By authority of the resolution unanimously adopted
by the Town Board at a regular meeting on April 9, 1969, pursuant
to the provisions of § 276 of the Town Law, the Planning
Board of the Town of New Paltz has the power and authority to approve,
modify and disapprove plats for subdivisions within the Town of New
Paltz.
[Amended 11-26-2002 by L.L. No. 6-2002]
A. It is declared to be the policy of the Town of New
Paltz to provide for the orderly growth of the Town of New Paltz and
for the efficient, coordinated development and use of land and public
roads and other infrastructure in the Town so to assure the comfort,
convenience, health, welfare and safety of its citizens. Accordingly,
the standards below, together with applicable requirements of the
Town Zoning Law, other provisions of the Town Code, the State Environmental
Quality Review Act, and the Town's Comprehensive Plan, as most recently
updated, shall guide the Planning Board in its review and approval
of any proposed subdivision of land within the Town:
(1) All land to be subdivided shall be of such character
that it can be safely used for building or other purposes without
peril or adversely affecting the public health, safety or welfare
of the public, the occupants of the land, or adjoining residences
or uses. In addition, land to be subdivided for residential purposes
shall be suitable for such purposes and provide sufficient usable
area around proposed buildings.
(2) The proposed subdivision plan shall be consistent,
where practicable, with the relevant community-wide goals, objectives
and standards set forth in the Comprehensive Plan.
(3) The proposed subdivision plan shall, where practicable,
protect significant cultural landmarks and resources and their surrounding
visual context; protect significant agricultural lands and resources;
and encourage protection of the rural appearance of the Town of New
Paltz, including the preservation of valued natural features, such
as open space, significant viewsheds, streams, ponds, fields, trees,
and critical habitat areas, and artifacts, such as stone walls.
(4) The proposed subdivision plan shall be designed to
incorporate such contemporary engineering and planning techniques
and standards as the Planning Board determines shall result in a subdivision
design, including adequate provision for vehicular traffic, fire protection
and surface water runoff, that is consistent with best practices and
other uses in the applicable zoning district or districts.
(5) The proposed subdivision plan shall be designed so
as to provide for and/or consider the adequacy of the community facilities
needed to support the contemplated use, such as parks and recreation
facilities, school sites, firehouses and off-street parking and drainage.
(6) The proposed subdivision plan shall make adequate
provision for water supply, drainage, sanitary facilities and other
necessary public improvements and infrastructure needed to serve the
proposed subdivision.
(7) The proposed subdivision plan shall be designed to
provide streets, driveways, and any other necessary access ways of
sufficient grade, width and location as to accommodate present and
reasonably anticipated traffic and to provide access for police, fire
and other emergency services.
(8) The proposed subdivision plan shall be designed to
provide areas for parks, playgrounds and other recreational areas
needed to meet the recreational needs of the occupants of the land
being subdivided, when the Planning Board determines that land within
the subdivision is of suitable location, size and character for such
purposes.
(9) The proposed subdivision plan of lands that are located within the Floodplain Zoning District shall comply in all respects with Chapter
82, Flood Damage Prevention, and §
140-19, Floodplain District, of the Code of the Town of New Paltz. Uses and activities within floodplain areas shall protect the natural beneficial functions of floodplains, shall not be susceptible to damage by flooding or flood-related hazards and shall not increase the danger to human life.
[Added 5-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
B. In the event that any regulation herein shall conflict
with or be inconsistent with any provision of the Town Law of the
State of New York, the relevant provisions of the Town Law shall apply
unless the local law enacting such provision properly superseded such
provision of the Town Law.
Except where specifically defined herein, all
words used in these regulations shall carry their customary meanings.
Words used in the present tense shall include the future. Words used
in the singular number shall include the plural, and words used in
the plural number include the singular, unless the context clearly
indicates the contrary. The word "shall" is always mandatory. The
word "may " is permissive. "Building" or "structure" includes any
part thereof. A "building" includes all other structures of every
description, except fences and walls, regardless of dissimilarity
to conventional building forms. The word "lot" includes the word "plot"
or "parcel." The word "person" includes a corporation as well as an
individual. The phrase "used for" includes "arranged for," "designed
for," "intended for," "maintained for" and "occupied for."
For the purpose of these regulations, certain
words used herein are defined as follows:
ARTERIAL STREET
A street which serves or is designed to be used primarily
for fast or heavy traffic.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE)
The computed water surface elevation at a given location
resulting from a flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled
or exceeded in any given year (i.e., an average frequency and magnitude
of a one-hundred-year recurrence interval).
[Added 5-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
A residential subdivision plan, approved pursuant to §
121-25 of this chapter and § 278 of the Town Law, that modifies the requirements of the Town of New Paltz Zoning Law concerning lot area and dimensions that would otherwise
be applicable to the plan in order to provide alternative layouts,
configuration and design of lots, buildings and structures, roads,
utility lines and other infrastructure, parks and landscaping for
the purpose of providing one or more of the following benefits to
the public: furthering the goals of the Town’s Master Plan;
enabling and encouraging flexibility of design and development of
land with the Town in such a manner as to promote the most appropriate
use of land; facilitating the adequate and economical use of streets,
utilities and other public infrastructure in the development; and
preserving agricultural soils and/or the natural and scenic qualities
of open or wooded lands.
[Added 9-10-2003 by L.L. No. 5-2003]
COLLECTOR STREET
A street which carries traffic from minor streets to the
major system of arterial streets, including the principal entrance
streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within
such a development
CUL-DE-SAC STREET
A street with only one means of vehicular ingress and egress
and with a turnaround at its terminus.
CURB
A low barrier, usually along the pavement line of a street,
road or highway, controlling surface drainage and separating vehicular
areas from pedestrian and/or landscaped areas.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations
or storage of equipment or materials.
[Added 5-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
EASEMENT
An acquired right of use on the property of another.
ENGINEER or TOWN ENGINEER
The duly designated Engineer of the Town of New Paltz or,
in lieu of such an official, the Superintendent of Highways, the Building
Inspector or the planning consultant or engineer employed by or assigned
to the Planning Board.
FLOODPLAIN or FLOOD-PRONE AREA
Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from
any source, including those areas specifically mapped by the National
Flood Insurance Program as shown on the community’s Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM).
[Added 5-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
MARGINAL ACCESS STREET
A minor street which is parallel to and adjacent to an arterial
street and which provides access to abutting properties and protection
from through traffic.
MASTER PLAN or DEVELOPMENT PLAN
A comprehensive plan which indicates the general locations
recommended for the various functional classes of public works, places
and structures and for the general physical development of the Town
of New Paltz and includes any unit or part of such plan separately
adopted and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof.
[Amended 5-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
MINOR STREET
A street intended to serve primarily as access to abutting
properties.
OFFICIAL MAP
A map established by the Town Board under § 270
of the Town Law, showing streets, highways and parks theretofore laid
out, adopted and established by law and any amendments thereto adopted
by the Town Board or additions thereto resulting from approval of
subdivision plats by the Planning Board and the subsequent filing
of such approved plats.
OFFICIAL SUBMITTAL DATE
The date when a sketch plan, a preliminary layout or a subdivision plat shall be considered submitted to the Planning Board, hereby defined to be the date of the meeting of the Planning Board at least 10 days after all required surveys, plans and data described in Article
IV have been submitted.
PLAT
The final map, drawing or chart on which the subdivider's
plan of subdivision is presented to the Planning Board for approval
and which, if approved, will be submitted to the County Clerk for
recording.
PRELIMINARY LAYOUT
A preliminary drawing showing the proposed layout of a subdivision
which is submitted to the Planning Board for its consideration and
conditional approval.
SKETCH PLAN
A freehand sketch made on a topographic survey map showing
the layout of streets, lots and other features of a proposed subdivision
in relation to existing conditions.
STREET
A way for vehicular traffic, dedicated to public use by deed,
grant or right of use, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare,
parkway, throughway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place or other
designation. Unless otherwise provided in the Town Code, a proposed
street shall conform to all requirements for dedication as a public
highway and shall be shown on a subdivision plan approved by the Town
of New Paltz Planning Board. Notwithstanding such approval, a proposed
highway is not dedicated to public use until it is offered for dedication
to, and accepted by, the Town of New Paltz in accordance with the
New York State Highway Law.
[Amended 11-26-2002 by L.L. No. 6-2002]
STREET PAVEMENT
The wearing or exposed surface of the roadway used by vehicular
traffic.
STREET WIDTH
The width of the right-of-way or the distance between property
lines on opposite sides of a street.
SUBDIVIDER
Any person, firm, corporation, partnership or association
which shall lay out, for the purpose of development and/or sale, any
subdivision, as defined herein, either for himself, itself or for
others.
SUBDIVISION
The division of any parcel of land into two or more lots,
plots, blocks, parcels, sites or other divisions of land for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of sale, transfer of ownership, development,
or change of existing use to any use regulated by the Zoning Law. The term "subdivision" includes any alteration or modification
of lot lines or dimensions of any lots or parcels previously created,
whether created by deed or other instrument prior to adoption of subdivision
regulations by the Town of New Paltz or by a subdivision plat filed
in the office of the County Clerk, but does not include conveyances
for the purpose of combining lots or parcels. Where a parcel of land
is held in single ownership or control, the existence of a road, highway
or natural feature does not create a "natural" subdivision of such
parcel or tract of land unless such road or highway was shown on a
subdivision plan approved by the Town of New Paltz Planning Board
pursuant to these regulations.
[Amended 11-26-2002 by L.L. No. 6-2002]