ALDEN — Facing a shifting real estate market and rising construction costs, the Village of Alden is overhauling its residential zoning rules to encourage starter-home construction while tightly controlling neighborhood character.
Through Local Law No. 4-2026 amending Chapter 210, the Village Board voted unanimously to reduce the required lot frontage in R-1 residential districts from 100 feet to 75 feet. The change works alongside upcoming reviews of minimum dwelling size and is expected to reshape village planning for years to come.
Re-engineering the R-1 district
Village leadership, led by Mayor Michael Retzlaff and Code Enforcement Officer Czechowski, framed the reduction as a necessary modernization to close Alden’s housing gap. Mayor Retzlaff noted that few modern villages still enforce a rigid 100-foot frontage minimum, arguing that oversized lot requirements inflate land costs and push new single-family builds into an unattainable $600,000 to $700,000 bracket.
By trimming lot widths to 75 feet with Planning Board backing, officials hope developers can carve out moderately sized infill parcels. The approach uses existing municipal water, sewer, and road corridors without expensive infrastructure extensions, opening a path for younger families and first-time buyers.
What is a flag-lot and why the village said no
Village leaders also took up another controversial parcel design: the flag lot.
A flag lot is an interior parcel sitting behind standard road-fronting homes, reached only by a long, narrow strip of land that resembles a flag on a pole.
For a builder, the appeal is straightforward. Flag lots can put houses on otherwise landlocked rear acreage without the cost of dedicating new municipal roads, storm drains, or public utility mains. A private driveway down the skinny access strip is enough to reach the rear lot. That lets a developer squeeze density out of a deep, irregular parcel without a formal street-dedication subdivision.
The Village Board still drew a line. Officials said they do not support flag lots.
From a planning standpoint, rear-lot development raises safety and quality-of-life problems. Long, narrow access strips impede fire apparatus, EMS units, and snowplows, especially in Western New York winters. Homes sited behind established front lots also break the visual rhythm of village streets, create privacy conflicts along driveways that hug existing property lines, and leave messy long-term utility easement disputes.
By lowering street frontage to 75 feet while prohibiting flag lots, the village is trying to strike a balance: open the door to attainable single-family housing, and keep every new home on Alden’s traditional street grid.
The Alden Echo 
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