2023 New York Laws › EXC - Executive › Article 27 - Adirondack Park Agency › 806 - Shoreline Restrictions.

§ 806. Shoreline   restrictions.  1.  In  order  to  provide  adequate
protection of the quality of the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams of the
park and the qualities of their shorelines, no  person  shall  undertake
any new land use or development or subdivision of land that involves any
shoreline  within the park, except in compliance, at a minimum, with the
following restrictions. In addition, compliance with these  restrictions
shall  be  required  by  the  agency  in its review of any project under
section eight hundred nine and, at a minimum, by any local government in
the adoption and enforcement of a local land use program. All  distances
contained  in these restrictions shall be measured horizontally. For the
purpose of this  section,  any  lot,  parcel  or  site  that  adjoins  a
shoreline,  includes  a shoreline or, in whole or in part, is located at
or within the minimum set back requirement as provided  in  subparagraph
two  of paragraph a of this subdivision, and any land use or development
on such a  lot,  parcel  or  site,  shall  be  deemed  to  involve  that
shoreline.
a.  In  the  case  of  the  shorelines  of all lakes and ponds and the
shorelines of any river designated to be studied as a  wild,  scenic  or
recreational river in accordance with the environmental conservation law
or any river or stream navigable by boat, including canoe, the following
restrictions shall apply:
(1)  The  minimum  lot width measured along the shoreline for each one
family residential structure shall be fifty feet in  hamlet  areas,  one
hundred  feet  in  moderate intensity use areas, one hundred twenty-five
feet in low intensity use areas, one hundred fifty  feet  in  rural  use
areas,  and two hundred feet in resource management areas; provided that
the minimum lot width for a lot not  adjoining  or  including  shoreline
which  is  deemed  to involve shoreline for the purposes of this section
may be measured lateral to the  shoreline  at  any  point  on  the  lot.
Nothing   herein   shall  be  deemed  to  preclude  the  application  of
appropriate shoreline restrictions to new uses  other  than  one  family
residential  structures subject to project review by the agency or to an
approved local land use program.
(2) The minimum setback  of  all  principal  buildings  and  accessory
structures  in  excess  of  one hundred square feet, other than docks or
boathouses, from the mean high-water mark shall be fifty feet in  hamlet
areas  and  moderate  intensity  use  areas,  seventy-five  feet  in low
intensity and  rural  use  areas,  and  one  hundred  feet  in  resource
management areas.
(3)  The removal of vegetation, including trees, shall be permitted on
shorefront lots provided the following standards are met:
(a) Within thirty-five feet of the mean high-water mark not more  than
thirty  percent  of the trees in excess of six inches diameter at breast
height existing at any time may be cut over any ten-year period.
(b) Within six feet of the mean high-water mark no vegetation  may  be
removed, except that up to a maximum of thirty percent of the shorefront
may be cleared of vegetation on any individual lot. This provision shall
be adhered to in addition to (a) above.
(c)  The  above  cutting  standards shall not be deemed to prevent the
removal of diseased vegetation or of rotten or damaged trees or of other
vegetation that present safety or health hazards.
(4) The following minimum shoreline frontages shall be required in all
land use areas for deeded or  contractual  access  to  all  such  lakes,
ponds,  rivers  or  streams  for  five or more lots, parcels or sites or
multiple  family  dwelling  units  not  having  separate  and   distinct
ownership of shore frontage:
(a)  Where  five  to twenty lots or multiple family dwelling units are
involved, a total of not less than one hundred feet.
(b) Where more than twenty and not  more  than  one  hundred  lots  or
multiple  dwelling  units are involved, a minimum of three feet for each
additional lot or multiple dwelling unit in excess of twenty.
(c)  Where  more  than one hundred and not more than one hundred fifty
lots or multiple dwelling units are involved, a minimum of two feet  for
each additional lot or multiple dwelling unit in excess of one hundred.
(d)  Where more than one hundred fifty lots or multiple dwelling units
are involved, a minimum of one foot for each additional lot or  multiple
dwelling unit in excess of one hundred fifty.
b.  In  the  case of all lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, the minimum
setback of any on-site sewage drainage field or seepage pit shall be one
hundred feet from the mean high-water mark in all land use areas.
2. In all of the above restrictions, the term "mean  high-water  mark"
shall  mean  the  spillway  elevation contour, which is at seven hundred
seventy-one feet elevation above mean  sea  level,  whenever  the  Great
Sacandaga Lake is involved.
3.  a.  Any  person  seeking  a variance from the strict letter of the
shoreline  restrictions  in  connection  with  any  new  land   use   or
development  or subdivision of land proposed to be located in a land use
area  governed  by  an  approved  local  land  use  program  shall  make
application  therefor  to  the  local  government  as  provided  in such
approved local land use program. If a person is seeking such a  variance
in  a  land use area not governed by an approved local land use program,
he shall make application therefor to the  agency  whether  or  not  the
agency  has  project  review  jurisdiction  over  the  new  land  use or
development or subdivision of land involved.  Upon such application, and
after public hearing thereon, the local government or the agency  shall,
where  there  are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the
way of  carrying  out  the  strict  letter  of  the  restrictions,  have
authority  to  vary  or  modify  the  application  of  such restrictions
relating  to  the  use,  construction  or  alteration  of  buildings  or
structures,  or the use of land, so that the spirit of such restrictions
shall be observed, public safety and  welfare  secured  and  substantial
justice done.
b.  The  local  government shall act upon any application to it within
the time provided for in its local land use program.  The  agency  shall
act  upon  any  application  to  it  which  is associated with a project
subject to its review jurisdiction within the period provided in section
eight hundred nine. In the case of any  other  application,  the  agency
shall  schedule  a  public  hearing within fifteen days of receipt of an
application in such form and manner as it shall  prescribe.  The  public
hearing  shall  be  commenced  within  thirty  days  of  the  date it is
scheduled. The agency shall  act  upon  a  variance  application  within
forty-five  days  of  the receipt by the agency of a complete record, as
that term is defined in paragraphs (a) through (e) of subdivision one of
section three hundred two of the state administrative procedure act.
4. The shoreline restrictions shall not apply to  any  emergency  land
use  or development which is immediately necessary for the protection of
life or property as defined by the agency in its rules  and  regulations
governing  its  procedures  to  review projects as authorized in section
eight hundred nine.
5. In order to encourage clustering of buildings and  the  maintenance
of  undeveloped  shorelines,  as an alternative to minimum lot widths of
the shoreline restriction, shoreline development may take place  in  the
following   land  use  areas  upon  the  following  approximate  overall
intensities of principal buildings (other than  boathouses)  per  linear
mile of shoreline or proportionate fraction thereof:
Principal Buildings
Land Use Areas                             Per Linear Mile
Hamlet ............................................... 106
Moderate Intensity .................................... 53
Low Intensity ......................................... 42
Rural Use ............................................. 36
Resource Management ................................... 26
This alternative method of cluster shoreline development shall only be
employed  where  a  single  ownership  or  a group of two or more owners
acting in concert is involved. In addition, approval of this  method  of
development  must carry with it provisions, whether by deed restriction,
restrictive covenant or other similar appropriate means, to  insure  the
retention  in  open  space  of  the  undeveloped  portions  of shoreline
developed on a cluster basis. The  agency,  within  its  project  review
jurisdiction,  or  a  local  government under an approved local land use
program, may apply these optional shoreline clustering provisions.   Any
person proposing to undertake new land use or development or subdivision
of  land  in  a land use area not governed by an approved local land use
program  and  that  is  not  subject  to  the  agency's  project  review
jurisdiction,  may  apply  to  the  agency  for  a permit to employ such
alternative method and the agency shall have authority to grant  such  a
permit  if  the  above required terms and conditions are met. The agency
shall act  upon  such  application  within  thirty  days  after  receipt
thereof.