New York Laws
Article 27 - Adirondack Park Agency
806 - Shoreline Restrictions.

(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.