Refinements in the Town's Zoning Law

In addition to addressing more specific technical and procedural issues, updating of the Town of Red Hook Zoning Law (adopted in 1973 and amended in 1981) should include the following:

• Clear integration of "purpose statements" drawn from the Town's Comprehensive Plan objectives rather than standard language drawn from the State enabling legislation;

• Provision for accessory apartments as a key component of the Town's future housing stock;

• Opportunity for adaptive reuse of existing structures (particularly those significant to the history and rural character of the community) to newly-productive uses, both residential and non-residential;

• Stronger consideration of aesthetic and design issues within the project review and approval process;

• Establishment of architectural controls and design review procedures (to the extent these should be integrated within the Zoning Law rather than addressed In separate legislation, i.e. in an historic preservation Law under GML Section 96-a);

• Improved site plan design and development standards, including a detailed examination of area and bulk standards so that these are appropriate to the Town's character;

• Creation of environmental overlay districts to supplement underlying zoning for the protection of sensitive environmental resources; e.g. prime agricultural lands, stream corridors, steep slopes, aquifers and associated recharge areas, etc. as illustrated through an "open space index" prepared by the Conservation Advisory Council;

• Recognition of the expanding role in our society of home occupations and other satellite business locations and the establishment of use and development standards that ensure compatibility of these uses with their local community or neighborhood setting and consistency with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and other public health and safety requirements;

• Consideration of prospective municipal water and/or municipal sewer service and the establishment of higher permissible densities for uses that are actually served by those facilities;

• Reevaluation of permissible density in areas where naturally-occurring conditions and/or the absence of suitable municipal infrastructure make currently permitted densities inconsistent with the carrying capacity of the land and/or Town Plan objectives;

• Establishment of alternate service demand-based standards for permitted residential density for multiple-family developments [e.g. the number of bedrooms/type of dwelling unit rather than solely using dwelling units per acre or acres per dwelling unit];

• Establishment of a "college or institutional zoning district" to encompass Bard College and other land-extensive institutional properties and uses;

• Integration of the requirements of the Federal flood hazard areas management program within the Zoning Law, including the creation of necessary "Floodway" and "Flood-Fringe Overlay" districts;

• Integration within the Zoning Law of heretofore-recommended measures to carry out the Town's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP); and

• Establishment of procedures for consistent, fair and equitable administration and enforcement of the Zoning Law and related Town Laws, rules and regulations

In addition to the above prerequisites for an updated Town Zoning Law, the Master Plan Committee recommends that the following techniques be afforded further study to determine their usefulness in balancing conservation and development objectives consistent with the consensus desires of the Town's people as interpreted through this "comprehensive plan":

• Limited use of Planned Unit Development rezoning, in situations where substantial land areas suitable for intensive and/or mixed use development are served by prospective municipal or other municipally-approved water and/or sanitary sewage facilities;

• Use of transfer of development rights, but with a view toward first monitoring the experience of other New York state communities in executing authority specifically provided under 1989 State enabling legislation; and

• Use of exactions and impact fees in future years to the extent such are specifically authorized under State enabling legislation and tested by other New York State Committee