North Castle Eyes Regulatory Update to Accessory Dwellings, Home Businesses
North Castle officials are weighing an update to existing accessory apartment and home-based business regulations to reflect the evolving needs of the community while looking to maintain the character of its residential zones.
The town is exploring whether to amend the accessory apartment provision in the code to encourage housing diversity and affordability while considering updating its home business regulations to allow suitable operations that don’t fit under the current classifications. It would also establish provisions to regulate home businesses.
Director of Planning Adam Kaufman said the issue of accessory apartments has caught the attention of planners, policymakers and the public, especially after a state Senate bill proposed earlier this year would force towns to comply with certain accessory apartment requirements, which would impact North Castle.
“I think it’s a good time for us to revisit the law which hasn’t been revised since the initial adoption in the ‘80s,” Kaufman said. “So taking the sentiment that we want to permit accessory apartments in single-family residence districts but also regulate these apartments and make sure that they’re compatible in the town.”
Among the changes being considered is to allow an accessory apartment within the primary residence or a detached structure regardless of the age of the home. There are exceptions for some structures built before Oct. 11, 1984, but otherwise the apartment must currently be attached to the primary residence.
Another revision that is contemplated is to waive two waiting periods. Currently, an owner of a new house must wait four years after the initial Certificate of Occupancy is granted to be approved for an accessory apartment, and if another party buys the property, they must wait two years before applying for the special use permit.
Supervisor Michael Schiliro said that could make it difficult for a family to plan if they buy a mother-daughter home, for example, with the intent of having an elderly parent live with them. However, the town also doesn’t want to open the floodgates to absentee landlords, so the provision requiring the homeowner to live in either the primary residence or apartment would remain in effect.
“We don’t want to make it difficult, but we want to make sure we’re catching what we should catch so nobody’s abusing this,” Schiliro said.
Other potential changes would be to allow an accessory apartment on a property that also has a home business and to update the utility service section that removes the sampling and testing of wells and septic from the town Building Department, giving that responsibility to the county Health Department.
Councilwoman Barbara DiGiacinto said she would be hesitant to allow an accessory apartment on the same property as a home-based business because it could cause traffic and excessive activity.
“It could just make a property in a residential single-family house in the neighborhood very busy,” she said.
A special use permit would still be needed to have an accessory apartment.
Among the provisions included in Senate bill S.4547, which was introduced in February by state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Lewisboro), would be to allow the owner to live off site and to eliminate parking requirements.
Home-based business regulations, which would require Planning Board site plan approval, would set hours of operation and place limits on the number of employees and clients allowed to reduce impact on a residential neighborhood.
Proposed regulations would also contain a list of permitted and prohibited home-based businesses. Permitted uses would include professionals, artists, home instruction, workrooms and repair services while kennels, medical clinics, car repair shops, barbers and retail sales would not be allowed.
The Town Board set public hearings for both laws for Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
