Can you build an ADU in Ogden, NY?

Rural Agricultural - The number of lots a farm may yield is fixed by a sliding scale tied to its size on 16 March 1981, not by dividing acreage by the minimum lot. Lots also have a three-acre maximum, to keep farmland from being consumed by large residential lots.

• Agriculture takes a twenty-acre minimum lot, 20 acres, though any farm of 10 acres or more at the chapter's effective date may continue as a use by right.
• A cluster subdivision under § 278 replaces the lot minimum with a density keyed to the ground: 0.2 units per acre, one unit per five acres, and one per ten acres with high bedrock or poor percolation.
• A tract of at least 2 but under 6 acres yields 1 lot; 6 to 30 acres, 2; 30 to 80, 3; 80 to 130, 4; 130 to 180, 5; 180 to 230, 6; 230 to 280, 7.
• The quota travels with the land and must be recited in the deed and plan for every lot; a transfer between holdings both ending at 25 acres or more, or a lot conveyed to a public body, does not count.
• The maximum rises only where the Health Department needs more land for on-lot sewage and will not take a plume easement, in quarter-acre steps; a lot of three acres or fewer may not be enlarged.
• An agricultural building needs a 30 ft rear setback. Principal buildings must stand 50 ft apart, and farm buildings are exempt from that spacing and from the height cap.

Rural Residential - Principal buildings on adjacent lots must stand apart by the height of the taller building plus 30 ft, which on a 35 ft building is 65 ft and can bind harder than the side yards. From a private road or shared driveway, the setback in any dimension is 60 ft.

• Where public water is not available the minimum lot is 5 acres with 300 ft of width at the building line, against 87,120 sq ft and 200 ft where it is.
• Clustering under § 278 drops the lot to 1 acre on 160 ft of width with public water, but the development is still computed at 3 acres per lot, or 5 acres for floodplain, wetland or steep slope.
• A building housing farm animals must stand 150 ft from any lot line, and a new house must stand 150 ft from any existing agricultural structure.
• An accessory structure to a single-family dwelling may be no more than 25% of the first-floor area of the house, and is held to 15 ft and one storey.
• The district states no lot coverage limit.

Residential Transition - Density and the minimum lot both bind. With public sewer and water the density is one lot per half acre, but the lot minimum stays at one acre, so a conventional subdivision yields half the units; a § 278 open space subdivision closes the gap.

• With water or sewer but not both the density falls to 1 unit per acre while the lot, the width and every setback stay as they are with full services.
• Without either service the lot triples to three acres, the width rises to 200 ft at both the setback and street lines, and density falls to 0.3333 units per acre.
• An open space subdivision with public sewer and water drops the lot to 15,000 sq ft, the width to 85 ft (120 ft on a corner), the front setback to 50 ft and the rear to 10 ft, with a 30 ft side yard.
• Public sewer and water are required to reduce a lot below one acre.
• Accessory structures are held to 15 ft and one storey.
• The district states no lot coverage limit.

Single-Family Residential - The figures shown are the case with public sewer and water. A lot with water or sewer only takes identical figures, so one service is worth as much as both.

• Without public sewer or public water the minimum lot rises from 30,000 sq ft to 40,000 and the width from 150 ft to 200 ft, at the setback line, the street line and on a corner alike.
• Accessory structures are held to 15 ft and one storey.

Two-Family Residential - The figures shown are the case with public sewer and water, and a lot with water or sewer only takes identical figures. One set of dimensions applies to every dwelling type rather than a row per type.

• Without public sewer or public water the minimum lot rises from 40,000 sq ft to 62,500, more than half again, and the width and depth from 200 ft to 250 ft.
• Lot width applies at the setback line, at the street line and on a corner lot alike.
• Accessory structures are held to 15 ft and one storey.

Multiple-Family Residential - The district sets no minimum lot area and regulates by density, but it fixes the lot's width and depth, so a narrow parcel is disqualified however much total area it has. Every apartment house must be served by public water and public sanitary sewer.

• Townhouses are regulated separately: density is capped at 8 units per acre with no lot width or depth minimum, and the front setback drops from 100 ft to 60 ft from a private or public right-of-way.
• Each townhouse needs 960 sq ft of habitable area, or 860 sq ft for a two-bedroom unit where both Boards allow it, and none may be under 18 ft wide.
• No more than eight townhouses may sit in one building, and no exterior wall may run more than 75 ft on the same plane without a 4 ft offset.
• At least 20% of the land shown on the site plan must be allocated for recreational use.
• The 45% cap counts buildings, sidewalks, parking and other impervious surfaces; buildings stand 30 ft apart, no wall runs 100 ft without an 8 ft offset, and each unit needs two parking spaces.
• Minimum habitable area is 900 sq ft for a two-bedroom and 1,000 sq ft for a three-bedroom, plus 150 sq ft for each bedroom beyond three, excluding lobbies and corridors.

Restricted Business - On an arterial or collector street the minimum lot doubles to 80,000 sq ft with 300 ft of width, and the front setback is 160 ft, which the Town may increase further for a future widening or frontage road.

• Not less than 30% of the lot must be set aside for seeding, planting, tree cover or other landscaping and used for no other purpose.
• Where the parcel adjoins a residential district or parcel, the side and rear setbacks each rise to 50 ft.
• The 70% cap counts buildings, structures, parking areas and all other paved or impervious surfaces, while the building cap counts buildings, structures and accessory uses.
• On parcels of five acres or less, the setback for parking lots only drops to 25 ft.
• Accessory structures are held to 15 ft or one storey.

Neighborhood Commercial - On an arterial or collector street the front setback is 160 ft, and the Town may increase it further for a future widening or frontage road. Not less than 30% of the lot must be set aside for seeding, planting, tree cover or other landscaping.

• Where the parcel adjoins a residential district or parcel, the side and rear setbacks each rise to 50 ft.
• The 70% cap counts buildings, structures, parking areas and all other paved or impervious surfaces, while the building cap counts buildings, structures and accessory uses.
• On parcels of five acres or less, the setback for parking lots only drops to 25 ft.
• Height is two and a half storeys or 35 ft, whichever is the lesser.
• The minimum lot area does not increase on an arterial road.
• Accessory structures are held to 15 ft or one storey.

General Commercial - No side setback is required unless the Planning Board prescribes one, so a building may sit on its side line. Next to any residential district the rear setback rises to 60 ft, on top of any buffer § 300-52 requires.

• On an arterial or collector street the front setback is 100 ft, while the one-acre minimum and 200 ft of width stay the same on every road.
• Not less than 30% of the lot must be set aside for seeding, planting, tree cover or other landscaping and used for no other purpose.
• The 70% cap counts buildings, structures, parking areas and all other paved or impervious surfaces.
• On parcels of five acres or less, the setback for parking lots only drops to 25 ft.
• Height is two and a half storeys or 35 ft, whichever is the lesser.
• This is the only district in Ogden where a smoke shop may operate, under Chapter 245 added by Local Law No. 5 of 2024, subject to separation distances.

Light Industrial - LI is the only district in Ogden above 35 ft, so it is the only place in town that can take a modern high-bay warehouse, distribution or light-manufacturing building without a variance. On an existing arterial or collector highway the front setback is 100 ft.

• On parcels of five acres or less, the setback for parking lots only drops to 25 ft.
• The 70% cap counts buildings, structures and parking areas.
• Off-street parking follows the schedule in § 300-80, and the Planning Board may raise or lower those standards for a specific use at site plan review.