Adirondack agency restricts shoreline rebuilding

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

The Adirondack Park Agency has imposed new restrictions on rebuilding camps and cottages on shoreline property in the 6 million acre Adirondack Park.

The agency board, voting 9-1, approved regulations effective Dec. 31 that will require zoning variances for “major” expansions of existing structures inside the 50- to 100-foot shoreline setbacks along lakes, ponds, rivers and navigable streams.

Under grandfather provisions, owners had been able to rebuild and expand without a variance in any direction except toward the water. Owners can still replace existing structures without a variance. Agency spokesman Keith McKeever says the APA plans to define the difference between major and minor expansions.