Monroe County

Town of Hamlin, NY: zoning for new construction

6 districts Min residential lot 0.4–5 ac RG&E

Residential lots in the Town of Hamlin run from a 0.4-acre minimum in Residential / High Density (R-H) — 0.4 acre with 100 ft of lot width for a SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING, front 70 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft, 40 ft height. This is Hamlin's smallest conventional lot and its only genuinely multi-unit district. THE RECORDED FIGURES ARE THE SINGLE-FAMILY ROW AND R-H PUBLISHES FOUR MORE, EACH ON A DIFFERENT BASIS — sizing anything but a detached house from the 0.4 acre will be wrong. Two-, three- and four-family dwellings take 0.6 acre with 125 ft of width and a 65 FT height rather than 40. Townhouses abandon lot area entirely for a density of 6 PER ACRE with a 20 ft minimum width, no side setback stated, 70 ft front and 15 ft rear, at 50% coverage. Apartments take a 1-acre MINIMUM plus a density of 10 PER ACRE, 70/15/15 setbacks, also at 50% coverage. So R-H spans a detached house on 0.4 acre through to a ten-unit-per-acre apartment scheme, and the district name alone tells you almost nothing about what a parcel can carry. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DESIGN for the single-family row: § 520-15 states 'maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 25%', a pavement-inclusive cap, and separately allows 50% impervious 'for apartment and attached dwelling uses'. Both are impervious figures rather than building coverage and are documented here rather than recorded, per the Penfield precedent. Minimum unit size is 1,000 sf one-storey, 1,200 sf one-and-one-half-storey, 1,400 sf two-storey for a single-family, dropping to just 480 SF PER UNIT for the two-through-four-family and apartment rows and 960 sf for townhouses — the smallest permitted dwelling unit in the county dataset. up to 5 acres in Residential / Very Low Density (R-VL) — 5 acres with 250 ft of lot width, front 100 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft and a 40 ft height cap. The largest minimum lot in the Town of Hamlin and its most rural district. NOTE A NAMING DISCREPANCY: the code's § 520-11 calls this district R-VL while the bulk table prints it as 'RV-L'; they are the same district and the code's own spelling is used here. THE HEIGHT COLUMN READS '40/65' IN THE TABLE AND ONLY THE 40 APPLIES TO A HOUSE — § 520-11B(4) caps principal buildings under Subsection A(1) at two stories or 40 feet whichever is higher, and reserves 65 feet for the Subsection A(2) and A(3) use groups; barns, silos and other farm-related structures are exempt from the cap altogether, and accessory buildings are held to 25 ft. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DELIBERATE CHOICE, NOT BECAUSE THE TABLE IS BLANK. The table's 10% is not a building-coverage figure: § 520-11B(5) states 'Maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 10%', so driveways, parking and patios consume it alongside the house. THE 10% IMPERVIOUS CAP IS NONETHELESS THE BINDING SITE CONSTRAINT IN THIS DISTRICT and should be modelled directly: on the 5-acre minimum it allows about 21,780 sf of total impervious area, which is generous, but on any smaller pre-existing lot it will bind well before the setbacks do. Minimum unit size is 1,200 sf for a one-storey or one-and-one-half-storey dwelling and 1,400 sf for a two-storey., across 6 zoning districts in all. Short-term rentals allowed with local rules. Power here is RG&E territory. The district table below has the setbacks, height limits and coverage - confirm the specifics with the building department at (585) 964-8181 before you rely on a figure.

Looking specifically at an accessory dwelling unit? See ADU rules for Hamlin →

Zoning districts

District	Min lot	Setbacks F / S / R	Max height	ADU
Residential / Very Low Density (R-VL) — 5 acres with 250 ft of lot width, front 100 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft and a 40 ft height cap. The largest minimum lot in the Town of Hamlin and its most rural district. NOTE A NAMING DISCREPANCY: the code's § 520-11 calls this district R-VL while the bulk table (520 Attachment 1) prints it as 'RV-L'; they are the same district and the code's own spelling is used here. THE HEIGHT COLUMN READS '40/65' IN THE TABLE AND ONLY THE 40 APPLIES TO A HOUSE — § 520-11B(4) caps principal buildings under Subsection A(1) (the residential uses) at two stories or 40 feet whichever is higher, and reserves 65 feet for the Subsection A(2) and A(3) use groups; barns, silos and other farm-related structures are exempt from the cap altogether, and accessory buildings are held to 25 ft. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DELIBERATE CHOICE, NOT BECAUSE THE TABLE IS BLANK. The table's 10% is not a building-coverage figure: § 520-11B(5) states 'Maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 10%', so driveways, parking and patios consume it alongside the house. THE 10% IMPERVIOUS CAP IS NONETHELESS THE BINDING SITE CONSTRAINT IN THIS DISTRICT and should be modelled directly: on the 5-acre minimum it allows about 21,780 sf of total impervious area, which is generous, but on any smaller pre-existing lot it will bind well before the setbacks do. Minimum unit size is 1,200 sf for a one-storey or one-and-one-half-storey dwelling and 1,400 sf for a two-storey.	5 ac	100 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No
Residential / Low Density (R-L) — 2 acres with 140 ft of lot width, front 100 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft, 40 ft height. Dimensionally this is R-VL at 40% of the land: the same 100 ft front and 15 ft side and rear setbacks and the same 10% impervious cap, with only the area and width stepping down (5 acres/250 ft to 2 acres/140 ft). Height is the '40/65' pattern and 40 is the residential figure; see the R-VL note. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DESIGN — § 520-12 states the same 'maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 10%', a PAVEMENT-INCLUSIVE cap not comparable to a building-coverage percentage, so it is documented here rather than recorded in the field per the Penfield precedent. The 10% impervious cap matters far more here than in R-VL: on the 2-acre minimum it allows roughly 8,712 sf of total impervious surface for house, garage, driveway and any patio combined, which on a long rural driveway is a real constraint rather than a formality. Minimum unit size is 1,200 sf one-storey and one-and-one-half-storey, 1,400 sf two-storey. No multi-unit use is available in R-L.	2 ac	100 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No
Residential / Low Density One Acre (R-L1) — 1 acre with 120 ft of lot width, front 70 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft, 40 ft height. The front setback drops sharply from R-L's 100 ft to 70 ft here, so this is the point in Hamlin's density ladder where the deep rural frontage is given up. R-L1 IS THE ONE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT WHOSE COVERAGE CELL IS GENUINELY BLANK IN THE TABLE — unlike R-VL, R-L, R-M and R-H, which all state an impervious cap that is simply not a building-coverage figure, R-L1's Lot Coverage column carries no value at all, so its null is an absence of any stated cap rather than a deliberate non-import. Treat that as a gap to confirm against § 520-13 rather than as a licence to build to the setbacks. THE HEIGHT COLUMN FOR THIS DISTRICT READS A PLAIN 40, NOT '40/65' — R-L1 is the only residential district in the table without the second figure, which is consistent with it having a narrower permitted-use list than its neighbours. Minimum unit size is unusual and is the largest floor requirement in the town: 2,000 square feet for a one-storey, one-and-one-half-storey OR two-storey dwelling alike, against 1,200/1,400 sf in R-VL and R-L. A one-acre lot in Hamlin therefore demands a substantially bigger house than a five-acre lot does, which is a deliberate character control and a real cost floor.	1 ac	70 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No
Residential / Medium Density (R-M) — 0.5 acre with 100 ft of lot width for a SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING, front 70 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft, 40 ft height. THE RECORDED FIGURES ARE THE SINGLE-FAMILY ROW; R-M PUBLISHES A SECOND, LARGER ROW FOR TWO-UNIT TOWNHOUSES at 0.8 acre with 160 ft of width and a DOUBLED 30 ft side setback (front and rear unchanged at 70 and 15). So the second unit in R-M costs 0.3 acres, 60 ft of extra width and 15 ft of extra side yard — a genuine cost, unlike Clarkson where a two-family is dimensionally free. Two-unit townhouses are the ONLY multi-unit form available here; three- and four-family dwellings and apartments require R-H. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DESIGN: § 520-14 states 'maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 25%', a pavement-inclusive cap documented here rather than recorded in the field, per the Penfield precedent. At 25% of a half-acre that is about 5,445 sf of total impervious area for house, drive and garage together. Height follows the '40/65' pattern with 40 the residential figure. Minimum unit size is 1,100 sf one-storey, 1,200 sf one-and-one-half-storey and 1,400 sf two-storey for a single-family; the two-unit townhouse row is lower at 1,000 sf one-storey and 1,200 sf two-storey PER UNIT.	0.5 ac	70 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No
Residential / High Density (R-H) — 0.4 acre with 100 ft of lot width for a SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING, front 70 ft, side 15 ft, rear 15 ft, 40 ft height. This is Hamlin's smallest conventional lot and its only genuinely multi-unit district. THE RECORDED FIGURES ARE THE SINGLE-FAMILY ROW AND R-H PUBLISHES FOUR MORE, EACH ON A DIFFERENT BASIS — sizing anything but a detached house from the 0.4 acre will be wrong. Two-, three- and four-family dwellings take 0.6 acre with 125 ft of width and a 65 FT height rather than 40. Townhouses abandon lot area entirely for a density of 6 PER ACRE with a 20 ft minimum width, no side setback stated, 70 ft front and 15 ft rear, at 50% coverage. Apartments take a 1-acre MINIMUM plus a density of 10 PER ACRE, 70/15/15 setbacks, also at 50% coverage. So R-H spans a detached house on 0.4 acre through to a ten-unit-per-acre apartment scheme, and the district name alone tells you almost nothing about what a parcel can carry. MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS NULL BY DESIGN for the single-family row: § 520-15 states 'maximum lot coverage with impervious surface shall be 25%', a pavement-inclusive cap, and separately allows 50% impervious 'for apartment and attached dwelling uses'. Both are impervious figures rather than building coverage and are documented here rather than recorded, per the Penfield precedent. Minimum unit size is 1,000 sf one-storey, 1,200 sf one-and-one-half-storey, 1,400 sf two-storey for a single-family, dropping to just 480 SF PER UNIT for the two-through-four-family and apartment rows and 960 sf for townhouses — the smallest permitted dwelling unit in the county dataset.	0.4 ac	70 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No
Senior Citizen Residential (SC) — an age-restricted district with NO MINIMUM LOT AREA AT ALL, so minLotSize is null by design rather than missing. Yield runs entirely on density: 6 DWELLING UNITS PER ACRE for single-family, townhouse and two-family duplex forms, rising to 10 DWELLING UNITS PER ACRE for multifamily buildings. Front setback 35 ft — the shallowest in the town, half of R-M and R-H's 70 ft — with side 15 ft, rear 15 ft and a 40 ft height cap. SC IS THE ONLY DISTRICT IN HAMLIN THAT STATES A GENUINE BUILDING-COVERAGE FIGURE, AND IT IS THE REASON maxLotCoverage IS POPULATED HERE AND NULL EVERYWHERE ELSE: the table prints 'Max. building coverage: 25%; max. impervious area: 50%' as two separate caps, so 25 is recorded as a true building-coverage percentage while the 50% impervious figure sits alongside it. Every other residential district in Hamlin states only the impervious number, which is not comparable and is therefore documented in each zone's note rather than recorded. THE MULTIFAMILY ROW DOES NOT STATE SETBACKS — they are 'subject to Planning Board approval during site plan review', so the recorded 35/15/15 are the single-family, townhouse and duplex figures and a multifamily scheme has no fixed envelope to underwrite from. Minimum unit size for multifamily is 1,200 sf. Note this is an AGE-RESTRICTED district: occupancy limits apply and it must not be treated as general-purpose density.	—	35 / 15 / 15 ft	40 ft	No

Short-term rentals

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules. Short-term rentals require a Town permit under § 393-7 of Chapter 393, Rental Properties, adopted 7-12-2021 by L.L. No. 1-2021. The chapter requires a general rental property permit at § 393-4 and a separate short-term rental property permit at § 393-7, with inspections at § 393-5. The requirement is outside the zoning chapter. New York State's 2025 short-term rental registry (Ch. 99 of the Laws of 2025) separately requires every host statewide to register the unit regardless of local law. Confirm with Town of Hamlin at (585) 964-8181 before listing.

Good to know

UtilityRG&E territory.
Building dept(585) 964-8181
Last reviewed2026-08-13

Working out a budget? A standard-finish build here runs $204–$268/sq ft , and a conforming lot adds about $3,994 on top - see the full cost to build a house in Hamlin, or what an ADU costs here.

Sizing up a specific parcel in Hamlin?

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Other Monroe County towns

All Monroe County zoning: Rochester (City) · Brighton · Chili · Clarkson · Gates · Greece · Henrietta · Irondequoit · Mendon · Ogden · Parma · Penfield · Perinton · Pittsford · Riga · Rush · Sweden · Webster · Wheatland · Town/Village of East Rochester (Village) · Brockport (Village) · Churchville (Village) · Fairport (Village) · Hilton (Village) · Honeoye Falls (Village) · Pittsford (Village) · Scottsville (Village) · Spencerport (Village) · Webster (Village)

Zoning figures for Town of Hamlin are compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-13) and provided for decision-support only - not legal, engineering, or architectural advice. Setback and dimensional standards often carry conditions and exceptions; verify with the building department at (585) 964-8181 before relying on any number. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.