Town of Franklin, NY: zoning for new construction

Rural I - The 25 percent coverage cap is an impervious surface limit counting buildings and off street parking areas, not just the building footprint (§ 202). The front setback is stated from the road centre line, and the 75 ft shown is its lot line equivalent on a fifty foot right of way.

• On a narrower right of way the centre line rule binds harder: a 33 foot right of way puts the building about 58.5 ft back from the lot line, so measure the right of way before siting.
• Lot shape is capped at a 4:1 depth to width ratio, and for each increment in that ratio the required frontage extends by 50 ft.
• Land within 500 feet of the centre line of a state or county highway, with direct frontage on the right of way, falls in the highway corridor, which is intended for mixed uses (§ 404A).
• Where the Development Limitations Overlay covers more than half of a parcel being subdivided, a lots per acre cap takes over from the lot minimum.
• Lot size averaging cannot bring a lot below the one acre floor set by § 411.

Rural III - Rural III applies to land within 500 feet of the centre line of a town road with direct frontage, counting roads the Town maintained as of the ordinance's effective date and excluding seasonal use roads. A parcel on a seasonal road falls to Rural V, at five acres.

• Whether a road counts as maintained or as seasonal use is not something a map shows, so confirm the road's status with the Town.
• Lot size averaging under § 411 can reach a one-acre lot only if all lots proposed average at least three acres and undersized lots are no more than 20% of the total proposed.
• Averaging also requires a buildable and accessible site on every lot, septic and well separation satisfying the State Health Department, and one dwelling unit per district minimum lot size.
• Averaging may be used only once every twenty years per original subdivision.
• The coverage percentage is an impervious surface cap under § 202, counting buildings and off-street parking areas, not just a building footprint, so driveway and parking take a real share.
• The code measures the front setback from the road centre line; the figure shown is the lot-line equivalent on a fifty-foot right-of-way. A 33-foot right-of-way puts it about 58.5 ft back.

Rural V - The 15% coverage cap counts all impervious surface, including driveways and off-street parking, not just buildings. The ordinance also states the cap in words as fifteen per cent but in numerals as 25%, so confirm it with the town before relying on either reading.

• Subdivision lot size averaging under § 411 can create lots as small as one acre, provided the average of all lots proposed is at least five acres in Rural V.
• Averaging is limited: undersized lots may be no more than 20% of the total lots proposed, and it may be used only once every twenty years per original subdivision.
• Every lot must have a buildable and accessible site, septic and well separation must satisfy the State Health Department, and there is one dwelling unit per district minimum lot size.
• The front setback is stated from the road centre line, so a narrower right-of-way binds harder: a 33-foot right-of-way pushes the building about 58.5 ft back from the lot line.
• A maximum lot depth-to-width ratio of 4:1 applies.
• Where the Development Limitations Overlay covers more than half the parcel being subdivided, a lots-per-acre cap takes over from the lot minimum.

Hamlet - The 25% coverage cap is an impervious surface limit under § 202, counting buildings plus off-street parking and driveways, so paving eats into what you can build. Front setback is set as 55 ft from the road centre line, which on a fifty-foot right-of-way gives the 30 ft shown.

• Lots here follow a 3:1 depth-to-width ratio, tighter than the 4:1 used elsewhere in the town.
• Where the Development Limitations Overlay covers more than half of a parcel being subdivided, a lots-per-acre cap governs instead of the lot minimum; see DL (Development Limitations Overlay).
• Lot size averaging under § 411 starts at a one acre floor, so it offers nothing at this district's half-acre minimum.
• This district covers the hamlet of Treadwell as shown on the zoning map. The Village of Franklin is a separate jurisdiction, and these figures do not answer for a village parcel.

Public Water Supply - Nothing is allowed here without a special permit, including a one- or two-family dwelling. The district covers all land within a 500-foot radius of the public water supply wells and springs serving the Village of Franklin and the hamlet of Treadwell.

• Special permit uses include one one- or two-family dwelling per lot, one mobile home per lot, agriculture, forest and wildlife management, public utilities, and public parks and recreation.
• The 10% coverage cap is an impervious surface limit under § 202, counting buildings and off-street parking areas, so driveways and parking use up part of it.
• Accessory uses are those listed for Rural I, and they also require a special permit.
• The 200 ft front setback is measured from the right-of-way under § 408F(4).
• A maximum lot depth-to-width ratio of 4:1 applies.

Development Limitations Overlay - This overlay sits over another district and uses that district's dimensional standards. The one change is yield: where more than fifty percent of the original parcel being subdivided lies in Development Limitations, the number of lots per acre is capped.

• Above that threshold, the maximum number of lots per acre of the original parcel is 0.44 in Rural I, 0.15 in Rural III and 0.09 in Rural V (§ 409D(1)).
• Below that threshold the overlay changes nothing.
• The cap is applied to the original parcel being subdivided, not to each lot created.
• Minimum lot size, minimum frontage, maximum height, front, side and rear setbacks, maximum lot coverage and the depth-to-width ratio are all the same as the underlying district (§ 409D).