Politics & Government
A Zoning Fix in Harrison
The Harrison Town Board has passed legislation to change a zoning law that will alter lot coverage for future building plans.
The Harrison Town Board orchestrated changes last week to the zoning laws in town, adjusting the area of lot coverage for future construction on buildings in designated residential zones.
"This pertains to the B-zone," said Town Building Inspector Robert FitzSimmons. "The B-zone is a family resident zone. A few years ago, the lot coverage that was permitted for these 5,000 square ft. residential lots was reduced from 35 to 30 percent. However, lot coverage only applies to the size of the foundation of the structure."
To resolve this problem, town officials have acknowledged the unfavorable architectural results created by the old law and taken steps toward reducing the mass of these top-heavy structures.
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"There was a loophole that allowed foundations to be built smaller than the buildings being constructed on top of them," explained FitzSimmons. "Now, we're making modifications to the design features."
The new measurement systems will recognize the size of the structure to be built atop the foundation, and ensure that the building is not top-heavy.
Find out what's happening in Harrisonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The law also says that lot coverage must be measured from the exterior wall, as opposed to measuring only what reaches the ground. Also, the new legislation will work to reduce the mass of future buildings, by making the side yard setback seven feet, centering the structure on the lot. Buildings can now also now be constructed as high as 30 feet.
"This way builders will be prevented from filling in lots and raising the grades of the houses," said FitzSimmons.
The new zoning law will apply to buildings set for planning and construction, as the legislation was only filed with the state of New York last week. The law has to be filed, signed off and published by general codes before it can be finalized. Still, the town board can enforce the law in the meantime.
"We'll be having another meeting in April," added FitzSimmons. "We'll be discussing another amendment, with regards to zoning for houses in flood plains. A developer has petitioned the board to make modifications to improve 30-40 houses."
