Substandard lots of record
6.0 [Generally.] Except as required herein, a lot or group of contiguous lots having dimensions and/or area of lesser amounts than required in the table of standard dimension regulations for the district in which such lot is located, or which does not meet road frontage or other access requirements, may be considered as coming within the minimum lot requirements of same, provided that such lot or group of contiguous lots was shown on a recorded plat or on a recorded deed on the original effective date of this ordinance which rendered the lot(s) nonconforming and singly and separately owned and not adjoining any lot or land in the same ownership at any time subsequent to such date, may be used, or a building or structure may be erected on such lot for use, in accordance with all other applicable provisions of this ordinance, provided that proof of such separate ownership is submitted in the form of a certified abstract or chain of title showing that no contiguous property was owned by an owner of the lot(s) since the date of any previously applicable zoning ordinance.
6.1 Merger with contiguous lots under common ownership. It is the intent of this section to require merger of contiguous unimproved or improved substandard lots of record in the same ownership in order to create dimensionally conforming lots or to reduce the extent of dimensional nonconformance and to remove lots that fail to meet road frontage or other access requirements. Accordingly, except as provided in subparagraphs 6.1.1 through 6.1.3, if two or more contiguous lots having continuous frontage are under common ownership after August 10, 1965 (the effective date of the Zoning Ordinance) and one or more of these lots fails to meet the requirements of the Table of Standard Dimensional Regulations with regard to minimum lot area or minimum lot width, such lots shall be considered to be an individual lot of land for the purpose of this ordinance, and any lot that does not meet road frontage or access requirements that is contiguous with a lot having sufficient road frontage or access under common ownership, such lots shall be considered to be an individual lot of land for the purpose of this ordinance. Contiguous lots or parcels shall:
a. Share common and abutting boundary lines;
b. Not be separated by a street or other property.
No single lot shall be used in violation of the requirements with regard to minimum lot area or minimum lot width, except as hereinafter provided:
6.1.1 Where the substandard lots of record are each occupied by principal structures, the lots are not to be considered to have merged.
6.1.2 Where the principal structures exist on multiple substandard lots of records, the owner may submit and the Town Planner may approve an Administrative Subdivision Plat pursuant to the Town of West Warwick Land Development and Subdivision Review Regulations which merges all or portions of the various lots into two or more undersized lots for the purpose of providing each principal structure with a separate and distinct lot; provided, however, no undeveloped substandard lot of record owned by the parties to the Administrative Subdivision shall be allowed to remain. In approving the Administrative Subdivision Plat as permitted in this subparagraph, the Town Planner may disregard any setback encroachments by preexisting buildings where the encroachments a.) arise through the creation of the new lots by the new subdivision plat or b.) are preexisting; provided no building is located on a property line. However, any new development which occurs on the lots after the date of approval of the Administrative Subdivision Plat shall be required to conform to the setback requirements of the Zoning Ordinance unless a Variance is granted pursuant to Section 9 of the Zoning Ordinance. This provision does not permit waiver of the requirement that all lots have frontage on a town-accepted public road.
6.1.3 Lots subject to 6.1.1 or 6.1.2 shall be considered as being subject to Section 6.2 of the Town of West Warwick Zoning Ordinance.
6.1.4 Merger prohibited for certain lots. The merger of lots shall not be required when the substandard lot of record has an area equal to or greater than the area of fifty percent (50%) of the lots within two hundred feet (200 ft) of the subject lot, as confirmed by the zoning enforcement officer.
6.2 Residential use of nonconforming lots. In R-10 and R-8 residential districts, a dwelling may be erected, enlarged or altered on a nonconforming lot or on two or more abutting nonconforming lots under common ownership. R-7.5 and R-6 residential districts are specifically excluded from the below listed provisions, except in those instances where involuntary destruction or damage occurs. The use of the provisions in R-10 and R-8 residential districts is subject to the following:
6.2.1 Where such lot or lots contain less than 75 percent of the required minimum lot area or have less than 70 feet of continuous frontage, it shall be necessary for the owner thereof to receive a variance from the zoning board in order to construct a new dwelling thereon. The zoning board shall stipulate the maximum size of the dwelling to be placed thereon and its location on said lot or lots and any other conditions it deems reasonably necessary to promote the purposes of this ordinance taking into consideration in its findings the availability of infrastructure, the character of the neighborhood, and consistency with the comprehensive plan.
6.2.2 Where such lot or lots contain a minimum of 75 percent of the lot area and have a minimum continuous frontage of at least 70 feet, a new dwelling may be constructed thereon, without approval from the zoning board being necessary; provided that such construction complies with the front and corner side yard, side yard, rear yard height and lot coverage requirements of the table of standard dimensional regulations for the district in which such lot is located.
6.2.3 Where there is an existing dwelling on a nonconforming lot prior to the original effective date of this ordinance or any amendment thereof, such dwelling may be enlarged or altered without approval from the zoning board being necessary; provided, that such alteration or enlargement complies with the front and corner side yard, side yard, rear yard, height and lot coverage requirements of the table of standard dimensional regulations for the district in which such lot is located.
6.3 Nonresidential use of nonconforming lots. In any nonresidential district, a structure may be erected, enlarged or altered on a nonconforming lot with at least 70 feet of frontage; provided, that such alteration, enlargement or construction complies with the front and corner side yard, side yard, rear yard, height and lot coverage requirements of the Table of Standard Dimensional Regulations for the district in which such lot is located; and further provided, that the requirements of subsection 6.1 are met, if applicable.
6.4 Merger by death. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 6.1 above, where a legally existing substandard lot comes into the same record ownership as one or more adjacent lots solely by reason of death of a previous record owner, the owner of said lots in the same record ownership shall have three years from the date of death of the previous owner causing the lots to be in the same ownership to reconvey the lots into single and separate ownership. Failure to reconvey the lots into single and separate ownership shall result in the automatic merger of substandard lots for purposes of this ordinance.
6.5 Notwithstanding the failure of a single substandard lot of record or contiguous lots of record to meet the dimensional and /or quantitative requirements of this zoning ordinance, and/or road frontage or other access requirements applicable to the district as stated in the ordinance, a substandard lot of record shall not be required to seek any zoning relief based solely on the failure to meet minimum lot size requirements of the district in which such lot is located. The setback, frontage, and/or lot width requirements for a structure under this section shall be reduced and the maximum building coverage requirements shall be increased by the same proportion as the lot area of the substandard lot is to the minimum lot area requirement of the zoning district in which the lot is located. All proposals exceeding such reduced requirement shall proceed with a modification request under Section 8 or a dimensional variance request under Section 10, whichever is applicable.
(Ord. No. 2024-5, 6-18-2024)