ZONING ORDINANCE
TOWN OF BERNE
NEW YORK

The Town Board of the Town of Berne does hereby ordain and enact:

SECTION I
TITLE AND SCOPE

A. Scope

An ordinance regulating and restricting the location, construction, alteration, occupancy and use of buildings and structures and the use of land in the Town of Berne and for said purposes dividing the Town into zoning districts.

B. Title

The Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as "The Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Berne, Albany County, New York." The short title shall be "Berne Zoning Ordinance."

C. Enactment Clause and Purposes

This Ordinance is enacted pursuant to Article 16 of the Town Law of the State of New York, to protect and promote public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, economy, esthetics, and the general welfare, and for the following additional purposes:

1. To promote and effectuate the orderly physical development of the Town of Berne in accordance with its Development Plan.

2. To encourage the most appropriate use of land in the community in order to conserve and enhance the value of property.

3. To control commercial growth along highways and provide for more adequate and suitably-located commercial facilities and consequently eliminate many road-side hazards and add to community attractiveness.

4. To create a suitable system of open spaces and recreation areas, and to protect and enhance existing wooded areas, scenic areas, and waterways.

5. To regulate building densities in order to assure access of light and circulation of air, to facilitate the prevention and fighting of fires, to prevent undue concentration of population, to lessen congestion on streets and highways, and to provide efficient municipal utility services.

6. To improve transportation facilities and traffic circulation, and to provide adequate off-street parking and loading facilities.

7. To realize a development plan designed to conserve the use of land and the cost of municipal services.

8. To promote privacy for residents and freedom from nuisances and things harmful to the senses.

9. To protect the community against unsightly, obtrusive, and noisome land uses and operations.

10. To enhance the esthetic aspects throughout the entire community.

11. To preserve historic sites, areas, buildings and landmarks located in the Town.

SECTION II
ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICTS

A. Names of Zoning Districts

In order to fulfill the purpose of this Ordinance, the Town of Berne establishes and is hereby divided into the following eight zoning districts:

RAF Residence /Agriculture/Forestry: One family dwelling per five (5) acres; two-family dwellings per five (5) acres if new construction; conversion of one family dwellings to attached two family dwellings per five (5) acres with a special use permit; multi-family with a special use permit and site plan approval.

MDR Medium Density Residence: One family per one and one-half acres, single family.

NC Neighborhood Commercial.

GC General Commercial.

IND Industrial.

H Historic.

TN/MU1 Traditional Neighborhood Mixed Use

TN/MU2 Traditional Neighborhood Mixed Use

B. Zoning Map

1. Designation - The location and boundaries of said zoning districts are shown on the map designated "Official Zoning Map of the Town of Berne" adopted on May 1, 1974 and certified by the Town Clerk. Said map together with everything shown thereon and all amendments thereto is hereby adopted and is declared to be an appurtenant part of this Ordinance. No amendment to this Ordinance, which involves matters portrayed on the Official Zoning Map, shall become effective until such change and entry has been made on said map and has been attested by the Town Clerk. Any new zoning map reflecting amendments to the previous Official Zoning Map shall bear a statement which explains that it supersedes the prior map and gives the date of adoption of both the prior map and the new zoning map.

2. Copies of Zoning Map - Regardless of the existence of other printed copies of the zoning map which from time to time may be made or published, the Official Zoning Map which shall be on file with the Town Clerk shall be the official determinant of the current zoning status of the land and water areas, buildings, and other structures in the Town.

C. Interpretation of District Boundaries

Where uncertainty exists with respect to any boundary of any of the aforesaid districts as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply:

1. Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following the centerlines or right-of-way lines of streets, highways, public utility easements, or watercourses, said boundaries shall be construed to be coincident with such lines. Such boundaries shall be deemed to be automatically moved if a centerline or right-of-way line of such street, highway, public utility or watercourse is moved a maximum of 50 feet.

2. Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following the Town boundary line, property lines, lot lines, or projections thereof, said boundaries shall be construed to be coincident with such lines or projections thereof.

3. Where district boundaries are so indicated that they are approximately parallel to the Town boundary line, property lines, lot lines, right-of-way lines, easements, watercourses, or projections thereof, said boundaries shall be construed as being parallel thereto and at such distances there from as indicated on the Zoning Map or as shall be determined by the use of the scale shown on the Zoning Map.

4. Where a district boundary line divides a lot in a single ownership or joint ownership of record at the time such line is established, the regulations for the less restricted portion of such lot shall extend not more than 30 feet into the more restricted portion.

5. In all other cases, where not dimensioned, the location of boundaries shown on the map shall be determined by the use of the scale appearing thereon, but in no instance will a district be less than the specified minimum lot depth shown for each district in the Density Control Schedule.

SECTION III
USE REGULATIONS

A. Permitted Uses

No building or premises shall be erected, altered, or used except for one or more of the uses designated for its district and in accordance with Section VII, subsection A, of this Ordinance.

Symbols:

(P) Designates a use permitted by right.

(X) Designates a conditional use contingent upon securing a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with Section VIII, subsection E. In the case of Home Occupations, special use permits shall be granted by the Planning Board.

+ designates a use subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board in accordance with Section VII, subsection A.

. designates a prohibited use.

B. Prohibited Uses

In the Industrial district, where manufacturing or light industry is permitted, no manufacturing use, nor any trade, or industry use or purpose that is noxious or offensive by reason of the emission of odor, dust, smoke, toxic or noisome fumes, radiation, gas, noise, vibration, or excessive light, or any combination of the above, which is dangerous and prejudicial to the public health, safety and general welfare shall be permitted, and this includes specifically, but is not limited to, the following such uses:

Acetylene gas manufacture for commercial purpose

Ammonia, chlorine or bleaching powder manufacture

Arsenal

Asphalt manufacture or refining

Auto junk yard

Blast furnaces, not including cupola or converter furnaces used in foundries and in which no wood is used as fuel

Boiler shops, structural steel fabricating shops, metal working shops, which operate reciprocating hammers or chisels or other noise-producing electric or pneumatic tools within 100 feet of any boundary line of the premises and outside of any masonry buildings

Brewing or distilling of liquors

Bronze and aluminum powder manufacture

Carbon, lampblack, shoe blacking, graphite, or stove polish manufacture

Celluloid and other cellulose products manufacture

Cement manufacture

Coal tar products manufacture

Disinfectant and insecticide manufacture

Distillation of coal, wood, or bones

Dump, unless operated or controlled by the Town.

Excelsior and fibre manufacture

Explosives, fireworks or match manufacture, assembling, or storage in bulk, except the manufacture, assembling and storage in bulk of safety matches in book form

Fat rendering

Fertilizer manufacture or potash refining

Fish smoking or curing

Glue, size or gelatin manufacture or processing involving recovery from fish or animal offal

Incinerator, unless operated by the town

Junk yard

Lime, gypsum, cement, plaster, or plaster of paris manufacture, except the mixing of plaster

Linoleum or oil cloth manufacture

Ore reduction or the smelting of iron, copper, tin zinc or lead

Paint, oil varnish, turpentine, shellac, or enamel manufacture, except the mixing of wet paints

Perfume and extract manufacture

Petroleum refining

Poisons manufacture: fumigates, carbon disulfide, hydrocyanic acid, ethyl, stomach poisons, arsenate of lead, arsenate of calcium hellebore and paris green, contact insecticides, lime, sulphur, nicotine, kerosene emulsions

Printing ink manufacture

Radium extraction

Storage, coloring, curing, dressing, or tanning of raw or green salted hides or skins

Rubber, caoutchouc or gutta-percha manufacture from crude or scrap material, except in connection with a rubber products manufacturing plant

Salt works

Sand paper and emery cloth manufacture

Slaughtering of animals, except for immediate consumption on premises or immediate retail sale

Soap, soda ash, or washing compound manufacture, except products not containing caustic soda

Starch, glucose, or dextrine manufacture

Stock yards

Sulphurous, sulphuric, nitric, picric or hydrochloric acid or other corrosive or offensive acid manufacture, or their use or storage, except on a limited scale as accessory to a permitted industry

Tallow, grease, lard or candle manufacture or refining

Tar distillation or manufacture, except where the tar or asphalt is treated at a temperature under 100 degrees Fahrenheit

Tobacco processing

Vinegar, pickle, or sauerkraut manufacture in bulk

Wool pulling or scouring, except in connection with a woolen mill

Yeast Manufacture

Schedule of Uses

ZONING DISTRICT	RAF	MDR	NC	GC	IND	TN/MU1	TN/MU2
Residential Uses
Detached one or two-family dwellings	P	P	P	.	.	P	P
Residential use combined with commercial use	.	.	X+	X+	.	X+	X+
Multi-Family (Three or more units)	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Manufactured Home	P	P	.	.	.	P	P
Senior Citizen Housing						X+	X+
Conversion of Seasonal Residence to year-round residence	X	X	X	.	.	X	X
Assisted Living Center/Adult Care						.	.
General Uses
Agriculture not including the keeping of fowl or farm animals (Section V-A-13)	P	.	.	P	.	P	P
Agriculture including the keeping of fowl and farm animals (Section V-A-13)	P	.	.	X+	.	.	.
Cemetery (Section V-I-2-d)	X	X	X+	X+	.	.	.
Church, other places of worship or religious instruction	X+	X+	X+	X+	.	X+	X+
Cultural facility (art gallery, museum, community building) (Section V-I-2-l)	P+	P+	P+	P+	.	X+	X+
Forestry	P	P	.	.	.	.	.
Golf course, country club, athletic field	P+	P+	.	.