Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Florida, New York

Town of Florida’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Buildings erected, relocated, altered as to outside dimensions, changed in use, or excavated inside the Town of Florida.

  • A permit must be issued by the Enforcement Officer before the listed work begins.
  • Application requires a sketch or plot plan and working drawing.
  • The Enforcement Officer must issue or refuse the application within 10 days.
  • A permit is issued for one year and may be renewed for two additional years.

  application decision period: <= 10 days · initial permit period: 1 year (May be renewed for two additional years.)

  “No building shall hereafter be erected, relocated or altered as to outside dimensions or so as to permit a change in its use and no excavation for any building shall be begun unless and until a permit therefore has been issued by the Enforcement Officer.”

• InspectionsRequired

  Buildings and premises inside the Town of Florida where inspection is necessary for the Enforcement Officer to carry out ordinance duties.

  • The ordinance describes inspections as those necessary to carry out the Enforcement Officer's duties; it does not publish a residential inspection-stage schedule on the opened material.

  “The Enforcement Officer shall make inspections of buildings or premises necessary to carry out his duties.”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside the Town of Florida, Montgomery County, New York.

  • The ordinance regulates location, construction, alteration, and use of buildings and land.

  “AN ORDINANCE regulating and restricting the location, construction, alteration and use of buildings and land in the Town of Florida, Montgomery County, New York, pursuant to the Zoning provisions of ARTICLE 16 of the Town Law of the State of New York.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  All land inside the Town of Florida.

  • District boundaries are shown on the Town's adopted and Town Clerk-certified zoning map.

  “For the purpose of this ordinance, the Town of Florida is divided into the following types of classes of districts: R-1 Residential R-M Mobile Home Residential A Agricultural C-1 Commercial-1 C-2 Commercial-2 IBP Industrial Business Park N-P Natural Products H Historic”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Planned-unit-development subdivision plats and approvals inside the Town of Florida.

  • Before a PUD building permit or filing a PUD subdivision plat, the developer must apply for and secure PUD approval.
  • Individual PUD project elements remain subject to subdivision or site-plan approval as applicable.

  “Whenever any planned unit development is proposed, before any permit for the erection of a permanent building in such planned unit development shall be granted and before any subdivision plat of any part thereof may be filed in the office of the Montgomery County Clerk, the developer or his authorized agent shall apply for and secure approval of such planned unit development in accordance with the following procedures:”

• Driveway accessRequired

  Lots used for building purposes inside the Town of Florida.

  • The lot must have direct frontage on an improved street or highway, or on a street in a Planning Board-approved subdivision plot.

  “In any district, a lot to be used for building purposes shall have direct frontage on an improved street, or highway, or on a street in a subdivision plot approved by the Planning Board.”

• Permit feesVariable (with conditions)

  Town of Florida building permits.

  • The Town Board determines the fee from time to time; no dollar amount was published in the opened ordinance.

  “The fee for any such permit shall be determined by the Town Board from time to time.”

• Permit processPublished (with conditions)

  Town of Florida building-permit applications.

  • Applicant must file a sketch or plot plan, use description, construction description, and working drawing.
  • Enforcement Officer has no more than 10 days to issue or refuse a permit.

  application decision period: <= 10 days

  “Each application shall state the purpose for which the structure of land is to be used and a general description of the type of construction. A working drawing of any proposed building shall be filed with the application for a building permit.”

Rules another office applies inside Town of Florida

Town of Florida does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Manufactured homesAllowed

  Mobile homes in the Town of Florida R-M Mobile Home Residential District.

  • The permitted use is subject to applicable construction, foundation, anchoring, skirt, and HUD-seal requirements in the ordinance.

  “In the R-M Mobile Home Residential District no building or premises shall be used and no building shall be erected or altered except for one or more of the following uses: (A) Principal Permitted Uses: 1. One Family Dwelling 2. Mobile Home 3. Accessory Use or Building 4. Community Park or Playground”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Florida or Montgomery County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builders inside the Town of Florida.
• Minimum dwelling size — Single-family and agricultural residential development inside the Town of Florida.
• Minimum lot size — R-1 Residential and A Agricultural Districts inside the Town of Florida.
• Setbacks — R-1 Residential and A Agricultural Districts inside the Town of Florida.
• Lot coverage — Residential and agricultural development inside the Town of Florida.

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.