The duty of administering and enforcing the provisions of this
chapter is hereby conferred upon the Zoning Enforcement Officer, who
shall be appointed by the Town Board and receive compensation as the
Town Board shall determine.
A.
Administer the Zoning Law. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall review
all applications for building permits and, if the minimum requirements
of this chapter are met, the officer shall issue a permit. If the
applicant's plans do not meet the zoning requirements, the Officer
must deny the permit. The Zoning Enforcement Officer may not use discretionary
judgement. The Officer must enforce the "Letter of the Law."
B.
Referral to the Zoning Board of Appeals. An applicant, after being
denied a building permit, may appeal the Zoning Enforcement Officer's
findings to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) for an interpretation
or a variance. Should an appeal be requested, the Zoning Enforcement
Officer shall notify the Secretary of the ZBA of the request and forward
all necessary supporting information on to the ZBA for action.
C.
Referral to Town Planning Board. Any application for a special permit,
a change in a zoning district, or a change in use that requires site
plan review, shall be forwarded by the Zoning Enforcement Officer
to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board for action. All necessary
supporting information shall also be forwarded.
D.
Site zoning violations. For any plans, construction, building, use on premises found in violation of this chapter, the Zoning Enforcement Officer shall order the responsible party, in writing, to remedy the conditions. He shall have the authority to commence proceedings to punish violations pursuant to § 265-5 of this chapter.
E.
Report to Town Board. A monthly report shall be given to the Town
Board describing and enumerating actions taken and permits issued.
F.
Public record. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall file all permit
actions with the Town Clerk.
The Town Board authorizes the appointment of a five- (or seven-)
member Planning Board as more fully described in Town Law § 271.
It shall be recommended that at least one member shall be a person
engaged in agricultural pursuits as defined in Town Law § 271,
Subsection 2. Terms of all Planning Board members shall be staggered
as the law requires.
A.
Prepare or change a comprehensive land development plan for the Town. The Planning Board shall be responsible for review and evaluation of proposals and projects in the coastal area of the Town. The Planning Board is authorized to prepare and recommend to the Town Board for adoption a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), with its policies, maps and uses, for the entire Lake Ontario shoreline and coastal area that is located within Town boundaries, along the boundary lines defined in § 265-9 of this chapter. Considerations and recommendations made by the Planning Board as to a proposed action's consistency with the LWRP shall be submitted to the Town board for final determination and certification of compliance with LWRP policies, maps and uses.
B.
Review and comment on all proposed zoning amendments before referral
to the County Planning Board.
C.
Conduct site plan review as authorized by Town Law § 274-a and prescribed in Article X of this chapter.
E.
Render assistance to the Zoning Board of Appeals at its request.
F.
Research and report on any matter referred to it by the Town Board.
The Town shall nominate a member of the Planning Board to serve
on the County Planning Board when vacancies occur. An alternate member
shall also be nominated by the Town Board and shall attend the County
Planning Board meetings on those dates when the full member cannot.
Final appointment to the County Planning Board is made by the County
Legislature.
A.
Appointment of Zoning Board of Appeals. Pursuant to § 267
of Town Law, there shall be a Zoning Board of Appeals consisting of
five members holding staggered five-year terms appointed by the Town
Board. The Town Board shall appoint the ZBA's Chairman.
B.
Officers, rules, and expenses.
(1)
The ZBA may adopt rules or bylaws for its operations.
(2)
All decisions shall be by a majority vote of the membership (three),
except in the case of the County Planning Board recommending disapproval
or modification of a referral. In such cases, a majority plus one
vote (total vote of four) shall be required to override the County
Planning Board recommendation.
All requests for variances shall be made to the ZBA after denial
of a building permit by the Zoning Enforcement Officer.
The granting of variances shall be principally for those seeking
an area variance. Use variances allow activities prohibited in the
zoning district, and such requests shall be carefully reviewed.
A.
Area variances may be granted where setback, frontage, lot size density
or yard requirements of this chapter cannot be reasonably met.
B.
In determining whether to grant or deny a request for an area variance,
the ZBA shall respond in its findings to each of the following factors:
(1)
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of
the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created
by the granting of the area variance.
(2)
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some
other feasible method other than an area variance.
(3)
Whether the requested variance is substantial.
(4)
Whether the proposed area variance will have an adverse effect or
impact on the physical or environmental condition as in the neighborhood
or district.
(5)
Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created.
A.
A use variance may be granted by the ZBA only after the findings
of the ZBA establish that unnecessary hardship exists.
B.
In determining whether unnecessary hardship exists, the ZBA must
find that for each and every permitted use under the zoning regulations
for the particular district where the property is located:[1]
(1)
The applicant cannot realize a reasonable return, provided that the
lack of return is substantial as demonstrated by competent financial
evidence.
(2)
The hardship is unique, and does not apply to a substantial portion
of the district or neighborhood.
(3)
The variance will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
(4)
The hardship is not self-created.
A.
All applications for variances shall be in writing on forms established
by the ZBA. They are available from the Zoning Enforcement Officer.
B.
Every application shall refer to the specific provision of the law
involved and establish the details of why the variance should be granted.
C.
D.
Within 62 days of the public hearing, the ZBA shall render a decision.
If the matter was referred to the County Planning Board, a copy of
the ZBA's findings and decision must be sent to the County Planning
Board.
The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of appeals
not to exceed 60 days from date of ZBA receipt, or 90 days where cases
are referred to the County Planning Board, and shall give due notice
of the time met for the hearing to the applicant. Public notice shall
be by the publication of a notice in the official newspaper of the
Town pursuant to law, and shall briefly describe the nature of the
appeal and the time and place of the hearing.
A.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold meetings at the call of the
Board.
B.
The presence of three members shall constitute a quorum for the conduct
of business before the Board.
C.
The presence of three members of the Board shall be necessary to
act on the application for any variance or to decide upon any other
matter brought before the Board, unless otherwise stipulated in the
ordinance.
D.
All votes of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be taken by roll call.
F.
The Zoning Board of Appeals may request and obtain any advice or
opinions on the law relating to any matter before the Board from the
Town Attorney, and require the Town Attorney to attend its meetings.
G.
The Zoning Board of Appeals may require the Zoning Enforcement Officer
to attend its meetings to present any facts relating to any matter
before the Board.
H.
All meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be open to the
public.
I.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall make factual record of all its
proceedings including the reading of the case, public hearing, deliberation,
voting and decisions of the Board. These factual records shall be
taken by stenographic and/or tape recorder means and shall be accurate
but not necessarily a verbatim transcript, but may be in narrative
form. The factual record shall be taken by the secretary to the Board.
A.
The Zoning Enabling Laws require that any of the following local
zoning actions must be referred to the County Planning Board prior
to action by the local board. Any proposal for a special permit, variance,
site plan approval, change in the zoning law text or map (rezoning,
amending the zoning law) which would affect real property lying within
a distance of 500 feet from the boundary of any county; any town;
any village; the boundary of any existing or proposed county or state
park or any other recreation area; any right-of-way of any existing
or proposed county or state road or parkway; the existing or proposed
right-of-way of any stream or drainage channel owned by the county
or for which the county has established channel lines; any existing
or proposed county or state-owned land on which a public building
or institution is situated; or the boundary of a farm operation located
in an agricultural district as defined by Agriculture and Markets
Law Article 25-AA (except in the granting of area variances) must
be referred to the County Planning Board, which shall have 30 days
from date of county receipt to take action on the matter. By mutual
agreement of the county and the municipality, such thirty-day period
may be extended in special cases.[1]
B.
Certain zoning actions may be exempt from County Planning Board review
using local agreements allowed under NYS General Municipal Law, Article
12-B, § 239-m.3.(c) of the Laws of 1991. Refer to the agreement
between the Orleans County Planning Board and the Town of Kendall
(if executed) for a list of minor land use actions exempt from referral
to the County Planning Board.
A.
If the County Planning Board approves a referral, then the local
board's decision is governed by a majority vote.
B.
If the County Planning Board disapproves or approves a referral subject
to stated conditions or modifications, the local board may override
the county opinion only by a majority plus one vote.
The local board must send a copy of its final decision on a
county referral, and reasons for its decision to the County Planning
Board within seven days after the local decision is reached.
A.
In accordance with § 283-a of Town Law, any application
for a special use permit, site plan approval, use variance, or subdivision
approval requiring municipal review and approval by the Planning Board
or Zoning Board, that would occur on property within an agricultural
district containing a farm operation or on property with boundaries
within 500 feet of a farm operation located within an agricultural
district, shall include an agricultural data statement. The Planning
Board or zoning board shall evaluate and consider the agricultural
data statement in its review of the possible impacts of the proposed
project upon the functioning of farm operations within such agricultural
district.
B.
Upon receipt of such application by the Planning Board or Zoning
Board, the Clerk of such board shall mail written notice of such application
to the owners of land as identified by the applicant in the agricultural
data statement. Such notice shall include a description of the proposed
project and its location, and may be sent in conjunction with any
other notice required by state or federal law, ordinance, rule or
regulation for the said project. The cost of mailing the notices shall
be borne by the applicant.
C.
An agricultural
data statement shall include the following information: the name and
address of the applicant; a description of the proposed project and
its location; the name and address of any owner of land within 500
feet of the boundary of the property upon which the project is proposed;
and a Tax Map or other map showing the site of the proposed project
relative to the location of farm operations identified in the agricultural
data statement.
D.
If the project location meets any of the criteria set forth in § 265-87 of this chapter, the Clerk of the Planning Board or Zoning Board shall refer all applications and the agricultural data statement to the County Planning Board as required under §§ 239-m and 239-n of the General Municipal Law.
