Proposal would streamline city’s zoning code
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A proposal to consolidate the city’s eight residential zoning districts into three new ones does not alter the uses allowed in those areas, but does make the current zoning code easier to use, officials said.
During a public forum Thursday evening, Common Council President James Noble said the city’s zoning code is antiquated and does not comply with a lot of general state regulations. He said a committee he heads has been working for more than a year to update the code and one of the proposals being considered is to combine the eight residential districts into three.
“Just to make it generally easier to understand the code,” Noble said. “And, just so you know, there’s really no changes per se in what’s allowed. We’re just combining what’s allowed into these three different zones.”
Consultant Daniel Shuster of Shuster Associates said the residential districts currently take up 20 pages in the zoning code and the change would consolidate them in a single table. That table would show what uses are allowed in each district, he said.
“Most of the districts allow the same uses,” Shuster said. “There’s a few exceptions here and there, but they’re not dramatically different in terms of what’s allowed.”
Under the proposed change, the three singlefamily residential districts that exist in the current code would be consolidated into one. Districts R-2 and R-3, which allow two-family and three-family residences, would be combined into a single district. The remaining multi-family residential districts would also be combined into one.
In addition to consolidating the residential districts, the zoning code could include new “neighborhood context bulk regulations” for single-family districts, Shuster said. He said that would allow lot sizes and setbacks to be based on nearby properties and recognize existing patterns of development, rather than setting one universal lot size and setback. Shuster said it would also eliminate rigid district boundary lines.
“These are steps we’re suggesting just to make
the zoning law more userfriendly than it presently is,” Shuster said. “Not introducing any brand new concepts, but making it easier to work with.”
During the forum, attendees broke into two smaller groups to discuss the proposed changes.
In one, part of the conversation focused on parking requirements for residential districts and the density of the populations in those areas.
Resident Tanya Garment questioned whether the zoning committee considered
changing the makeup of the residential districts. She said different districts that separate single-family residences from multi-family ones segregate different income families. Garment also said eliminating parking requirements in residential districts would allow for corner stores to be a part of the neighborhood, which increases walkability.
The next public zoning forum will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 at City Hall, 420 Broadway. That forum will focus on the roles of the city’s Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission, Heritage Area Commission, and Planning Board.