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LOT COVERAGE LIMITS IN RESIDENTIAL ZONES
Please plan to attend the Public Information and Discussion Meeting on Tuesday 1/25/11 at 7:00pm in the Town Hall Meeting Room to discuss possible regulations on lot coverage limits in residential zones.

Basis for Action
A major problem in the town is drainage and flooding, which is exacerbated by increased impervious surfaces. This problem is clearly identified in the first chapter under Water Resources in the 2009 Plan of Conservation and Development adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the RTM.

As noted in the 2009 Plan of Conservation and Development, Water Resources section, page 4, Action Item number 1.4 states:
"To reduce and manage runoff, establish regulations to limit impervious lot coverage and reduce site hydrology for all new construction on residential properties."

Further, on page 4, the statement reads:
"Development increases impervious surfaces, which impacts water quality as well. Planning and Zoning should evaluate the impact of impervious surfaces and institute regulations to restrict the amount of new impervious surface on residential properties."

At the Commission's directive and work program/goals for 2010-11, the Planning and Zoning staff worked on developing percentages of site coverage/limits that will address the water quantity and water quality issues raised by the residents and contained in recommended action items in the POCD.

The Planning and Zoning staff worked for many months using the Town's GIS for lot size and ProVal system for FAR, and examined all the residential properties in each zone using a variety of percentages. As a result of this work and fine tuning the percentages, the following list represents the selected percentages of lot coverage.

Actions
There already exists lot coverage percentages in the business zones and by creating limits to site coverage in the residential zones, more grassed and landscaped areas on each lot will be ensured and drainage and flooding problems will be reduced if not eliminated from sites.

This is in keeping with the overall goals of the 2009 POCD to address flooding and stormwater management, protect surface and ground water quality, and protect natural resources.

Here are the proposed percentages to be discussed on January 25, 2010 at the Public Information Meeting

Zone: Maximum Percent
Lot Coverage:
RA-4 16%
RA-2 22%
RA-1 28%
R-20 38%
R-12 45%
R-7 50%
R-6* 65%*

*one and two-family dwelling only

It is important to note that this lot coverage do not take away any potential floor area allowed in these residential zones. The FAR percentages are not changing. Also important to note is that those lots that exceed these percentages will be grandfathered under their existing coverage, but cannot add to their site coverage.

Site or lot coverage refers to the amount of non-grassed areas on a lot.

It includes building footprints and impervious surfaces on a lot. This is consistent with the newly adopted lot coverage definition, which was adopted on October 26, 2010 as follows:

Section 6-5 (a) 34.1 LOT COVERAGE shall mean the percentage of impervious surface development on a site or lot occupied by buildings, structures, parking areas, driveways, tennis courts, patios, terraces, swimming pools, etc., and does include porous asphalt, porous concrete, permeable inter-locking concrete pavers, concrete grid pavers, plastic turf reinforcing grids and similar man-made materials and products. Grassed and landscaped areas, rain gardens and tree areas are considered permeable surfaces. Any underground structure or impermeable surface shall, if it has at least 3 feet of friable fill, not be considered in lot coverage.
Drainage systems and septic systems with the purpose of retention, infiltration or water quality treatment shall not be considered as lot coverage.

As stated at our public hearings, the purpose of this new wording was designed to address some of the Town residents' concerns regarding flooding and drainage issues within the town that surfaced in the POCD hearings and in the 2009 POCD plan as well as requiring more trees and green space on lots.

The proposed new expanded definition states that man-made materials and products (such as pools, tennis courts, porous concrete, etc.) will be counted in lot coverage. By requiring at least 3 feet of friable fill above any underground structure or impermeable surface, drainage can still be handled on site, planted material will survive, and said structures and surfaces will not be counted toward lot coverage. This definition will also coordinate with DPWs' new Draft Drainage Manual, but is not dependent upon said manual. This regulation does mean that engineering drainage reports and calculations will be required to be submitted with applications to the Building Department and Land Use Agencies.

The Commission feels that using lot coverage instead of building coverage addresses the environmental concerns of addressing water quantity and quality issues, having more green space and trees on properties, more area to absorb water runoff, as well as to address water quantity issues in order to preclude drainage run-off onto adjoining properties and to reduce the flooding problems in town.

Download a copy of this memo


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