Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLL#1 of 2025 Amend Town Code Chs. 270 235 - Zoning UpdatesLOCAL LAW NUMBER #1 OF 2025 A LOCAL LAW OF THE TOWN OF LANSING TO AMEND THE CODE OF THE TOWN OF LANSING, CHAPTER 270 – ZONING AND CHAPTER 235 – SUBDIVISION OF LAND The Town Board of The Town of Lansing, New York, pursuant to a Resolution dated March 19, 2025, does hereby adopt and pass this Local Law Number #1 of 2025, and therefore, be it so enacted as follows: SECTION 1 – AUTHORITY: This local law is adopted pursuant to the powers granted by the Town Law of the State of New York, Town Law § 130, Town Law Article 16, and Municipal Home Rule Law § 10, which authorize the Town of Lansing to adopt local laws providing for the governance of the town and the use of land review regulations and laws to guide development and land uses in the town. SECTION 2 – PURPOSE: The purpose of this local law is to update specific zoning provisions and subdivision regulations to more fully effect prior amendments, as well as to adopt additional changes to the Town Code, relating to land use regulations and the review of land use and development applications. Included are updates to add charts for buffers and lot diagrams that were inadvertently not adopted or included during prior zoning updates, and to add amended definitions, regulations, rules, and clarifications for corner lots, the keeping of chickens, multifamily dwelling rules, lot line adjustment rules, and new guidance and regulations for reviewing and implementing buffering and flag lot rules, among other changes. SECTION 3 – ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO TOWN CODE CHAPTER 270: Town Code Chapter 270 is amended as follows: A. Definitions at § 270-3 are amended by removing the existing definitions referenced below and substituting the updated definitions as set forth below: 1. The definition of “Lot, Corner” is repealed and replaced with the following: “LOT, CORNER A lot fronting on two or more streets at their intersection with two or more required front yards and two required side yards. No rear yards required.” 2. The definition of “Keeping of Chickens” is repealed and replaced with the following: “KEEPING OF CHICKENS Any use involving hatching, feeding, caretaking or otherwise keeping chickens for the exclusive, noncommercial use of the owner or occupant of the premises on which such chickens are located and not kept as part of a farm.” 3. The definition of “Dwelling, Multiple Family” is repealed and replaced with the following: “DWELLING, MULTIPLE FAMILY A dwelling or group of dwellings on one lot, containing separate living units for three or more families, having separate or joint entrances, and including single family dwellings, two family dwellings, townhouses, group homes, apartments, and condominiums; A single building or combination of buildings totaling three or more dwelling units on a single lot. Such are also referred to as “multiple dwellings.”” 4. The definition of “Lot, Flag” is repealed and replaced with the following: “LOT, FLAG A parcel of land whose configuration is so designed to make a legally conforming lot that is otherwise landlocked by road-fronting parcels. Access to a road from the interior lot is provided for by a strip of land (called the "pole") that is contiguous with the interior lot (called the "flag"). The buildable, interior portion of the lot (the "flag") must meet the minimum lot area requirements in the zone, exclusive of the acreage of the pole. A "front lot line" is defined as a line within the flag portion of the parcel that is parallel to or approximately parallel to the accessed road and meets the minimum lot width at the front lot line for the zone. This front lot line established in the flag will be used as a baseline for measuring the front yard setback and identifying side and rear lot locations. A lot that meets all of the lot area and yard requirements for the zone, except for the required road frontage, may not be declared a flag lot unless the land adjacent to the pole and in front of the flag is part or all of a separate legal and conforming lot for that zone.” B. Section 270-28(K), respecting special conditions and standards for keeping chickens by zoning permits is repealed and replaced with the following: “K. Specific standards — keeping of chickens. The keeping of chickens is permitted by zoning permit where the following standards are each and all met: (1) No person shall have, own, permit or otherwise possess a rooster; (2) Keeping of chickens shall be considered an accessory use and is permitted only as incidental to lots on which the principal use is residential; (3) The number of chickens on any lot shall not exceed 6 unless a variance is granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals; (4) All chickens shall be provided with a covered, predator-proof coop, pen, cage or other shelter that is thoroughly ventilated, designed to be easily accessed and cleaned, and sufficient size to permit free movement of the chickens, exclusive of areas used f or storage of materials or vehicles. Chickens shall not be allowed to roam the premises outside of such shelters; (5) Any coop, pen, fence, or other shelter used for keeping of chickens shall be located in such a manner as to observe the applicable required yard setbacks for the zone in which it is located and shall be prohibited in a front yard; and (6) The coop, pen, cage, or other shelter must be placed on a location on the lot so as not to harm adjoining properties or environmentally sensitive areas.” C. A new subdivision C. is added to § 270-40.4 “Buffer Yards” as follows: “C. Buffer yards should be approved and classified in accordance with basic design parameters shown upon the chart contained at Attachment 8 of this Chapter 270.” D. Article IV is renamed “General Regulations and Standards” to avoid confusion with Article I “General Provisions,” and a new § 270-25.2 is added to Article IV to provide regulations and standards for flag lots beyond the definitional requirements for the same: § 270-25.2 Standards for flag lots. A. Flag lots, as defined in Chapter 235 Subdivision of Land, § 235-3, shall meet the minimum lot area excluding the pole (or “flagpole”), lot width requirements of the zoning district within which it is located. The pole of the flag lot shall have a minimum width of 60 feet at every point and the pole shall be no less than 100 feet in length. B. In areas where agriculture is the predominant land use, in particular the RA, and AG Zones, flag lots should be located on the least productive agricultural lands and be configured so as to minimize interference with the agricultural use of the lands. C. Whenever practicable, adjoining flag lots should be platted in a manner that encourages shared driveway access points along public roads and highways. D. No parcel may be subdivided into more than two flag lots E. Attachment 2 is amended as follows: 1. The existing diagrams at Attachment 2, page 1, is replaced with the following diagram: 2. The footnotes are changed as follows: a. Footnote “****” is repealed and replaced with the following: “**** When the applicant is faced with limits arising from road configuration or natural features, frontage may be reduced, on a case-by-case basis, with a decision by the appropriate board, but in no case less than the flag lot requirement of 60 feet (i.e., cul-de-sac, corner lot, flag lot).” b. Footnote 5 is repealed and removed, and the remaining 6 footnotes numbered 6 through 12 are renumbered as footnotes 5 through 11. F. The following diagrams and charts are added to Chapter 270: 1. The following chart is added to Chapter 270 as Attachment 8, and entitled “Town of Lansing Buffer Chart”: 2. The following chart is added to Chapter 270 as Attachment 9, and entitled “Town of Lansing Standard Lot Diagrams”: 3. The following chart is added to Chapter 270 as Attachment 10, and entitled “Town of Lansing Flag Lot Diagram”: G. The following updates to certain sections of Chapter 270 of the Town Code are made to reference the new Attachments, as follows: 1. A new subdivision C. is added to § 270-40.4 as follows: “C. References to help implement the goals of buffering and these regulations and standards are hereby made to (1) Attachment 8 respecting minimum standards and general layout rules for buffering and buffering design, and (2) Attachment 10 respecting driveways, flag lots, and the use of the flagpole areas for access and utilities.” 2. A new § 270-40.9 is added as follows: “§ 270-40.9 Lot and Building/Improvement Layouts. All developments and all lots and parcels undergoing any land use review process for subdivision review or development or improvement shall include basic lot layout diagrams and building siting envelopes, such layouts and design to generally implement and follow the standards and parameters outlined in Attachment 9 of this chapter.” SECTION 4 – ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO TOWN CODE CHAPTER 235: Town Code Chapter 235 is amended as follows: A. Definitions at § 235-3 are amended by removing the existing definitions referenced below and substituting the updated definitions as set forth below: 1. The definition “Lot Line Adjustment” is repealed and replaced with the following: “LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT The adjustment of one or more lot lines between two or more existing and adjoining lots that does not result in the creation of new lots or the creation of any nonconforming lot, and which transferred parcels are merged into their new parent parcel. While not a subdivision, lot line adjustments are land divisions and shall be approved in the same manner as exempt subdivisions under this chapter. If a lot line change does not meet this definition of being a lot line adjustment, or at the discretion of the Department of Planning & Code Enforcement, then it shall be referred to the Planning Board for review and approval.” 2. The definition of “Lot, Flag” is repealed and replaced with the following: “LOT, FLAG A parcel of land whose configuration is so designed to make a legally conforming lot that is otherwise landlocked by road-fronting parcels. Access to a road from the interior lot is provided for by a strip of land (called the "pole") that is contiguous with the interior lot (called the "flag"). The buildable, interior portion of the lot (the "flag") must meet the minimum lot area requirements in the zone, exclusive of the acreage of the pole. A "front lot line" is defined as a line within the flag portion of the parcel that is parallel to or approximately parallel to the accessed road and meets the minimum lot width at the front lot line for the zone. This front lot line established in the flag will be used as a baseline for measuring the front yard setback and identifying side and rear lot locations. A lot that meets all of the lot area and yard requirements for the zone, except for the required road frontage, may not be declared a flag lot unless the land adjacent to the pole and in front of the flag is part or all of a separate legal and conforming lot for that zone.” B. Town Code § 235-10(B) shall be amended by adding the following clause to the end thereof: “Flag lots shall conform to the standards set forth for zoning in Chapter 270 of this Town Code, including but not limited to § 270-25.2 and Attachment 10, therein. SECTION 5 – SAVINGS AND SEVERANCE: The invalidity or unenforceability of any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, provision, or phrase of the aforementioned sections as declared by the valid judgment of any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional must not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, provision, or phrase, which must remain in full force and effect. SECTION 6 – CODIFICATION: This local law and its amendments to Chapters 235 and 270 of the Town Code shall be incorporated into the Town Code, and the incorporator may designate such new section and numerical headings, or other indexed references, as make for a coherent Town Code, sequentially numbered or marked. Nothing in this local law is intended to disrupt or affect the existing Town Code, except to the extent any existing code provision is herein expressly superseded or repealed. All other provisions of the Town Code are hereby reaffirmed and continued in force and effect, and the codification of these amendments shall follow the procedure for amending the code as set forth in the code or in the Town’s local laws, including but not limited to Local Law #2 of 2020. SECTION 7 – EFFECTIVE DATE: This local law shall take effect immediately.