Rensselaer County

Town of Berlin, NY: zoning for new construction

Residential lots in the Town of Berlin run from a 1-acre minimum in Residential up to 3 acres in Rural Use, across 5 zoning districts in all. Short-term rentals allowed with local rules. Power here is National Grid territory. The district table below has the setbacks, height limits and coverage - confirm the specifics with the building department at (518) 658-0211 before you rely on a figure.

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

Zoning districts

Short-term rentals

Short-term rentals allowed with local rules. BERLIN HAS NO SHORT-TERM-RENTAL LAW, BUT ITS CODE STILL GATES THE ACTIVITY — WHICH IS WHY THIS IS RECORDED AS REGULATED RATHER THAN AS AN ABSENCE. The Town's Land Use Regulations ARE published online, contrary to what was previously assumed here: berlinnyus.gov carries the full 55-page text (Local Law #2, adopted October 13, 1988; the posted file is the May 2012 digital transcription). Read in full 2026-08-27. The phrase 'short-term rental' appears nowhere, and neither does any rental-registration or rental-permit chapter — the thirteen articles run title/scope, districts, use regulations, area and bulk, supplementary regulations, special permit review, site plan review, non-conformities, administration, ZBA, amendments, definitions and interpretation. WHAT DOES THE REGULATING IS THE TOURIST HOME. Article XII defines 'TOURIST HOME — A building where, for compensation, lodging, meals or both are provided or offered for transient guests', and separately defines 'TRANSIENT — A person passing through or visiting for a brief stay, generally less than one week.' Read together those two definitions describe a short-term rental exactly. THE TOURIST HOME IS A LISTED, PERMIT-GATED USE IN EVERY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT. In the District Schedule of Use Regulations (Article III) 'Tourist home' is SP* in R1, SP* in R2, P* in C and SP* in RU, and X in I — that is, a special permit under Article VI plus site plan review under Article VII in all three districts where houses sit, and permitted with site plan review in the commercial district. A 'Bed and breakfast establishment' is separately listed at SP* / SP* / P* / X / SP* and is defined as a private dwelling offering one to four rooms for rent for transient occupancy. THE SCHEDULE IS NOT A CLOSED LIST, AND ITS CATCH-ALL POINTS THE SAME WAY: 'For uses not specifically listed in this Schedule, the Building Inspector shall determine which category best applies.' An unlisted 'short-term rental' therefore does not fail for want of a listing — it gets assigned to the nearest category, and the nearest category is the tourist home. WHAT THE CODE DOES NOT ANSWER is whether the Town in practice applies the tourist-home definition to a modern listing, and that answer materially changes the underwriting: a special permit plus site plan review is a discretionary, hearing-bearing process, not a filing. Do not assume either way — get the Building Department's position in writing at (518) 658-0211 before underwriting short-term rental income on a Berlin property. Separately, New York State's 2025 STR registry requires every host statewide to register the unit through the Rensselaer County registry regardless of what the municipality allows. Municipal source

Good to know

• UtilityNational Grid territory.
• Building dept(518) 658-0211
• Last reviewed2026-08-05

Working out a budget? A standard-finish build here runs $200–$262/sq ft , and a conforming lot adds about $3,448 on top - see the full cost to build a house in Berlin, or what an ADU costs here.

Other Rensselaer County towns

All Rensselaer County zoning: Rensselaer (City) · Troy (City) · Brunswick · East Greenbush · Hoosick · Nassau · North Greenbush · Poestenkill · Sand Lake · Schaghticoke · Schodack · Stephentown · Castleton-on-Hudson (Village) · East Nassau (Village) · Hoosick Falls (Village) · Nassau (Village)

Zoning figures for Town of Berlin are compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-05) 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 (518) 658-0211 before relying on any number. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.