]

Editor's Note: For additional regulations pertaining to flood damage prevention, see Ch. 171, Zoning.

§ 139-41 Conformity to Development Plan and Official Map.

Streets, parks and other subdivision features shall conform to the Village Development Plan and the Official Map.

§ 139-42 Frontage on improved streets.

The area proposed to be subdivided shall have frontage on and direct access to a street duly placed on the Official Map or, if an Official Map has not yet been adopted, an existing state, county, town or village highway or a street shown on a plat approved by the Planning Board under the provisions of § 7-732 of the Village Law or a street on a plat duly filed and recorded in the office of the County Clerk prior to the appointment of the Planning Board and the grant to it of the power to approve plats. Such street shall be improved to the satisfaction of the Planning Board, or there shall be a bond held by the village covering the full cost of such improvement.

§ 139-43 Preservation of natural features.

Land to be subdivided shall be laid out and improved in reasonable conformity with existing topography in order to minimize grading, cut and fill and to retain, insofar as possible, the natural contours, to limit stormwater runoff and to conserve the natural cover and soil. No topsoil, sand or gravel shall be removed from any lots shown on any sub-division plat except for the purpose of improving such lots and for the laying out of streets shown thereon. Topsoil so removed shall be restored to a depth of six inches and properly seeded and fertilized on the areas of such lots not occupied by buildings or structures. No excess topsoil so removed shall be disposed of outside of the boundaries of the village, except upon the approval of the Village Board.

Existing natural features that enhance the attractiveness of the site and which would add value to residential or other development or to the village as a whole, such as trees, watercourses, ponds and similar irreplaceable assets, shall be preserved, insofar as possible, by harmonious design of the subdivision. The Planning Board may make reasonable modifications in standards for layout of streets to accomplish such purposes in accordance with the provisions of § 139-83 herein.

§ 139-44 Location and improvement of streets.

Streets shall be suitably located, of sufficient width and adequately improved to accommodate the prospective traffic and to afford satisfactory access to police, fire-fighting, snow removal or other road maintenance equipment and shall be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system. Where a street connection is necessary for the appropriate development of adjoining land, the arrangement of streets shall include such provision. All streets shall be properly related to the Development Plan and in conformance with the Official Map in location and design.

§ 139-45 Street design.

Streets shall meet the following design standards. Street classification may be indicated on the Village Development Plan or Official Map. Otherwise it shall be determined by the Planning Board. Standards are not shown for major streets which would be built by the state or county.

Schedule of standards.

	Street Classification
Dimension	Local Residential	Collector	Major
Minimum width of right- of-way (feet)	50	60	60
Minimum width of pave- ment, excluding curbs or gutters (feet)	22	24	24
Minimum radius of hor- izontal curves of street line at center line (feet)	100	200	400
Minimum length of tan- gent between reverse curves (feet)	100	200	200
Maximum grade (per- cent)	10	8	6
Minimum grade (percent)	1	1	1
Minimum sight distance (feet)	275	275	275

Minimum length of vertical curves:

(1)

Local street, crest curve: 100 feet, but not less than 20 feet for each 1% of algebraic difference in grade.

(2)

Collector street, crest curve: 150 feet, but not less than 30 feet for each 1% of algebraic difference in grade.

§ 139-46 Relation of streets to topography.

Streets shall be related appropriately to the natural topography and shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at or above the grades of the streets. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided.

§ 139-47 Continuation of streets between adjacent properties.

The arrangement of streets shall provide for the continuation of streets between adjacent properties where such continuation is necessary for convenient movement of traffic, effective fire protection or the construction or extension, presently or when later required, of needed utilities and services, such as water, sewer and drainage facilities, and in places where such continuation is shown on the Village Development Plan. Where the Planning Board finds that topographic conditions make such continuance impracticable or undesirable, the above conditions may be modified. If the adjacent property is undeveloped and the street must be a dead-end street temporarily, the right-of-way shall be extended to the property line. A temporary circular turnaround with a traveled way having a minimum of 50 feet in radius shall be provided on all temporary dead-end streets, with the notation on the plat that land outside the normal street right-of-way shall revert to abutters whenever the street is continued.

§ 139-48 Permanent dead-end streets.

Where a street does not extend to the boundary of the subdivision and its continuation is not required by the Planning Board for access to or from adjoining property, its terminus shall normally not be nearer to such boundary than the minimum lot depth prescribed by the zoning regulations for the zoning district in which the land is located. Reserve strips of land shall not be left between the end of a proposed street and an adjacent piece of property. However, the Planning Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide easement to accommodate pedestrian traffic or utilities. A circular turnaround with a minimum right-of-way radius of 65 feet and pavement with a radius of 55 feet shall be provided at the end of a permanent dead-end street. For greater convenience to traffic and more effective police and fire protection, permanent dead-end streets shall, in general, be limited in length to six times the minimum lot width for the zoning district, exclusive of the turnaround area. Where the Board determines that it is impractical or undesirable to subdivide a property except by a dead-end road which is of greater length, the Board may permit this. However, subdivisions containing 20 lots or more shall have at least two street connections with existing streets, streets shown on the Official Map, if such exists, or streets on an approved subdivision plat for which a bond has been filed.

§ 139-49 Provisions 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 Planning 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.

§ 139-50 Subdivisions abutting or containing major or collector streets.

When a subdivision abuts or contains an existing or proposed major or collector street, the Planning Board may require marginal access streets, reverse frontage lots with screen planting contained in a nonaccess reservation along the property line adjoining the street, combined access for driveways or such other treatment as may be necessary to limit possible traffic hazards and afford separation of through and local traffic.

§ 139-51 Street intersections.

Intersections of major streets by other streets shall be at least 800 feet apart, if possible. Cross (four-cornered) street intersections shall be avoided insofar as possible, except as shown on the Village Development Plan or at other important traffic locations. A distance of at least 150 feet shall be maintained between center lines of offset intersecting streets. Within 100 feet of an intersection, streets shall be at approximately right angles. Grades shall be limited to no more than 2% within 50 feet of an intersection.

All street intersection corners shall be rounded by curves of at least 25 feet in radius at the edge of pavement. The triangular areas formed by the intersecting street right-of-way lines, for a distance of 25 feet from their intersection, and the diagonals connecting the end points of these lines shall be included within the street right-of-way, and visibility for traffic safety shall be provided by clearing this area of all plant growth, except posts, columns or trees separated not less than six feet from each other, above a level three feet higher than the center line of the nearest street, and by excavating, where necessary. Wherever two streets intersect at an angle smaller than 75°, the right-of-way returns and the relationship of gutter grades shall be given special treatment, as determined by the Planning Board, and islands to channelize traffic may be required.

If a new road shown on a proposed subdivision plat intersects a state or county highway, the applicant shall submit his proposal for the design and construction of such intersection to the appropriate Department of Public Works for approval. Such approval should be obtained prior to the official submission date. A formal acknowledgment of such approval shall be filed with the Planning Board prior to the public hearing.

§ 139-52 Street names.

All streets shall be named, and such names shall be subject to the approval of the Planning Board. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and in spelling from other street names in the village so as not to cause confusion. A street which is a continuation of an existing street shall bear the same name.

§ 139-53 Blocks.

The length, width and shape of a block shall be determined with due regard to:

(1)

Provision of adequate building sites suitable to the special needs of the type of use contemplated.

(2)

Zoning requirements as to lot sizes and dimensions.

(3)

Needs for convenient access, circulation, control and safety of street traffic.

(4)

Limitations and opportunities of topography and the objectives of these regulations.

Block dimensions shall be at least twice the minimum lot depth and generally not more than 1,200 feet. In long blocks, the Board may require the establishment of easements or public ways through the block to accommodate utilities, drainage facilities or pedestrian access to community facilities.

§ 139-54 Arrangement of lots.

The lot size, width, depth, shape and arrangement shall be appropriate for the type of development and use contemplated and shall be such that there will be no foreseeable difficulties, for reasons of topography or other conditions, in securing building permits to build on all lots in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance[1] and in providing access to buildings on such lots from an approved street

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 171, Zoning.

§ 139-55 Lot dimensions.

Lot dimensions shall comply with the minimum standards of the Zoning Ordinance. Where lots are more than double the minimum required area for the zoning district, the Planning Board may require that such lots be arranged so as to allow further subdivision and the opening of future streets where they would be necessary to serve such potential lots, all in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance and these regulations.

§ 139-56 Corner lots.

Dimensions of corner lots shall be large enough to allow for erection of buildings, observing the minimum front yard setback from both streets.

§ 139-57 Lot lines and setbacks.

Side lot lines shall be substantially at right angles to straight streets and radial to curved street lines. Lot lines shall coincide with municipal boundary lines rather than cross them. Where extra width has been dedicated for widening an existing street, lots shall begin at such extra-width line, and lot dimensions and setbacks shall be measured from such line. The Planning Board may, whenever it deems such lines desirable or necessary, require the showing on the plat of specific setback lines which may vary from lot to lot, provided that the front setback shall be not less than the zoning requirement nor more than 20% greater than the zoning setback.

§ 139-58 Double-frontage lots.

Double-frontage lots, other than corner lots, shall be avoided except where deemed essential by the Planning Board in order to provide separation of residential development from traffic arteries or to overcome specific disadvantages of topography and orientation. An easement or reserve strip at least 20 feet in width and across which there shall be no right of access shall be provided along the line of lots abutting such traffic artery or other disadvantageous use, and such easement shall be planted and maintained as may be required by the Planning Board.

§ 139-59 Access from streets.

Lots shall not, in general, have their vehicular access from a major or collector street except where the Board determines that no other access is practicable. (See § 139-50.)

Lots shall be so graded that the driveway access from the street shall not be required to exceed a grade of more than 1% within the street right-of-way and not more than 10% between the street right-of-way and the building setback line.

§ 139-60 Access across watercourses.

Where a watercourse separates the buildable area of a lot from the street to which it has access, provision shall be made for installation of a culvert or other structure of size and design approved by the Village Engineer.

§ 139-61 Ownership of water bodies.

If a tract being subdivided contains a water body or a portion thereof, lot lines shall be so drawn as to distribute the entire ownership of the water body among the fees of adjacent lots. The Planning Board may approve an alternative plan whereby the ownership of and responsibility for safe maintenance of the water body is so placed that it will not become a village responsibility.

§ 139-62 Lots for existing residences.

Where a proposed subdivision is to include an existing residence larger in-size than can appropriately be placed on a lot of the size permitted in the zoning district, the Planning Board may require that the lot created for such existing residence be of such size and so related to the proposed street system that the said existing residence will be an appropriate part of the subdivision.