Can you build an ADU in Watervliet, NY?

Business - No dwelling of any type is permitted in B under Schedule A, so the district is for nonresidential building. The front setback is also a ceiling: a building stands between 0 ft and 20 ft from the front lot line.

• There is no minimum lot area in B: Schedule B publishes none.
• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Light Industrial - No dwelling of any type is permitted in LI under Schedule A. Where a side lot line adjoins a residential district, the yard on that side is 20 ft rather than 10 ft.

• Schedule B publishes no minimum lot area for LI.
• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Mixed Use 1, Mixed Use 2 - Residential lot area is the greater of 4,000 sq ft or 1,500 sq ft per dwelling unit, and both bind, so the unit count sets the land needed. A building must also reach two storeys, a minimum sitting alongside the 40 ft and 3.5 storey maximum.

• The front setback is 10 ft or the average of prevailing setbacks, whichever is lesser, and a building stands no more than 20 ft from the front lot line.
• Schedule A permits single-family, two-family and multifamily dwellings here, and Schedule B gives them one shared set of figures.
• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Planned Mixed Use District - Schedule B publishes no dimensional figure for PMUD. Its row points to Article VI, Planned Development Districts, and the standards are set in each approved development plan.

Residential 1 - The 10 ft front setback is a floor, not a fixed figure: a building sits back 10 ft or the average of prevailing setbacks on the block, whichever is greater. Schedule A permits only single-family dwellings in R-1.

• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Residential 1A - The 25 ft front setback is a floor an established streetscape can raise: a building sits back 25 ft or the average of prevailing setbacks, whichever is greater. Schedule A permits only single-family dwellings in R-1A, no two-family and no multifamily.

• Prevailing is defined as the average of improved lots whose setbacks differ by no more than 10 ft, which drops outliers.
• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Residential 2 - The 10 ft front setback is a floor: a building sits back 10 ft or the average of prevailing setbacks, whichever is greater. Schedule A permits single-family and two-family dwellings in R-2, and both take the same set of figures.

• Multifamily dwellings are not permitted in R-2.
• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.

Residential 3 - The lot must clear the greater of 5,000 sq ft or 2,000 sq ft per dwelling unit, so both bind. The 80% is a cap on impervious surface rather than on the building footprint, so driveways and parking count against it.

• Floor area ratio is capped by lot size: 2.0 below 5,999 sq ft, 3.0 from 6,000 to 7,499 sq ft, and 4.0 above 7,500 sq ft.
• A multifamily building needs 1,500 sq ft of land per dwelling unit, with 10 ft side yards and 30 ft for the two combined.
• The front setback is 10 ft or the prevailing average, whichever is less, and a 20 ft front maximum also applies.
• A minimum of two storeys applies as well as the 45 ft and 3.5 storey maximum.
• A nonresidential lot is a flat 5,000 sq ft, without the per-unit step a home takes.

Waterfront Conservation - Schedule A permits no residential use in WC. Single-family, two-family and multifamily dwellings are all left blank for this district.

• The coverage figure is maximum impervious surface, so driveways and parking count against it, not the building footprint alone.