This chapter shall be known and cited as the
"Zoning Ordinance of the City of Troy, New York."[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinances zoning or rezoning
specific property or granting specific use permits are not included
herein but are on file in the City Clerk's office. The appendices
to this chapter have also been omitted from publication and are similarly
available on file in the City Clerk's office.
A.
Application. Except as hereinafter provided:
(1)
No building or land shall hereafter be used or occupied
and no building or part thereof shall be erected, moved or altered
unless in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the
district in which it is located;
(2)
No building shall hereafter be erected or altered
to exceed the height, to accommodate or house a greater number of
families, to occupy a greater percentage of lot area, or to have narrower
or smaller rear yards, front yards, side yards, inner or outer courts
than is specified herein for the district in which such building is
located;
(3)
No part of a yard or other open space about any building
required for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this
chapter shall be included as part of a yard or other open space similarly
required for another building; and
(4)
No lot, yard, setback, parking area or other space
shall be so reduced in area, dimension or capacity as to make said
area, dimension or capacity less than the minimum required under this
chapter; said existing undersized area, dimension or capacity shall
not be further reduced.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to and in discharge
of the powers conferred upon cities by § 20 (Subdivisions
24 and 25) and by Article 5-a of the General City Law.
The legislative intent of this chapter is to
guide the future growth and development of the City of Troy in accordance
with a Comprehensive Plan of Land Use and population distribution
that represents and promotes beneficial and convenient relationships
among residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and public
areas within the City, considering the suitability of each area for
such uses, as indicated by existing conditions, trends in population
and mode of living, and future needs for various types of land development,
and to achieve the purposes more particularly described as follows:
A.
To foster a healthful urban environment, including
but not limited to adequate light, air and privacy;
B.
To ensure that land will be developed in a manner
such that the City's population is concentrated in a scale appropriate
for the promotion of the general public health, safety and welfare;
C.
To provide the beneficial and safe access and egress
to and from properties and safe and efficient circulation of traffic
throughout the City;
D.
To provide structures complying with generally accepted
standards for safety from fires, flood and other natural disasters;
E.
To enhance and conserve the unique characteristics
of the City's neighborhoods and thereby aid in their orderly development;
F.
To provide a guide for public policy and action that
will facilitate efficient provision of public facilities and services
and for private enterprise in building development, investment and
other economic activity relating to uses of land and buildings throughout
the City; and
G.
To minimize conflicts among uses of land and buildings
and to encourage the gradual conformity of uses of land and buildings
throughout the City to the Comprehensive Plan herein set forth.
A.
The purpose herein is to set forth a plan which describes
the distribution of land within the City to assure the most efficient
and beneficial uses of all such land and to encourage the balanced
development of appropriate land for industrial, commercial, institutional,
residential and public uses.
B.
This plan is predicated upon goals and objectives,
a map setting forth the distribution of uses within the City's municipal
boundaries and the implementation of laws, ordinances and regulations
supportive thereof.
C.
This plan is set forth in a manner which will engender
the most salutary effect upon the future development of the City.
A.
Community identity. The goals and objectives are to
promote Troy's unique heritage and resources as an instrument of community
pride and identity and as a method of economic development.
(1)
To build upon Troy's unique relationship to the Hudson
River Valley as it helps to define the community's sense of place;
(2)
To foster Troy's participation in the continued growth
and development of the Capital District Region;
(3)
To further Troy's identity as a center of higher education,
research and development of new technologies and as a source of human
resources trained to meet the challenges of the 21st Century;
(4)
To promote Troy as a community in which a wide variety
of people seek to live, work and find recreation;
(5)
To support and encourage a community-wide strategy
for the protection of Troy's rich historical and architectural resources
by adaptive reuse and complementary new construction as part of Troy's
commitment to the goals of Riverspark; and
(6)
To capitalize on Troy's location in relation to the
interstate highway system.
B.
The economy. The goals and objectives are to encourage
and support a stable, balanced growth economy by aggressively utilizing
all available public and private resources to reestablish the Greater
Troy Market Area.
(1)
Central Business District. The Central Business District
is the keystone to the City's entire economic health. It is crucial
that downtown be perceived as a viable economic entity. To foster
this perception, CBD development must be keyed to provide a wide-range
of economic activity not only for the rest of the City, but also the
Greater Troy Market Area. The goals and objectives are:
(a)
To continue efforts to redevelop downtown as
a competitive retail center;
(b)
To aggressively pursue new downtown housing
opportunities, therefore establishing a new residential neighborhood;
(c)
To capitalize on downtown Troy's emerging identity
as a center for recreation, dining and culture;
(d)
To foster continued professional and commercial
office development; and
(e)
To provide easy and welcome access to downtown
from the City's colleges.
(2)
Industrial. Troy's heritage as an industrial center
provides the community with a rich sense of identity. As we face the
21st Century, the nature of industrial development has changed from
heavy industrial fabrication to assemblage, storage, distribution,
light fabrication and research and development. As part of a balanced
economy, the City will maximize the usage of appropriate lands for
nonpernicious, technology-based industry. The goals and objectives
are:
(a)
To foster the integration of the technical resources
available at local colleges and universities with new industrial development;
(b)
To provide and develop economic incentives for
the location of new industries to foster job creation;
(c)
To promote and support the planned expansion
of indigenous industrial entities;
(d)
To focus new industrial development in those
parts of the City which can most efficiently and effectively support
it; and
(e)
To provide an environment and infrastructure
conducive to industrial development.
(3)
Commercial. Given the wide availability of suburban
shopping malls throughout the region, the City of Troy accepts the
reality that competition for commercial (retail) dollars is difficult.
It is, therefore, the City's intent to foster the development of a
full range of retail outlets for our immediate Greater Troy Market
Area and a range of specialty outlets attractive to the region at
large. The goals and objectives are:
(a)
To provide incentives for the retention and
further development of smaller commercial outlets serving the immediate
neighborhoods in which they are located;
(b)
To encourage medium-sized retail outlets along
major arteries in and out of the City to accommodate City residents,
shoppers from adjacent communities and to capitalize on through traffic
from New England;
(c)
To seek and encourage specialty retail and service-oriented
outlets to locate in and around the CBD;
(d)
To aggressively pursue and provide for new and
unique leisure-time commercial outlets in appropriate locations throughout
the City; and
(e)
To foster increased student traffic in the CBD
by encouraging student-related retail and service outlets.
(4)
Institutional. One of the major assets of the City
of Troy is the wide range of high quality institutions of higher education,
health care and community services. These institutions form Troy's
new industrial base for the foreseeable future. It is, therefore,
imperative that the City encourage the further development of these
institutions in a fashion that is complementary to adjacent neighborhoods
and flexible enough for the continued and orderly growth of the institutions.
The goals and objectives are:
(a)
To define the logical extent of institutional
land uses so as to differentiate between them and adjacent land uses;
(b)
To provide for appropriate transitional areas
between institutional and nonresidential land uses;
(c)
To provide maximum flexibility for development
within the boundaries of institutional lands;
(d)
To promote and foster the availability of a
wide range of health care and other human services to support the
needs of the community; and
(e)
To encourage support and spinoff business related
to institutional land uses.
C.
Housing. The highest priority facing any well-established
community is to foster the stabilization and improvement of existing
neighborhoods and housing stock. As a second but almost equally high
priority, the City of Troy must encourage the availability of a wide
range of new housing opportunities for citizens of all income levels.
The goals and objectives are:
(1)
To conserve existing, habitable dwellings through
rehabilitation;
(2)
To eliminate substandard housing principally through
rehabilitation and allow for demolition only when no other alternatives
are practically available;
(3)
To provide for the enhancement of existing residential
neighborhoods by encouraging land use policies and public investment
which will protect the essential characteristics of those neighborhoods;
(4)
To foster owner occupancy of housing units;
(5)
To adopt regulations which provide sufficient off-street
parking, open space, trash collection and removal, lighting and privacy
to support both new and existing neighborhoods; and
(6)
To adopt regulations which provide the City with sufficient
flexibility to allow for new types of housing development in areas
appropriate for said development.
D.
Transportation. In order for the community to prosper
as an economic and social entity, the City must provide for the safe,
efficient, integrated and convenient movement of people and goods
into and through Troy with minimal negative impact on land use and
the quality of urban living. The goals and objectives are:
(1)
To develop and implement a comprehensive, City-wide
traffic flow pattern which provides for convenience of access and
flow of all types of vehicles on those streets that by design and
land use are best able to accommodate them;
(2)
To implement a cooperative scheme between the City
and CDTA to provide for timely, convenient and safe public transportation;
(3)
To establish safe and adequate pedestrian and bicycle
lanes on all Troy streets and connect them to other networks in the
region;
(4)
To develop a comprehensive signage system to identify
Troy within the region and to identify the major points of destination
within the City;
(5)
To establish a comprehensive parking program to promote
the efficient use of circulation patterns and make all points of destination
within the City accessible in a safe and convenient fashion;
(6)
To control and direct commercial through traffic onto
those roads and streets which are capable of carrying such traffic;
and
(7)
To encourage and foster the development of facilities
on the river which will engender recreational and commercial boating
access to the City of Troy.
E.
The environment. In order to foster the continued
growth of the City, a physically attractive and psychologically supportive
urban environment is a desirable goal. It is the intent of this plan
and its philosophical cornerstone that a healthful environment and
a growing economy should be supportive and complementary of each other.
The goals and objectives are:
(1)
To officially designate open spaces, parks, wetlands,
steep slopes and waterways for conservation purposes;
(2)
To implement planned development of the Hudson River
Corridor and its tributary corridors so that their values, functions
and resources will not be impaired or otherwise abused;
(3)
To adopt air, water, and chemical and noise standards
which maximize public health and safety;
(4)
To continue open space planning and conservation activities
that provide a wide range of recreational opportunities for our citizens;
and
(5)
To develop and implement regulations which support
the creation of a visually pleasing urban experience.
It is the policy of the City of Troy to cooperate
to the fullest extent possible with all other governmental entities
having land use, investment, service delivery and regulatory interests
within and adjacent to the City's municipal boundaries.
Consistent with § 285-5 of this chapter and Ch. 72, Planning Board, of this Code, as amended, the City Planning Board shall prepare and adopt a map which will set forth a plan for the allocation of land uses derived from the goals and objectives set forth in § 285-6 of this chapter. Such map shall be deemed as a general guide to development not as a regulatory document.
The purposes of § 285-5 shall be supported by the adoption of such local laws, ordinances and regulations necessary to implement the Comprehensive Plan of Land Use.
A.
Minimum requirements. The provisions of this chapter
shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of
the public health, safety and welfare.
B.
Relationship with other laws. Where the conditions
imposed by any provision of this chapter upon the use of land or buildings
or upon the bulk of buildings are either more restrictive or less
restrictive than comparable conditions imposed by another provision
of this chapter or any other law, ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation
of any kind, the regulations which are more restrictive (or which
impose higher standards or requirements) shall govern.
C.
Effect on existing agreements. This chapter is not intended to abrogate any easement, covenant or other private agreement; provided that, where the regulations of this chapter are more restrictive (or impose higher standards or requirements) than such easements, covenants or other private agreements, the requirements of this chapter shall govern. However, when any portion or provision of this chapter conflicts with any portion or provision of Chapter 47, Historic Districts and Landmarks Review Commission, this chapter shall be subordinate without regard to which is more restrictive.
A.
This chapter shall take effect on the day of October
7, 1988, at 12:01 a.m.
B.
Update. Within four years of the effective date of
this chapter, the Planning Board shall prepare or cause to be prepared
a written report to the City Council that outlines problems with the
existing ordinance and which recommends either modifications of the
existing ordinance or development of a new ordinance.
