Schenectady, NY Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Most of Schenectady's zoning districts carry their yard, height and lot dimensional standards in Schedule C, Lot Development Standards, an attachment to Chapter 264 that isn't reproduced as running chapter text. But the C-3 Waterfront Mixed-Use District, covering land along the Mohawk River, writes an extra dimensional rule directly into the chapter body at Section 264-14E. Any lot that touches the river must count the riverside edge as a second front yard, not a side or rear yard, and that riverside front yard has to be set back 40 feet from the shoreline.

54 on the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 in the vicinity of the Macon/Alco site, a specific reference point tied to redevelopment near that former industrial parcel. The Planning Commission can approve a smaller riverside setback, but only through site plan review, and public-access features, water-dependent uses, restaurants and other tourism uses sited on the water are not automatically bound by the 40-foot line either. A related density-incentive provision separately lets the Commission trim any C-3 yard setback, riverside or otherwise, by up to 20% for a project that adds public river access. The district was created by Ordinance No. 2009-02 and revised again by Local Law No. 1-2015.