A.
Word usage. Words used in the present tense include the future; the
singular number includes the plural, and the plural number includes
the singular.
B.
ACCESSORY BUILDING
ACCESSORY USE
ALTERATION
BASEMENT
BUILDING
BUILDING AREA
CEILING HEIGHT
CELLAR
CLUB
CORNER LOT
DWELLING
FAMILY
(1)
(2)
FIRST FLOOR ELEVATION LEVEL
FLOOR AREA
(1)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
[1]
[2]
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
(2)
FLOOR AREA RATIO IN A DWELLING
FRONT BUILDING LINE
FRONT YARD
HEIGHT OF A BUILDING
LOT
MEAN GROUND LEVEL
MEAN STREET CURB LEVEL
MULTIPLE DWELLING
PORCH
PRIVATE GARAGE
REAR BUILDING LINE
REAR YARD
REQUIRED YARD
SCHOOL
SIDE BUILDING LINE
SIDE YARD
STORY
STREET
STREET LINE
TERRACE
USE
WALL OF A BUILDING
WALL PLATE
YARD
Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
Includes every building, other than the principal building,
devoted to an accessory use. It includes a swimming pool. It does
not include any portion of the main or principal building which is
devoted to an accessory use. If such a building or use is not located
on the same lot as that of the building or use to which it is accessory,
it is not an accessory building or use and must comply with the regulations
applicable to a principal building or use.
Includes every use customarily incidental to the principal
building or use and includes all of the uses specified as accessory
elsewhere in this chapter. If such a use is not located on the same
lot as that of the building or use to which it is accessory, it is
not an accessory use and must comply with the regulations applicable
to a principal building or use.
As applied to any building or structure, means any change
or rearrangement in the structural parts or exterior wall or framework
of existing facilities, or any change in any window, door, partition
or room size, or any change in the plumbing facilities or the installation
of a central air-conditioning system, the installation of a fence
or the installation of siding or veneer on the exterior portion of
a building. It includes any enlargement, whether by extending any
side, front or rear building line or by increasing any height or by
moving from one location or position to another. It also includes
the enclosure of a space previously open, such as the enclosure of
an open porch or patio or the construction of a roof over it.
That portion of a building which is partly below grade with
less than half of its floor-to-ceiling height below the average of
the adjoining ground.
[Added 3-22-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]
Any structure or combination of structures above or below
the surface of the ground, except a fence five feet or less in height.
It includes a part of a building or an extension of or addition to
a building.
The proportion of the horizontal areas of the principal building
on a lot to the total lot area measured from the exterior surface
of the foundation wall on the ground level, including attached and
detached private garages and covered porches.
[Amended 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
The first floor ceiling height shall not exceed 12 feet measured
from the top of the first floor deck to the underside of the second
floor framing. This twelve-foot height limitation shall not apply
to front-entrance foyers, vestibules, and one-story additions. The
second floor ceiling height shall not exceed 10 feet measured from
the top of the second floor deck to the top of the second floor wall
plate.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
That portion of a building with half or more of its floor-to-ceiling
height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar shall
not be used or occupied as living or sleeping quarters.
[Added 3-22-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]
A nonprofit organization or operation, or one owned and operated
by a membership corporation or an unincorporated association for social,
musical, dramatic, literary, artistic, gardening, yachting, boating,
hunting, shooting, fishing, bathing, golf, tennis, squash, racquets
or other lawful sporting purposes, excepting and not including an
athletic organisation, a political organisation, a day camp, a youth
home, a club for boys or girls, a nursing or convalescent home, an
organization for the improvement of the social, mental, moral or physical
condition of children or of young men and women or an organization
the chief activity of which is a service customarily carried on as
a business.
A lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting
streets, having an interior angle of less than 135° at their intersection.
A lot abutting upon a curved street shall also be considered a corner
lot if the tangents to the curve at the points of intersection of
the side lot lines intersect at an interior angle of less than 135°.
[Amended 5-17-1989 by L.L. No. 12-1989]
A building or structure designed for and occupied exclusively
as a home or residence for not more than one family.
[Amended 7-19-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
A family shall constitute either:
[Amended 7-19-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
One or more persons related by blood, adoption or marriage living
and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, inclusive of household
servants, shall constitute a family; or
A number of persons, not exceeding two, living and cooking together
as a single housekeeping unit though not related by blood, adoption
or marriage shall constitute a family.
The distance from the mean ground level to the top of the
first floor platform framing of a building.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
The sum of the gross areas of the several floors of the principal
and all accessory buildings on a lot, measured from the exterior faces
of exterior walls.
[Added 3-22-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001; amended 10-21-2009 by L.L. No.
5-2009; 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
In particular, floor area shall include:
Basement space, irrespective of its use.
Floor space of each story above the basement and below the attic,
irrespective of its use, and that portion of the area of any attic
space, whether or not floor has been laid, with a minimum horizontal
measurement of 6.5 feet that provides structural headroom of 6.5 feet
or more.
Floor space of interior balconies or lofts.
Floor space of roofed terraces, exterior balconies or porches.
Floor space (in the aggregate) of all uncovered balconies in
excess of 150 square feet.
Any portion of any floor area that exits to or is above grade.
If an exit from a cellar is at grade level, then 50% of the floor
space of that cellar shall be included.
Private garages:
[Amended 12-18-2013 by L.L. No. 2-2013]
Any area in excess of 400 square feet in an existing private
garage;
Any area in excess of 200 square feet in a private garage where
there is a structural alteration, reconstruction or enlargement of
an existing dwelling in excess of 40% of the floor area of such dwelling,
as determined by the Building Inspector, or where there is the construction
of a new dwelling.
If the first floor ceiling height exceeds 10 feet, the floor
area of that room shall be increased in direct proportion to the amount
by which the ceiling height exceeds 10 feet. (Example: The square
foot penalty for a base floor area of 2,500 square feet with a proposed
eleven-foot ceiling on the first floor would be 250 square feet, calculated
as follows: one foot/10 feet or 10% of 2,500 square feet for a total
floor area of 2,750 square feet on the first floor.)
Any area of a front-entrance foyer or vestibule which exceeds
12 feet in height shall be counted twice.
If the second floor ceiling height exceeds nine feet, the floor
area of that room shall be increased in direct proportion to the amount
by which the ceiling area exceeds nine feet.
If the ceiling height of a one-story addition exceeds 10 feet,
the floor area of that room shall be increased in direct proportion
to the amount by which the ceiling area exceeds 10 feet. (Example:
The square foot penalty for a four-hundred-square-foot base floor
area with a proposed fifteen-foot ceiling would be 200 square feet,
calculated as follows: five feet/10 feet or 50% of 400 square feet
for a total floor area of 600 square feet for that room.)
Any space above the wall plate of a cathedral ceiling will be
excluded from floor area calculations.
The floor area of a building shall not include any space occupied
by open exterior wooden decks or on grade masonry terraces.
The ratio of the gross floor area of a building or dwelling
in square feet to the lot area of the building site in square feet.
[Added 11-17-1993 by L.L. No. 5-1993]
A line across the full width of the lot running parallel
to the street line as nearly as may be and the nearest line of the
principal building at a point nearest the street. It is not necessarily
the front of the building nor does it necessarily contain the main
entrance to the building.
A yard on the same lot as the principal building or use,
situated between the front line of the lot and the front building
line.[1]
The vertical distance from the mean ground level to the ridge of a roof structure. For multiple dwellings and commercial buildings, refer to height exceptions in § 151-18.
[Amended 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
A parcel of land, vacant or improved, which is occupied or
designed to be occupied by one main building or use and the accessory
buildings or uses customarily incident to it, including such open
spaces as are arranged or designed to be used in connection with such
building or use. It includes the word "plot." A lot may or may not
be the land shown as a separate parcel on a duly filed map, Tax Map
or developer's diagram. All adjoining parcels of property now or hereafter
held in common ownership, regardless of the nature of the constituent
parcels or the date, source or manner of acquisition or the use to
which they may be devoted, shall be deemed merged into a single lot
and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter to the same
effect as if they had constituted a single lot at the date this chapter
was adopted.
The average elevation of natural grade level prior to any
excavation or any fill being placed on the ground as determined by
a licensed New York State land surveyor. The mean ground level shall
be calculated based on an average of the elevations at each building
corner; at each vertex where there is a change in plane; and at three
equal intermediate points for building planes which are 20 feet or
more. The mean ground level shall be measured along the entire foundation
of a building.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
The average elevation of the street pavement alongside the
face of a curb as determined by a licensed New York State land surveyor.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
A dwelling which is occupied as the abode, residence or home
of three or more families living independently of each other.
A roofed open structure projecting from the outside wall
of a building without a window sash, glazing panels, or any other
form of enclosure.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
A building used for the storage of one or more automobiles
owned and used by the owner or tenant of the lot on which it is erected,
for a purpose accessory to the use of the lot.
A line across the full width of a lot running parallel to
the rear line of the lot as nearly as may be and the nearest line
of the principal building at a point nearest the rear line of the
lot. In the case of a lot which adjoins two or more streets which
do not intersect, there is ordinarily no rear building line.
A yard on the same lot as the principal building or use,
situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear building line.
The portion of the yard lying within the minimum limits provided
by this chapter for the district in which the lot is situated.
An institution of learning chartered by the State Board of
Regents or operated by a school district existing under the Education
Law of the State of New York. It does not include a nursery school,
a day camp, a summer camp or recreational or athletic institution,
organization, conservatory group or center, whether operated or managed
by one or more persons, of which the principal object or one of the
principal objects is physical education, teaching of dancing, singing,
dramatics, music, playing of musical instruments, calisthenics, typewriting,
stenography, dressmaking, designing or millinery or the giving of
instruction in beauty parlor operation, business courses or instruction
of a similar nature.
A line running from the front building line to the rear building
line (or in case there is no rear building line, running from one
front building line to the other front building line) on each side
of the lot, passing along the nearest line of the principal building
at a point nearest the side line of the lot.
A yard on the same lot as the principal building, situated
between the side line of the lot and the side building line and bounded
by the front and rear building lines.
The part of a building between the finished first floor elevation
and the finished second floor elevation or between the finished second
floor elevation and the top of the ceiling joist or spring line of
a cathedral ceiling.
[Amended 5-19-2004 by L.L. No. 4-2004; 2-16-2011 by L.L. No.
2-2011]
Includes a public or private road, avenue, lane, alley or
parking place and any private driveway used by or giving access to
more than two lots.
The dividing line between a lot and the side line of a street.
Where the lot adjoins a public street, it is ordinarily the property
line. It is not the curbline unless the curb runs along the property
line.
An open porch without a permanent roof.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
Includes both the purpose to which a building or lot is or
may be devoted, whether or not actually so devoted, and the building
or lot itself.
The exterior bearing wall or structure supporting any part
of the building extending more than two feet above or more than three
feet below the ground level. An exterior chimney is deemed part of
a wall whether or not it supports any other part of the building or
structure.
The horizontal framing member of wood frame wall construction.
[Added 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
An open, unoccupied space on the same lot as the principal
building or use, which is and must be open and unobstructed from the
ground to the sky, except for trees, shrubbery, telephone or electric
light wires and poles, hedges, retaining walls and fences five feet
or less in height.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definitions of "gross floor area,"
added 11-17-1993 by L.L. No. 5-1993, as amended 5-19-2004 by L.L.
No. 4-2004, and "ground level," which immediately followed this definition
were repealed 2-16-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011.
