What is the APA and how does it impact the world of real estate and home
ownership?
The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 and encompasses approximately 6
million acres. Today the Park is the “largest publicly protected area in the
contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier,
and Grand Canyon National Park combined.”
Of the 6 million acres, 44.6 percent are state owned as protected “forever wild”
forest preserve. Almost half of the Park is made up of 101 towns and villages and
include farms, working forests, camps residential neighborhoods and commercial
properties. The remaining 6 percent is water bodies.
Created in 1971, The Adirondack Park Agency, is a New York State governmental
agency, commonly known as the APA. It was created to develop long-term land
use plans for private and public lands to protect the resources within the Park.
How does the APA effect property values?
It depends on the property. The important part, if you’re thinking of buying or
selling, is to understand the different land use areas and work with a real estate
professional who is familiar with them.
I’ve gotten many calls from buyers from out of the area, that can’t believe how
cheap a 50 acre parcel of land is until they find out that you can only build one
house on it because it’s in the Resource Management use area. While this may be
disappointing news for a developer or someone that wants to have add a cabin for
each of their adult children, it can be a wonderful relief for a buyer that wants to
ensure their privacy for generations to come.
The main use areas defined by the APA for residential use are:
Resource Management (average lot size 42.7 acres)
Rural Use (average lot size 8.5 acres)
Low Intensity Use (average lot size 3.2 acres)
Moderate Intensity Use (average lot size 1.3 acres)
Hamlet (no average lot size)
I’ve also had many buyers worry when they find out that the home they want to
buy is within the Adirondack Park. Often people have an idea of what that will
look like and when they found their dream home in a very normal looking
neighborhood, they are confused to find out that the house, that neighborhood and
the entire town is part of the Adirondack Park. I have found that most homeowners
living within the Park, myself included, never have an issue. It usually doesn’t
deter them from doing something to their property that they want, such as adding a
garage or building an addition. Overall, most buyers find it to be a non-issue.
Many of the towns in the Adirondack Park have zoning in place that already aligns
with the APA requirements so that it’s not an extra step for homeowners. I also find
that the APA is great about taking phone calls and answering questions if you’re
unsure of how to proceed or if something is an allowable use. They also have an
informative website with a Citizen's Guide to Adirondack Park Agency Land Use
Regulations and an interactive map that I use all the time to determine if a parcel is
in the APA or not and what use area it is in.
Learn more at: https://apa.ny.gov/
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