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Town of Austerlitz, NY
Columbia County
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Code
New Laws (2) Index
A. 
The Town of Austerlitz straddles the crest of the Taconic Mountain Range. It is a Town of mountains, valleys, and streams. It is a rural community, with undeveloped woodlands, open fields, rural Town roads, a dispersed residential pattern, and limited commercial development. It has two hamlets. The Hamlet of Spencertown is the most densely populated area within the Town. It is the community's business, civic, cultural and religious center. The Hamlet of Austerlitz is a thinly populated area that is one of most appealing locations for residential and commercial development. This historic and geographic division of the Town into two hamlets and the remaining rural landscape provides for the logical creation of three zoning districts.
B. 
The purpose of these three districts is to promote the vision, goals, and recommendations outlined in the Town of Austerlitz's Comprehensive Plan. The plan recognizes the need to protect and enhance the quality of life in the hamlets, and that agriculture and the rural landscape are traditional components of Town life. There is a need to accommodate future growth in a manner that addresses the unique character of our community.
C. 
The Town also has numerous ridgelines which are a predominant feature in many areas of the Town. Preservation of the ridgeline maintains the beauty of the Town by reducing fragmentation of the landscape. This chapter prevents the construction of structures that exceed the ridgeline.
D. 
For the purposes of this chapter, the Town of Austerlitz is hereby divided into the following districts:
A-HM
Austerlitz-Hamlet Zoning District
S-HM
Spencertown-Hamlet Zoning District
RR
Rural Residential District
A. 
The boundaries of the land use districts are hereby established on the map entitled "Town of Austerlitz Zoning Map," adopted by the Town Board and certified by the Town Clerk, which accompanies and is hereby declared to be a part of this chapter.
B. 
The Official Zoning Map, which shall be on file with the Town Clerk, shall be the final authority as to the current zoning status of the land and water areas, buildings, and other structures in the Town.
C. 
Interpretation of zoning district boundaries.
(1) 
Where uncertainty exists as to the boundaries of the zoning districts as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply:
(a) 
Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following the center line or right-of-way line of streets, alleys, or highways, such lines shall be construed to be district boundaries and follow such center lines.
(b) 
Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following a stream, lake or other body of water, such stream center line, lake or body of water shoreline shall be construed to be such district boundaries (unless otherwise noted on the Zoning Map). In the event of a change in the shoreline or stream, the district boundaries shall be construed as moving with the actual shoreline or stream.
(c) 
Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following platted lot lines, the district boundaries shall be construed to follow such lot lines.
(d) 
Where district boundaries are not indicated as approximately following the items listed in Subsection C(1)(a), (b) and (c) above, the boundary line shall be determined by the use of the scale designated on the Zoning Map.
(e) 
Whenever any road or other public way is abandoned, the district adjoining each side of such road or public way shall be automatically extended to the center of the former right-of-way, and all of the area included in the abandoned right-of-way shall henceforth be subject to all regulations on the extended districts.
(f) 
Where a district boundary line divides a lot, the regulations for the less restricted portion of such lot shall extend not more than 30 feet into a more restricted portion.
(2) 
In the event that none of the above rules are applicable, or in the event that further clarification or definition is considered necessary or appropriate, the location of a district boundary shall be determined by the Zoning Board of Appeals.