The Town Board is pondering “flag lots” as a method of housing development in Newstead.

The term derives from the shape of a property containing several houses reached by a common driveway — a long, narrow flag pole shape.

The houses are built on land similar to the rectangular flag at the end of the pole.

Planning Board Chairman Tom Cowan told the Town Board at its work session Monday that his board would like some guidance on whether Newstead wants to move in this direction.

The Planning Board has been studying the concept for several years as a possible way to develop 20-to 25-acre parcels.

Some border Clarence, which has some flag lot developments.

The method allows developing large tracts of land — former farmland for example — that have minimal frontage on a main roadway.

Unlike a subdivision, a flag lot development divides the property into several stacked individual tracts located behind the main access road.

This saves the expense of carving out new streets and cul-de-sacs.

And the individual homeowners, not the municipality, are responsible for maintenance of the access road as well as other utility services.

But as they do with subdivisions, municipalities can impose restrictions on flag lots, including minimum lot size requirements and square footage of homes.

Cowan said his board is “introducing the concept, the framework only. Nothing the board is suggesting is set in stone.”

Supervisor David Cummings said the Town Board would study the information supplied by the Planning Board and discuss the idea at future work sessions.

In other business, the board signaled its likely approval of requiring so-called Knox boxes on new commercial buildings or those substantially renovated.

Such boxes — small, wall-mounted safes — contain building keys for use by firefighters in emergencies.

Local fire companies can hold master keys to all such boxes in their response area so that they can quickly enter a building without having to force entry or find individual keys held in deposit at the station.

The boxes would be linked via radio to the dispatch station, which would release the key electronically.