TOWN OF
STERLING
ZONING
REGULATIONS
These
Zoning Regulations for the Town of Sterling have been adopted in accordance
with, and for the purposes set forth in, Chapter 124 of the Connecticut General
Statutes, and more specifically for the following purposes:
To protect and promote the public health, safety, welfare,
convenience, and property values; to lessen congestion in the streets; to
secure safety from fire, panic, flood, environmental damage, and other dangers;
to provide adequate light, air, and water, to prevent overcrowding of land; to
avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate adequate provisions for
transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements;
to preserve and protect the unique character of the town of Sterling; to
protect sites and features of historic and archaeological significance; to
conserve and protect existing and potential surface-water and groundwater
drinking supplies, inland wetlands and watercourses, and other valuable natural
resources; to prevent unnecessary soil erosion and sedimentation; and to
provide adequate housing opportunities for all citizens of Sterling consistent
with soil types, terrain, infrastructure capacity, and the rural character of
the Town.
The
Zoning Regulations established hereunder are in accordance with, and are hereby
declared to embody, the comprehensive zoning plan of the Town of Sterling. In adopting these Regulations, the
Commission has considered the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development
prepared pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 8-23.
On or after the effective date, no building or structure shall be erected, altered, enlarged, moved, or used except in conformity with these regulations. No lot or parcel of land shall be divided or otherwise diminished in area, width or length except in conformity with these regulations.
Section 2.01
Specific Definitions
For the
purposes of these regulations, the following words shall have the meanings set
forth in this section:
Accessway:
Any portion of a lot that provides access to and from a street, and that
has a width of fifty (50) feet or less when measured in a direction
perpendicular to either boundary line of the accessway.
Buildable area:
A contiguous area of a lot within which permitted buildings or other
structures may be readily erected, used and maintained, and primary and
reserved septic systems, domestic water, and personal open space and recreation
areas may be readily supported, due to favorable soil, groundwater, and other
natural characteristics. The minimum
buildable area required for a lot in any area in town shall be determined by
these regulations.
Commission:
The Sterling Planning and Zoning Commission or, depending upon the
context, the former Sterling Planning Commission.
Corner lot:
A lot having continuous frontage on two intersecting streets.
Dwelling: A
freestanding building, structure, mobile home or manufactured home containing
one or more dwelling units.
Dwelling unit:
A building, structure, mobile home or manufactured home, or any portion
of any of the foregoing forms of residence that is used or intended to be used
as a residence by one family.
Effective date:
The effective date established under Section 10.1 of these regulations.
Highway: Same
meaning as street.
Lot: A plot or parcel
of land, other than submerged land, that is separately described on a deed or
map filed in the Sterling land records, and that is occupied or capable of
being occupied by one principal building and the accessory buildings or uses
customarily incidental to it, including such yards and street frontage as are
required by this ordinance.
Lot frontage:
The distance between lot sidelines measured along a continuous front lot
line.
Lot line, front:
Any line separating a lot from a street right-of-way. Corner lots shall be deemed to have a front
lot line along each adjacent street. If
street right-of-way boundaries have not been established, the boundaries shall
be deemed to be twenty-five (25) feet distant from the centerline of the
existing traveled way, or such other distance from the centerline as may have
been established by the commission or the town. The front lot line must be continuous and unbroken as measured
along the adjacent street.
Lot line, rear:
Except with respect to corner lots, any lot line or portion of a lot
line that is parallel to, or within 45 degrees of being parallel to, a front
lot line shall be deemed to be a rear lot line. Corner lots shall be deemed to have no rear lot lines.
Lot line, side:
Any lot line that is not a front lot line or a rear lot line as defined
herein.
Lot of record:
A lot which, on September 14, 2009, was both (1) listed as a separate
and distinct parcel of land for tax purposes in the records of the Town
Assessor; and (2) either described as a separate and distinct parcel of land in
a deed or other instrument recorded on the Sterling land records, or shown on a
subdivision plan approved by the Sterling Planning Commission and filed in the
office of the Sterling Town Clerk in accordance with Connecticut General
Statutes Section 8-25.
Nonresidential use:
Any use that is not either a residence or an accessory use customarily
associated with a residence, such as, but not limited to, a garage,
outbuilding, or pool. Nonresidential
uses include, but are not limited to, business, commercial and industrial uses.
Principal nonresidential building: A building other than a dwelling in which
the principal activities associated with a non-residential use of property are
carried on.
Rear lot: A lot
having frontage with no less than 25 feet of frontage on a town or state
street.
Road: Same
meaning as street.
Setbacks, front, rear and side yard: The horizontal distance measured at right
angles to the boundary of the lot, between the main wall of the building or any
other structural component (i.e. carport, column or roof) and the main
boundary.
Single-family dwelling: A dwelling containing only one dwelling unit.
Street: An improved
right-of-way dedicated and accepted for public use by lawful procedure and
suitable for vehicular travel, or a proposed street shown on a subdivision plan
approved by the Sterling Planning Commission.
Two-family dwelling:
A dwelling containing two dwelling units.
The Town
of Sterling shall have one zoning district.
Any use otherwise permissible under state and federal law shall be
permissible within the district provided that the other requirements of these
regulations are met.
Section 4.01
Minimum Lot Area
Whenever a
dwelling is established on any lot after the effective date, the lot must
contain no less than the greater of (1) two acres (87,120 square feet) of land
and a minimum buildable area, defined in Section 4.02, of 50,000 square feet
per dwelling unit. No lot shall contain
more than one dwelling or more than two dwelling units. If two dwelling units are constructed an
additional two acres will be required for a total of four acres (174,240 square
feet) for the two dwelling units.
Whenever
any nonresidential building or additional nonresidential building is
established or expanded on any lot after the effective date, the lot must
contain no less than two acres (87,120 square feet) of land. For purposes of this section, the area of
the lot shall not be deemed to include any accessway(s) or any land defined as
an inland wetland or watercourse pursuant to Section 22a-38 of the Connecticut
General Statues, as amended.
A.
Minimum required buildable area is 50,000 square feet as
further defined below.
B.
Buildable Area defined: The term “buildable area” shall mean a
contiguous area that, at the time of application for a proposed use, excludes
the following categories of land:
1.
Inland wetlands and watercourses, as defined by Section
22a-38 of the Connecticut General Statutes;
2.
Storm water retention or detention areas (existing and/or
proposed);
3.
Floodplain soils or areas within the 100 year flood
boundary;
4.
Rights-of-way or easements and utility and drainage
easements (existing and/or proposed);
5.
Required front yard, side yard, and rear yard setbacks;
6.
Areas with slope equal or greater than 20% and;
7.
Exposed ledge;
8.
Conservation easement areas in which the disturbance of land
and/or building of structures is prohibited (existing and/or proposed).
C.
Shape and Location of Minimum Buildable Area.
The intent of the minimum
buildable area requirement is to provide adequate contiguous area on each lot
in which to locate the principal building, accessory uses and on-site water and
sewer facilities without major physical alterations of the land. The buildable area must exist and must be
physically accessible from a street at the time of application.
For lots requiring a minimum buildable area
of 50,000 square feet, a
rectangle having dimension of 200 feet by 250 feet must be
capable of
fitting
within the designated buildable area.
Whenever
any dwelling is established or expanded, or any nonresidential use is
established or expanded, after the effective date, on any lot other than a rear
lot, the lot must have no less than 250 feet of continuous frontage along a
street. Whenever any dwelling is
established or expanded, after the effective date, on a rear lot containing no
other dwelling, the rear lot must have no more than 50 feet and no less than 25
feet of continuous frontage along a street.
Whenever any nonresidential use is established or expanded after the
effective date on a rear lot, or when an additional dwelling is to be
established or expanded on a rear lot containing another dwelling, the rear lot
must have no more than 50 feet and no less than 40 feet of continuous frontage
along a street. There shall be no more than two rear lots per 500 feet of
continuous frontage on a street.
A. No
building, structure, or use shall be located within the following required yard
areas, except as expressly provided elsewhere in these regulations:
Side and
Land Use Front Yard Setback Rear Yard Setbacks
Residential 50 feet (Town street) 25 feet
75 feet
(State highway)
Non-residential 60 feet (Town street) 25 feet
75 feet (State
highway)
Notwithstanding the provisions above, if a lot is abutted on both
sides
by
lots containing a principal structure, the closest part of which is 200
feet or less from the boundary of the center lot, the minimum front
yard
setback for the center lot may be reduced to the average of the
actual front yard setbacks of the existing adjacent principal
structures.
B. Driveways
shall not be located within ten feet of any side or rear lot line except in an
accessway. Driveways shall not be
located within five feet of the boundary of any accessway.
C. Except as
provided hereafter parking areas, parking spaces and internal access drives may
not be located within any required setback area. Parking areas, parking spaces and internal access drives for
residential and nonresidential uses may be located within half of any required
setback area farthest from the relevant lot line, provided that the remainder
of the setback area contains sufficient screening by trees, shrubs, earthen
berms or other landscape materials to prevent the parking areas, parking
spaces, or internal access drives from being readily visible from the abutting
property line or street to which the relevant setback applies.
A. Building Coverage: The following is the maximum portion of the lot that may be covered by buildings:
Residential 10%
Non-residential 40%
B.
Impervious Surface Coverage: The following is the maximum portion of the lot that may be
covered by impervious surfaces, including buildings:
Residential 20%
Non-residential 60%
Section 5.02
Existing Lots of Record
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article
IV, these regulations shall not
prohibit
the establishment of one dwelling or of one principal
nonresidential building, as well as accessory buildings or structures
customarily associated with the residential or nonresidential use, on
any
lot of
record, or any lot approved as part of a subdivision plan in
accordance with subsection b of this section, provided that (1) such lot
contained no other dwelling or principal nonresidential building on
September 14, 2009; and (2) such lot did not abut another lot that was
(a)
owned by the same person or persons as of September 14, 2009 and
(b) not shown on a plan of
subdivision previously approved by the
planning
commission. Whenever any lot of record
contained at least one
dwelling
or principal nonresidential building on September 14, 2009, no
additional dwelling or principal
nonresidential building may be
established on such lot except in compliance with these
regulations.
Whenever
any lot contained one single-family dwelling on September 14,
2009,
these regulations shall not prohibit the establishment of one
additional dwelling unit in such dwelling. No more than two dwelling
units
shall be allowed in a dwelling on any lot of record except in full
compliance
with this regulation.
Section 6.01 Well
and Septic System Locations
In order
to help protect the quality of drinking water in the Town of Sterling, no well
shall be drilled, dug or otherwise installed for the purposes of supplying
drinking water unless such well is located 75 feet or more from all lot
boundaries and existing septic systems, whether or not the septic system is
located on the same lot. For the same
reason, no portion of any subsurface sewage disposal system shall be
constructed within 75 feet of any existing well, whether or not such well is
located on the same lot. No septic
system shall be constructed within 25 feet of any lot boundary unless (i) the
portion to be constructed is needed to repair or replace a subsurface sewage
disposal system that was constructed prior to September 14, 2009 and (ii) the
Town’s sanitarian, director of health or other appropriate official determines
that there is no other feasible location for the repair or replacement.
No site
feature or activity shall create glare or illumination that extends beyond a
site’s property lines and creates a hazard or nuisance to neighboring property
owners or on adjacent roadways. Lighting
shall be designed to provide the security of the proposed activity. Lampposts shall be the minimum height
necessary to provide the adequate illumination, and in no case shall they
exceed 20 feet in height. Lighting
shall be designed such that the light source is shielded and the light is
directed downward. Lighting fixtures
shall be of a design appropriate to the use and area. Parking and loading areas and walkways shall be provided with
adequate lighting.
The Town
of Sterling shall be exempt from these requirements for the purposes of
lighting Town-owned and operated athletic sports field (i.e. baseball, soccer,
football, tennis). However, lighting
for these facilities shall be designed per national standards for such
facilities.
Section 7.01
Authority of Commission
The
provisions of these Regulations shall be administered and enforced by the
Commission. The Commission may delegate
certain powers and duties to an agent, but any such delegation shall not be
deemed to deprive the Commission of the ability to exercise such powers or
duties independently in the event the Commission determines that it would be
appropriate to do so. In the event the
Commission has not appointed an agent to act on its behalf, or if the appointed
agent is unavailable, the Chairman, or the acting Chairman if the Chairman is
unavailable, may act as the agent for the Commission in matters of enforcement
or in any other matters in or on which an agent would be authorized to act
under these Regulations. The Commission
shall not modify, reverse or rescind any order issued by its authorized agent;
any person receiving such an order and seeking modification, reversal or
rescission must appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. However, the Commission may issue an order
in circumstances in which its designated agent has refused, declined or failed
to do so.
No land use shall be established or
substantially changed and no building or structure shall be used, erected,
constructed, moved, enlarged, or altered, in whole or in part, until a zoning
permit has been issued by the Commission or its authorized agent.
Application for zoning permits shall be filed with the Commission or its authorized agent on a form provided by the Commission. If the applicant is not the owner of the property on which the activity is proposed, the relationship of the applicant to the owner shall be described on the application form. The original and one copy of each application shall be submitted. If the application involves the construction of a new structure, the exterior alteration of an existing structure (not including painting, siding, or similar cosmetic changes to the surface of a structure), the alteration (grading, excavation, or filling) of any land, the application shall be accompanied by a copy of the most recently recorded deed or subdivision plan on which the subject lot is described or shown as a separate and discrete parcel of land and by a plot plan containing the requirements described in Section 7.04 of these regulations. The Commission or its agent may also require the submission of additional information in any situation in which he or she determines that such information would be helpful in determining the conformity of an existing or proposed building, structure or use to these regulations.
Plot plans
shall be drawn to scale and shall show: (i) the total area of the lot and the
area of each and every accessway, inland wetland and watercourse; (ii) the
amount of street frontage; (iii) the locations of all existing and proposed
buildings, structures, wells and subsurface sewage disposal systems; and (iv)
the distances of all proposed wells and subsurface sewage disposal systems from
all property boundaries. The Commission
or its agent may require the plot plan to be drawn by a professional surveyor
and/or engineer, and may further require that the plot plan be drawn to any
level of accuracy the building official determines is reasonably necessary to
confirm that the proposed uses will comply with these regulations.
No
zoning permit shall be issued for any new building or structure unless the lot
on which such building or structure is to be established either (i) is a lot of
record, as defined in Section 2.01 of these regulations; or (ii) has been
reviewed by the Commission and determined to be a lot that does not require
subdivision approval.
These regulations shall be enforced by the Commission, who may appoint and delegate all or any portion of this authority to a zoning enforcement officer. If any building or structure has been erected, constructed, altered, converted or maintained, or any building, structure or land has been used, in violation of any provision of these regulations, the Commission or the zoning enforcement officer may, in addition to other remedies, institute an action or proceeding to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, alteration, conversion, maintenance or use or to restrain, correct or abate such violation or to prevent the occupancy of such building, structure or land or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about such premises. The Commission and the zoning enforcement officer may cause any building, structure, place or premises to be inspected and examined and to order in writing the remedying of any condition found to exist therein or thereon in violation of any provision of these regulations or, when the violation involves grading of land, the removal of earth or soil erosion and sediment control, to issue, in writing, a cease and desist order to be effective immediately.
Section 9.01
Appointment
The Board
of Selectmen shall appoint a Zoning Board of Appeals, to consist of five (5)
members and three (3) alternates. The
initial terms of each regular and alternate member shall be deemed to begin on
the effective date. The initial terms
of the five regular members shall be as follows: two (2) shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year, and three
(3) shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years. The initial terms of the three (3) alternate members shall be as
follows: one (1) shall be appointed for
a term of one (1) year, and two (2) shall be appointed for a term of two (2)
years. Following the initial terms,
each regular and alternate member shall be appointed or reappointed for a term
of two (2) years, each term to commence upon the day immediately following the
day on which the previous term expired, the intention being to maintain the
staggered term expiration dates.
Vacancies in ay position may be filled by appointment by the Board of
Selectmen only for the balance of the term for which the vacant member was or
may have been appointed. The Board of
Selectmen may, for good cause, terminate the membership of any person on the
Board of Appeals and replace that person with another for the balance of the
relevant term. Good cause shall
include, but shall not be limited to, frequent absences from the Board of
Appeals meetings.
The Zoning
Board of Appeals shall have the powers and duties specified in Sections 8-5
through 8-8, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes, as they may be
amended.
Section 9.03 Fees
The fee for any appeal or application filed with the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).
Section 10.1
Establishment of Effective Date
The
effective date of these regulations shall be September 14, 2009.