The planning board: the comprehensive plan, subdivisions, PUDs, and site plan review

Community direction and project review

A comprehensive plan identifies a community's immediate and long-range goals for protection, growth, and development. In New York towns, it can address housing, transportation, utilities, farmland, parks, and the location and intensity of land uses. The town board may prepare it or direct the planning board or a special board to prepare it. The town board adopts the plan by resolution after the required public process. Under Town Law § 272-a, land use regulations must accord with a plan adopted under that section. A plan is not a building permit.

Subdivision review

Subdivision review concerns plats showing the division of land into lots. Distinguish preliminary review, conditional approval, final approval, and filing. Under New York Town Law § 276, conditional approval of a final plat requires completion of stated requirements before the authorized signature. It expires within 180 days unless the requirements are certified complete; warranted extensions may be granted for 90 days each. After final approval, the owner generally must file the approved final plat with the county clerk or register within 62 days, or approval expires.

Site plan review

Under New York Town Law § 274-a, a site plan shows the arrangement, layout, and design of a proposed use on a single parcel. The town board may authorize the planning board or another designated administrative body to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove site plans. Local law specifies the uses requiring review and required elements, such as parking, access, screening, landscaping, and building locations. Conditions must be reasonable and directly related to the site plan. A needed area variance goes to the zoning board of appeals. Subdivision plats remain subject to subdivision review rather than being treated as site plans under this section.

Planned unit developments

A planned unit development (PUD) treats development as a coordinated whole, potentially combining flexible building placement, shared open space, and different permitted uses. It is a planning approach, not a form of ownership or an exemption from approvals. Local authorization and project details determine the required approvals; check local requirements before promising that a project qualifies.

Keep the roles separate: the comprehensive plan sets direction, regulations implement it, subdivision review addresses division into lots, and site plan review addresses the layout of a proposed use.