In performing reviews of applications or petitions for site
plan, subdivision, special permits, variances and amendments to the
Zoning Law, the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Town
Board may refer such applications to such planning consultants or
other professionals as they may deem reasonably necessary to review
such applications.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 6-2021]
A. In addition to the application fees required to be paid by an applicant,
the applicant shall also deposit with the Town funds to be placed
in escrow in the Town's trust and agency account, without interest,
which escrowed funds shall be deposited for the purpose of reimbursing
the Town for any and all of the Town's fees and expenses incurred
in connection with the Town's review of the application, including,
but not limited to, engineering and planning consultants' fees,
such as, but not limited to, those incurred regarding application
reviews before the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Industrial
Use Committee ("IUC") and Town Board. The amount of the deposit shall
be set by Orangetown's Office of Building, Zoning and Planning
Administration and Enforcement ("OBZPAE"), in consultation with the
applicant, the Town's consultants (if any) and/or any other Town
Department or Office, such as the Department of Environmental Management
and Engineering ("DEME"), based upon the anticipated fees and expenses
estimated to be incurred by the Town regarding i) OBZPAE's processing
of permit application(s) regarding the project, both prior to and
after issuance of a permit, and/or ii) reviews by the said Boards
and the IUC; and the escrowed funds may be drawn on/disbursed by the
Town without obtaining permission or authorization from the applicant.
B. If the amount deposited falls below 50% of the original deposit,
the applicant shall deposit additional funds to the Town to replenish
the escrow account to pay for fees and expenses rendered to the Town,
or anticipated to be rendered, for such services. Such additional
funds shall be delivered to the Town before the application is placed
on the agenda and any further consideration of the applicant's
application takes place. If, for any reason, an escrow deposit account
has not been established by the applicant, or if the applicant's
escrow deposit account is no longer active, then the applicant shall
promptly reimburse the Town, upon demand by the Town, for the fees
and expenses of the Town's consultant(s); and the applicant shall
be liable to the Town for any such fees and expenses that are not
reimbursed to the Town by the applicant.
C. The Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Industrial Use Committee
and Town Board shall neither place the application on the agenda,
nor give further consideration to the applicant's application,
until all application review fees imposed on the applicant have been
paid to the Town.
D. Escrow funds shall be refunded to the applicant after the applicant
formally withdraws the permit application, or formally withdraws the
application from consideration by the applicable Board(s) and the
IUC (as applicable), or when the applicant receives a certificate
of occupancy or certificate of compliance (as applicable) from OBZPAE;
in either case, all reimbursable fees and expenses incurred by the
Town shall first be deducted from the escrow account, leaving an unencumbered
balance that is not required by the permitting authority to pay consulting
costs or fees attributable to the application pursuant to this section.
In no event shall the fees and expenses reimbursed by the applicant,
pursuant to this section, exceed the fees and expenses incurred by
the Town for review of the project.
E. The imposition of Town consultants' review fees and expenses
are in addition to, and not in place of, other Town application fee
schedules.
The applicant, upon written request, shall receive a statement
setting forth the nature of services, the date such services were
rendered, the time spent thereon (if such services are rendered on
a timed basis), and the name of the party rendering such services.
The charges made by such consultants shall be in accord with charges
usually made for such services in the metropolitan New York region
or pursuant to an existing contractual agreement between the Town
and such consultant. All such charges shall be paid upon submission
of a Town voucher. In the event that an application is required to
be reviewed by the Town Board and any other board, then, in such event
and to the extent applicable, both boards shall use the same consultants
who shall, in such case, prepare one report providing the data, information
and recommendations requested by both boards. In all instances, duplications
of such consultants' reports shall be avoided wherever possible in
order to minimize the cost of such consultants' reports to the applicant.
An application for approval, or for any intermediate approval
process, or for any action covered by this article by the Planning
Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, or Town Board shall not be deemed
complete for any purpose until such time as the funds required by
the agency before which the application is pending shall have been
paid to the Town.
The fees required in accordance with this article may be waived
by the Town Board of the Town of Orangetown, at its sole discretion,
with respect to applications made by educational, religious, fraternal,
service organizations and all other not-for-profit entities.