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To Spur New Housing Opportunities, Proposed Local Law Will Allow PUDs On Parcels Over Ten Acres In Town Of Ramapo
The Town of Ramapo is holding a public hearing this evening (Tuesday) to consider a local law allowing Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) in all areas of Ramapo, in addition to the Northeast Corridor, where PUD legislation is already in place.
PUDs are “floating zones” created to encourage creative residential, commercial or mixed use development, including the construction of smaller and more affordable apartments and single-family detached residences. Ramapo, like the rest of Rockland County, is facing a crisis in both affordable and available housing units.
The PUD is akin to a type of “form-based zoning,” where what you design and build is more important than where it gets built. In traditional zoning codes, each zone determines what type of use and structure can be built within the confines of the zone – e.g. single-family zones, multi-family zones, retail zones, etc.
The PUD allows any type of mixed-use development and is designed to minimize the negative impacts associated with suburban sprawl. PUDs allow flexibility in planning and design, and enable developers to stray from adherence to conventional site and design requirements. The intent is to encourage development that contains amenities, protects sensitive environmental areas, utilizes infrastructure more efficiently, and creates a more desirable for living experience for residents.
PUDs can be considered anywhere in the Town of Ramapo (other than in the Northeast Corridor) on a parcel or parcels of contiguous land of 10 or more acres. Application is made to the Town Board, which has absolute discretion to accept or deny a PUD application. The Town Board can refer the application to the Planning Board for a recommendation (which the Town Board is required to consider), but the ultimate decision remains with the Town Board.
Proposed PUDs need to comply with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Non-complying PUDS can request an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan.
PUDs in the Town’s Northeast Corridor require a minimum of 20 acres.
The 10-acre threshold for areas outside the Northeast Corridor is absolute. The local law says, “The minimum tract size requirement of 10 acres is an inextricable element of a PUD, and it is the intent of the Town Board that development of a PUD on tracts of less than 10 acres is not in the public interest and is prohibited.”
The Town Board is charged with determining land use intensity including the number, type and size of dwelling units, and retail, office or other commercial space square footage for the proposed PUD. Density (number of units) is limited by the maximums provided in other zoning districts and floor area ratio (FAR) is limited to the FAR in the district where the property is located or fifty percent (50%) of the highest FAR in any zoning district in the Town.
The proposed PUD law does not have a specific set aside for “affordable” units.
Area and bulk limits will also be determined by the Town Board, but a key intent of the PUD is to allow flexibility to encourage more creative residential, commercial or mixed use development.
Approved PUD applications require an amendment to the Zoning Code to overlay the PUD on the Town’s official zoning map.
Before the Town can accept the PUD, the Town Board is required to hold a public hearing on a proposed PUD District and preliminary PUD plan within 45 days after the Town Board determines an application for a PUD is complete.
Earlier this year, Ramapo approved a PUD overlay for the Millers Pond development on the former Minisceongo Golf Course property at 110 Pomona Road, just west of the New York Boulders Stadium. That process and approval for a mixed-use development of 637 residential units with 67,000 square feet of non-residential, mixed use commercial space was completed under a different section of the Town’s zoning code that was adopted in 2022.
In July, neighbors of the planned community sought to derail the development and filed a lawsuit in Rockland County Supreme Court alleging that the adoption of the PUD was illegal. Last week, the Town filed papers answering the complaint and seeking to have the case dismissed based on the plaintiffs’ lack of standing, and the Town’s compliance with state and local law.
