Saratoga County

Village of Stillwater, NY: zoning for new construction

3 districts Min residential lot 0.11 ac National Grid

The Village of Stillwater sets a residential minimum of about 0.11 acres in V5 Mixed Use Center, 5 ft side and rear yards, AN 80% MAXIMUM COVERAGE — the highest in the Village — and 3 STORIES OR 40 FT of height. BUILD-TO, NOT SET-BACK: § 4.3A says buildings are PREFERRED TO BE BUILT TO THE SIDEWALK in the V4 and V5 zones, or a maximum of 10 FEET from the frontage line — the '0-10 ft' front figure is a BAND with a MAXIMUM, not a minimum, and the only way past 10 ft is the 15 ft permitted expressly for OUTDOOR DINING OR A PLAZA. Pushing a building back is a violation here, not a courtesy. § 4.3B(1) also provides that there is NO SIDE YARD SETBACK AT ALL for buildings that share a party wall. Uses match V4 with additions: ADULT USE, AUTO SALES, CAR WASH and a VEHICLE SERVICE STATION are available here by special use permit and nowhere else. ONE-FAMILY, TWO-FAMILY AND ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS ARE PERMITTED BY RIGHT; multifamily of five or more, mixed-use buildings and live-work are site-plan uses. ), one of its 3 zoning districts. No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission. 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) 664-6258 before you rely on a figure.

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

Zoning districts

District	Min lot	Setbacks F / S / R	Max height	ADU
V3 Neighborhood (the Village's residential transect and its most conventional zone: a 10,000 SQ FT minimum lot — double either mixed-use zone's — with a 40 ft minimum lot width, a 15 ft front setback, 10 ft side and 20 FT REAR yards, 60% maximum coverage and a 2-STORY OR 35 FT height cap. Its yards are the deepest in the Village and its coverage the lowest; V3 is where the code stops being urban. V3 is also the only zone permitting AGRICULTURAL AND AGRICULTURAL TOURISM USE and roadside farm stands by right, and the only one where a MANUFACTURED HOME OR MANUFACTURED HOME PARK, a CEMETERY or a SELF-STORAGE FACILITY is available at all, each by special use permit. Marinas and other waterfront-related uses are a site-plan use here as in V4. )	0.23 ac	15 / 10 / 20 ft	35 ft	Occupancy restricted
V4 Mixed Use (the Hudson-facing mixed-use transect: a 5,000 SQ FT minimum lot, 30 ft minimum lot width, a 0-10 FT front setback (or 15 ft where the extra depth is used for OUTDOOR DINING OR A PLAZA), a 5 ft rear yard and 75% maximum coverage. BUILD-TO, NOT SET-BACK: § 4.3A says buildings are PREFERRED TO BE BUILT TO THE SIDEWALK in the V4 and V5 zones, or a maximum of 10 FEET from the frontage line — the '0-10 ft' front figure is a BAND with a MAXIMUM, not a minimum, and the only way past 10 ft is the 15 ft permitted expressly for OUTDOOR DINING OR A PLAZA. Pushing a building back is a violation here, not a courtesy. § 4.3B(1) also provides that there is NO SIDE YARD SETBACK AT ALL for buildings that share a party wall. THE USE LIST OPENS UP SHARPLY FROM V3: ONE-FAMILY, TWO-FAMILY AND ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS ARE ALL PERMITTED BY RIGHT, and three- and four-family dwellings, MULTIFAMILY OF FIVE OR MORE, assisted living, mixed-use buildings, LIVE-WORK units, offices, retail, restaurants, banks, hotels, motels and inns are all available by SITE PLAN REVIEW rather than special use permit — a materially lower bar than most of this county applies to the same uses. Craft production, light industrial, drive-through windows and fast-food restaurants need a special use permit. )	0.11 ac	0 / 5 / 5 ft	40 ft	Occupancy restricted
V5 Mixed Use Center (the Village core and its densest zone: a 5,000 SQ FT minimum lot, 30 ft minimum lot width, a 0-10 FT front setback (15 ft for outdoor dining or a plaza), 5 ft side and rear yards, AN 80% MAXIMUM COVERAGE — the highest in the Village — and 3 STORIES OR 40 FT of height. BUILD-TO, NOT SET-BACK: § 4.3A says buildings are PREFERRED TO BE BUILT TO THE SIDEWALK in the V4 and V5 zones, or a maximum of 10 FEET from the frontage line — the '0-10 ft' front figure is a BAND with a MAXIMUM, not a minimum, and the only way past 10 ft is the 15 ft permitted expressly for OUTDOOR DINING OR A PLAZA. Pushing a building back is a violation here, not a courtesy. § 4.3B(1) also provides that there is NO SIDE YARD SETBACK AT ALL for buildings that share a party wall. Uses match V4 with additions: ADULT USE, AUTO SALES, CAR WASH and a VEHICLE SERVICE STATION are available here by special use permit and nowhere else. ONE-FAMILY, TWO-FAMILY AND ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS ARE PERMITTED BY RIGHT; multifamily of five or more, mixed-use buildings and live-work are site-plan uses. )	0.11 ac	0 / 5 / 5 ft	40 ft	Occupancy restricted

Short-term rentals

No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission. NO SHORT-TERM-RENTAL PROVISION EXISTS IN THE VILLAGE OF STILLWATER FORM-BASED CODE. A full-text read of the 92-page document returns no 'short-term rental' and no 'vacation rental', and Table 1's Lodging block runs only Bed & Breakfast, Hotel or Motel, and Inn. Recorded 'unknown' rather than 'prohibited': whole-house rental of a permitted dwelling is arguably the residential use itself, and absence of a found provision is NOT permission. SMALL-SCALE RECEPTIONS OR SIMILAR GATHERINGS MAY BE HELD INCIDENTALLY to the primary bed-and-breakfast inn use, subject to the site's size, traffic level, parking count, proximity to adjoining residences and number of restrooms, and confined to the vicinity of the inn — an events allowance most codes of this size do not give at all, and a real revenue line on a Hudson-side property. The bed and breakfast is a SITE PLAN use in all three transect zones (V3, V4 and V5), and a HOTEL, MOTEL or INN is a site plan use in V4 and V5. Get a written answer from the Village office at (518) 664-6258 before underwriting short-term rental income, and expect the owner-residence logic of § 3.5 to be the lens applied. Separately, New York State has required every short-term-rental host to register the unit with the State through the county registry since 2025 regardless of what the municipality allows, and Saratoga County HAS adopted a county-level short-term-rental programme: a 3% occupancy tax and a MANDATORY county registry, covering any room or space in a dwelling let for under 30 consecutive days. Registration runs two years, an unregistered host faces fines of up to $500, and the booking platform is separately liable for processing an unregistered listing — so Airbnb and Vrbo will delist. The City of Saratoga Springs runs its own registry alongside it.

Good to know

UtilityNational Grid territory.
Building dept(518) 664-6258
Last reviewed2026-08-02

Working out a budget? A standard-finish build here runs $204–$268/sq ft , and a conforming lot adds about $727 on top - see the full cost to build a house in Stillwater, or what an ADU costs here.

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