Town of North Hempstead Zoning Code: Setbacks, Variances, and Hearings

Setbacks and variances in the Town of North Hempstead zoning code work together: Chapter 70 sets minimum distances between your building and your lot lines for each zoning district, and if your project cannot meet those distances, you apply to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance. The specific numbers depend entirely on which district your property sits in, and the type of variance you need depends on whether you are asking for relief from a dimension or from a use restriction.¹

Find Your Zoning District First

Every setback calculation flows from the district your parcel sits in, so start there. Chapter 70 divides the unincorporated town into more than a dozen districts. The residential categories include Residence AAA, AA, A, B, and C, along with overlay designations such as Residential Open Space and Planned Waterfront Residential Community. Commercial districts include Business AA, Business A, Business B, and Waterfront Business. Industrial zoning covers Planned Industrial Park, Industrial A, Modified Planned Industrial Park, Service Commercial, and Industrial B.¹

You can look up your district by address or tax map parcel number through the town’s online GIS tools, or by visiting the Department of Building, Safety, Inspection and Enforcement in person. The official zoning map is the definitive record of boundaries. Guessing the district or relying on what a neighbor’s property is zoned for is where a lot of expensive mistakes start.

Setback and Dimensional Requirements by District

Each district carries its own set of physical rules: minimum lot area, front yard depth, side yard width, rear yard depth, maximum building height, and lot coverage. The same design that clears the code on one block can violate it a few streets away.

Residence A is a good working example. No dwelling may be built on a lot smaller than 8,500 square feet. The front yard must be at least 35 feet deep from the front property line, but if the average front setback of existing homes within 200 feet on the same side of the street is greater than 35 feet, you have to match that average instead. A single-family home needs two side yards that together add up to at least 30 percent of the lot’s width, and neither side yard can be narrower than 10 feet. The rear yard must be at least 15 feet deep for a single-family home, or 20 feet for other buildings.²

Some districts add a sky exposure plane on top of the flat setback numbers. In Residence B, no point of a structure can be higher than three times its horizontal distance from a lot line. That creates an angled invisible plane the building has to fit inside, and it often controls the design of a second story or a dormer even when the flat setback is fine. Existing single-family homes that held a valid certificate of occupancy as of December 31, 1999, may be exempt from the sky exposure plane for certain alterations, so long as demolition does not exceed 40 percent of the building’s perimeter and the ridge height stays at or below 30 feet.³

If your plans do not fit within your district’s dimensional rules, the Building Department will deny the permit. Getting the numbers checked before you pay for full architectural drawings is worth the phone call.

Accessory Structures: Sheds, Fences, and Detached Garages

Backyard projects have their own rules under Article XI. In a residential district, an accessory building or structure cannot exceed 15 feet in height, and when it sits in the rear yard it must be at least three feet from the rear and side lot lines.⁴

There is also a separate rule based on the neighbor’s house. No accessory structure other than a fence four feet or shorter may be built within a set distance of a residential building on an adjoining lot:

Residence AAA or AA districts: 25 feet
Residence A or B districts: 20 feet
All other residential districts: 15 feet

Fences in residential districts generally top out at four feet, with limited exceptions that allow six feet. A fence cannot be placed between the street and the nearest building line, which effectively keeps taller fences out of front yards. If you are building a detached garage with its entrance facing a side property line, the garage has to sit at least 25 feet from that side lot line at its closest point.⁴

When You Need a Variance: Area vs. Use

If your project cannot meet the setback, height, or lot coverage rules, you need an area variance. If your project involves an activity the code does not allow in your district at all, you need a use variance. The two have very different burdens.

An area variance covers dimensional relief. The Board of Zoning Appeals weighs the benefit to you against potential harm to the neighborhood using five factors:

Whether the variance would change the character of the neighborhood or harm nearby properties
Whether you could achieve the same result through a different approach that does not require a variance
Whether the requested variance is substantial relative to the code requirement
Whether the variance would negatively affect the physical or environmental conditions in the area
Whether the difficulty was self-created, though this factor alone does not automatically disqualify the application

This is a balancing test. The board has discretion and can grant an area variance even when one or two factors cut against the applicant.⁵

A use variance is much harder. You have to prove “unnecessary hardship” by demonstrating all four of the following for every permitted use in your district:

You cannot earn a reasonable return from the property under any permitted use, backed by detailed financial evidence
The hardship is unique to your property and does not affect a large part of the neighborhood
The proposed use would not change the essential character of the neighborhood
The hardship was not self-created

Failing even one element defeats the application. The financial proof is the piece most applicants underestimate; the board expects professional appraisals, development cost analyses, and income projections, not a general claim that the property is difficult to develop.⁵

One boundary worth naming: if a use is not listed as permitted or conditional in your district, a use variance is the only path, and it carries this heavy burden. There is no shortcut for a flatly prohibited use.

Filing the Variance Application

A variance application in North Hempstead is a document-heavy package. At a minimum, plan to prepare:

The application form, from the Building Department or Town Clerk’s office
A recent property survey by a licensed land surveyor showing lot dimensions and all existing structures
A radius map identifying every property owner within 300 feet, based on the latest Nassau County assessment roll (applications involving only signage may need only adjoining owners)
A State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) Environmental Assessment Form, with Part 1 completed by you and the remaining sections completed by the lead agency
Site plans showing the proposed work, with accurate tax map numbers

The application has to identify the specific section of Chapter 70 you are seeking relief from and explain why the variance is justified.⁶ The Environmental Assessment Form is a standardized state document; the New York Department of Environmental Conservation publishes the current version and its instructions.⁷

Filing fees sit in the town’s Fee Schedule rather than in Chapter 70 itself, so check current amounts with the Building Department before you submit.⁸

Notice and the Public Hearing

Once the application is accepted, the town schedules a public hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals. The notice work is on you, not the town. Between 10 and 20 days before the hearing, send notice by both first-class mail and certified or registered mail to every property owner within 300 feet, identifying the property, describing what you are asking for, and stating the hearing date, time, and place. You also have to post a sign on the property with the same information at least 10 days before the hearing. An affidavit confirming the mailing must be filed with the Secretary to the Board of Zoning Appeals no fewer than five days before the hearing.⁶

At the hearing, the board hears from the applicant, any professionals brought along (engineers, architects, traffic consultants), and neighbors who want to speak. Missing a notice deadline or leaving names off the mailing list can push the hearing to a later date. The board’s written decision is typically mailed within a few weeks after the hearing closes.

The board can also attach conditions to any approval it grants, and those conditions travel with the property.⁹

What Happens If You Build Anyway

Building outside the setback rules without a variance, or violating conditions attached to a variance you did obtain, triggers Article XXVI. Penalties for violating conditions on a granted variance start at $250 to $1,500 for a first offense and escalate to $5,000 to $10,000 for a third offense within five years. Operating a property without a required certificate of occupancy is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to $1,000 in fines, up to one year in jail, or both. Each week a violation continues counts as a separate offense, so accumulated fines add up quickly.¹⁰

One related situation worth knowing: if your property has a legal nonconforming structure or use that predates the current code, you can keep it, but you cannot enlarge, extend, reconstruct, or structurally alter it unless the work brings the property into full compliance. Discontinue a nonconforming use for one year and the right expires permanently. Safety work on an unsafe wall, floor, or roof declared unsafe by the Building Inspector is the only carve-out. The burden of proving the nonconforming use was lawful before the zoning change rests on the owner, so hold onto old permits, affidavits from long-time neighbors, and utility records.¹

Before you commission drawings or sign a contract, call the Department of Building, Safety, Inspection and Enforcement or check the town’s online portal to confirm your district, the applicable setbacks, and whether a variance is likely to be needed.¹¹ A short conversation at the front end is far cheaper than a redesign after a permit denial.

1
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Zoning
2
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article IV Residence A District
3
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article V Residence B District
4
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article XI Accessory Buildings and Structures
5
New York State Senate. New York Town Law Section 267-B – Permitted Action by Board of Appeals
6
Town of North Hempstead. Commercial and New Dwelling BZA Application Submittal Requirements
7
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR)
8
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article XXIII Permits and Certificates Fees
9
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article XXIV Board of Zoning and Appeals
10
Town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead Code Chapter 70 – Article XXVI Enforcement and Interpretation
11
Town of North Hempstead. Department of Building, Safety, Inspection and Enforcement