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Town of Montour, NY
Schuyler County
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[Amended 2-8-2011 by L.L. No. 1-2011]
The Town Board is authorized to review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove applications for special use permits and site plans. Site plan review shall be required for all special use permits and such other uses as designated herein or as may hereafter be designated by resolution of the Town Board. The following procedures shall apply.
An applicant for a special use permit may submit a preliminary site plan for review and advice by the Planning Board. Such a preliminary site plan should provide locations and dimensions of the proposed use in relation to the property boundaries and adjacent uses. It should also indicate all accesses and improvements, both existing and proposed, and any site features which could have a bearing on the project, including the general topography and existing ground cover. This preliminary site plan shall be used by the Planning Board as a basis for advising the applicant regarding information it shall require on the site plan as a condition to referring the special use permit application and/or site plan to the Town Board as provided herein. The Planning Board shall give no approval or disapproval regarding any preliminary site plan but may use it to schedule a public hearing if sufficient data is available, determine if any provisions of this article should be waived or begin its review of the application under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQR").
All applications for a special use permit and site plan approval shall be made to the Planning Board on official forms issued by the Planning Board. All applications shall include a detailed site plan showing the information described below, a completed SEQRA environmental assessment form, any other documentation or information required by applicable law, including, without limitation, the Agriculture and Markets Law, and such other information as the Planning Board shall require that is necessary to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this chapter and limited to such information. An application shall not be deemed complete and the Planning Board shall have no obligation to take any action with respect to any application until all such required information is submitted.
A. 
The location of all existing watercourses, wooded areas, rights-of-way, roads, structures or any other significant man-made or natural feature, if such feature has an effect upon the use of said property.
B. 
The location, use and floor or ground area of each proposed building, structure or any other land use, including sewage disposal and water supply systems.
C. 
The location of all significant landscaping and ground cover features, both existing and proposed, including detailed planting plans and a visual depiction or rendering of the final appearance of the property after all landscaping and other physical improvements are completed.
D. 
The location, dimensions and capacity of any proposed roads, off-street parking areas or loading berths, including typical cross sections for all paving or regrading involved.
E. 
The location and treatment of proposed entrances and exits to public rights-of-way, including traffic signals, channelizations, acceleration and deceleration lanes, widenings or any other measure having an impact on traffic safety conditions.
F. 
The location and identification of proposed open spaces, parks or other recreation areas.
G. 
The location and design of buffer areas and screening devices to be maintained.
H. 
The location of trails, walkways and all other areas proposed to be devoted to pedestrian use.
I. 
The location of public and private utilities, including maintenance facilities.
J. 
The specific locations of all signs existing and proposed, including a visual depiction of the latter.
K. 
Preliminary architectural plans for the proposed buildings or structures, indicating typical floor plans, elevations, height and general design or architectural styling.
The Planning Board is authorized to waive any of the requirements of § 175-36 herein pertaining to the requirements for applications for special use permits and site plan approval. This waiver authority may be exercised in the event any such requirements are found not to be requisite in the interest of the public health, safety, or general welfare or are inappropriate to a particular site plan. Any such waiver shall be subject to the following conditions:
A. 
No waiver shall result in allowing a use not permitted within the applicable zoning district.
B. 
No waiver shall be given with respect to standards outside the scope of this article which would otherwise require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
C. 
Waivers shall be limited to those situations where the full application of the requirements contained herein would generate unnecessary data and create unnecessary costs with regard to deciding the matter at hand, due to the scope or nature of the project involved. The proposed enclosure of a deck or a simple change of use with no significant structural modifications in the case of a commercial property, for example, might not require typical cross sections for proposed regrading or water supply data.
D. 
An applicant for special use approval who desires to seek a waiver of certain of the above-referenced requirements pertaining to such applications shall submit a preliminary site plan as provided above. The Planning Board shall review the preliminary site plan, advise the applicant as to potential problems and concerns and determine if any additional site plan information is required. The Planning Board shall consider such site plan as adequate when, in its judgment, the information submitted is sufficient to make a determination of compliance with the development standards contained herein and the intent of site plan review criteria found below.
E. 
Nothing herein shall authorize the Planning Board to waive State Environmental Quality Review requirements.
Within 45 days following its receipt of a complete application for a special use permit or site plan approval, the Planning Board shall review such application and refer such application to the Town Board for review and decision as provided herein. Such referral shall include a statement by the Planning Board recommending the application for approval, approval with conditions, or denial, and a statement of the reasons for such recommendation. Such referral shall be made by resolution of the Planning Board adopted in accordance with its procedures. An application for a special use permit or site plan approval shall be deemed "made" for purposes of this chapter and any other law upon the date of the Planning Board's referral to the Town Board. In the event that the Planning Board shall fail to so refer an application to the Town Board within said forty-five-day period, the application shall be deemed to have been referred to the Town Board on the day following the expiration of said forty-five-day period.
The Town Board shall fix a time, within 62 days from the day an application for a special use permit is made, for the hearing of any matter referred to under this section. It shall give public notice of such hearing at least five days prior to it in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town and decide upon the application within 62 days after such hearing. It shall not, however, grant approval before a decision has been made with respect to environmental impacts pursuant to SEQR. The decision of the Town Board shall be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and a copy thereof mailed to the applicant within five business days after such decision is rendered.
The Town Board shall have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental the proposed special use permit. Upon approval of said permit, any such conditions shall be met prior to the actual issuance of permits by the Town. These conditions may include requirements of the applicant to provide parkland or to provide fees in lieu thereof pursuant to § 274-a(6) of the New York State Town Law.
The Town Board is authorized to refer special use permit applications and site plans to other agencies, groups or professionals employed or used by the Town for review and comment and to charge the applicant fees for any reasonable expenses connected therewith. The Board shall, in particular, ensure that the requirements of §§ 239-m and 239-nn of the General Municipal Law, regarding review by the Schuyler County Planning Department and adjoining communities, respectively, are met.
The special use site plan as approved by the Town Board shall be binding upon the applicant. Any changes from the approved plan shall require resubmission and reapproval by the Town Board. The site plan shall remain effective, as an authorization to establish the use, for a maximum of two years from the date of approval, unless the Town Board shall have granted an extension in writing. Absent such an extension, the special use shall be deemed to have expired. A special use which has been discontinued for a period of two or more years shall also be deemed to have lapsed.
The Town Board may require, at the time it is initially granted, that any special use approval be renewed periodically. Such renewal shall be granted following public notice and hearing and may be withheld only upon a determination that the conditions attached to any previous approval have not been met. A period of 62 days shall be granted the applicant in such cases to make remedies and bring the use into full compliance with the terms of the special use approval. Should the applicant fail to make such remedies, the special use approval shall be revoked and the use immediately discontinued.
The Town Board, in reviewing the site plan, shall consider its conformity to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Montour and the Village of Montour Falls and the various other plans, laws and ordinances of the Town. Conservation features, aesthetics, landscaping and impact on surrounding development as well as on the entire Town shall also be part of the Town Board review. The Board, in acting upon the site plan, shall also be approving, approving with modifications or disapproving the special use permit application connected therewith. Traffic flow, circulation and parking shall be reviewed to ensure the safety of the public and of the users of the facility and to ensure that there is no unreasonable interference with traffic on surrounding streets. The Board shall further consider the following:
A. 
Building design and location. Building design and location should be suitable for the use intended and compatible with natural and man-made surroundings. New buildings, for example, should generally be placed along the edges and not in the middle of open fields. They should also be sited so as to not protrude above treetops or the ridgelines of hills seen from public places and busy highways. Building color, materials and design should be adapted to surroundings as opposed to adaptation of the site to the building or the building to an arbitrary national franchise concept.
B. 
Large commercial buildings. Commercial facades of more than 100 feet in length should incorporate recesses and projections, such as windows, awnings and arcades, along 20% of the facade length. Variations in roof lines should be added to reduce the massive scale of these structures and add interest. All facades of such a building that are visible from adjoining streets or properties should exhibit features comparable in character to the front so as to better integrate with the community. Where such facades face adjacent residential uses, earthen berms planted with evergreen trees should be provided. Loading docks and accessory facilities should be incorporated in the building design and screened with materials comparable in quality to the principal structure. Sidewalks should be provided along the full length of any facade with a customer entrance and integrated into a system of internal landscape defined pedestrian walkways breaking up all parking areas.
C. 
Lighting and signage. Improvements made to the property should not detract from the character of the neighborhood by producing excessive lighting or unnecessary sign proliferation. Recessed lighting and landscaped ground signs are preferred.
D. 
Parking and accessory buildings. Parking areas should be placed in the rear whenever possible and provide for connections with adjoining lots. Accessory buildings should also be located in the rear with access from rear alleys. If placement in the rear is not possible, parking lots should be located to the side with screening from the street.
E. 
Drainage systems. Storm drainage, flooding and erosion and sedimentation controls should be employed to prevent encroachment upon or injury to persons, water damage to property and siltation to streams, wetlands and other water bodies.
F. 
Driveway and road construction. Whenever feasible, existing roads onto or across properties should be retained and reused instead of building new, so as to maximize the use of present features such as stone walls and tree borders and avoid unnecessary destruction of landscape and tree canopy. Developers building new driveways or roads through wooded areas should reduce removal of tree canopy by restricting clearing and pavement width to the minimum required for safely accommodating anticipated traffic flows.
G. 
Construction on slopes. The crossing of steep slopes with roads and driveways should be minimized and building which does take place on slopes should be multistoried with entrances at different levels as opposed to regrading the site flat.
H. 
Tree borders. New driveways onto principal thoroughfares should be minimized for both traffic safety and aesthetic purposes and interior access drives which preserve tree borders along highways should be used as an alternative. Developers who preserve tree borders should be permitted to recover density on the interior of their property through use of clustering.
I. 
Development at intersections. Building sites at prominent intersections of new developments should be reserved for equally prominent buildings or features which will appropriately terminate the street vistas. All street corners should be defined with buildings, trees or sidewalks.
J. 
Streets and sidewalks. Cul-de-sac and dead-end streets should be discouraged in favor of roads and drives which connect to existing streets on both ends. Streets within residentially developed areas should be accompanied by on-street parking and a sidewalk on at least one side of the street. Sidewalks should also be provided in connection with new commercial development adjacent to residential areas and pedestrian access should be encouraged.
K. 
Setbacks. New buildings on a street should conform to the dominant setback line and be aligned parallel to the street so as to create a defined edge to the public space.
L. 
Adjacent properties. The proposed use should not have a detrimental impact on adjacent properties or the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Montour.
M. 
Conditioned approval. If the proposed use is one judged to present detrimental impacts with respect to noise, lighting, surface runoff, emissions or other similar factors the Town Board shall determine whether an approval could be conditioned in such a manner as to eliminate or substantially reduce those impacts.
N. 
Community impacts. The Town Board shall consider whether the use will have a positive or negative effect on the environment, job creation, the economy, housing availability or open space preservation. The granting of an approval should not cause an undue economic burden on community facilities or services, including, but not limited to, highways, sewage treatment facilities, water supplies and fire-fighting capabilities. The applicant shall be responsible for providing such improvements or additional services as may be required to adequately serve the proposed use and any approval shall be so conditioned. The Town shall be authorized to demand fees in support of such services where they cannot be directly provided by the applicant. This shall specifically apply, but not be limited to, additional fees to support fire district expenses.
The procedures for site plan review where special use permits are not required shall be as follows:
A. 
The Town of Montour Town Board shall be authorized to review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove site plans as specified by this chapter. Site plans shall show the arrangement, layout and design of the proposed use of the land on said plan. Such site plan shall include information related to parking, means of access, screening, signs, landscaping, location and dimensions of buildings, adjacent land uses and physical features meant to protect adjacent land uses as well as any additional elements specified in § 175-36 hereof that may be relevant to the application.
B. 
The Town Board shall have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to a proposed site plan. Upon its approval of said site plan, any such conditions must be met in connection with the issuance of permits by applicable enforcement agents or officers of the Town.
C. 
The Town Board shall be authorized, when reasonable, to waive any requirements for the approval, approval with modifications or disapproval of site plans submitted for approval. Any such waiver, which shall be limited to items clearly irrelevant to the application under consideration, may be exercised in the event any such requirements are found not to be requisite in the interest of the public health, safety or general welfare or inappropriate to a particular site plan.
D. 
As an alternative to the installation of required infrastructure and improvements, prior to approval by the Town Board, a performance guarantee or other security sufficient to cover the full cost of the same, as estimated by the Town Engineer, shall be furnished to the Town by the owner. Such security shall be provided to the Town pursuant to the provisions of § 277 of the New York State Town Law.
E. 
Public hearings on site plan review applications shall not be required but may, at the discretion of the Town Board, be scheduled in instances where the scope of the project being reviewed is likely to impact neighboring properties. Should a hearing be required by the Town Board, it shall conduct such hearing within 62 days from the day an application is received on any matter referred to it under this section and otherwise comply with the procedural requirements of § 274-a of the New York State Town Law.
F. 
The following criteria shall apply to site plan review applications:
(1) 
Traffic flow, circulation and parking shall be reviewed to ensure the safety of the public and of the users of the facility and to ensure that there is no unreasonable interference with traffic on surrounding streets.
(2) 
Building design and location should be suitable for the use intended and compatible with natural and man-made surroundings.
(3) 
Improvements made to the property should not detract from the character of the neighborhood by producing excessive lighting or unnecessary sign proliferation. Recessed lighting and landscaped ground signs are preferred.
(4) 
Parking areas should be placed in the rear whenever possible and provide for connections with adjoining lots. Accessory buildings should also be located in the rear with access from rear alleys. If placement in the rear is not possible, parking lots should be located to the side with screening from the street.
(5) 
Storm drainage, flooding and erosion and sedimentation controls should be employed to prevent encroachment upon or injury to persons, water damage to property and siltation to streams, wetlands and other water bodies.
(6) 
Whenever feasible, existing roads onto or across properties should be retained and reused instead of building new, so as to maximize the use of present features such as stone walls and tree borders and avoid unnecessary destruction of landscape and tree canopy.
(7) 
The crossing of steep slopes with roads and driveways should be minimized and building which does take place on slopes should be multistoried with entrances at different levels as opposed to regrading the site flat.
(8) 
New driveways onto principal thoroughfares should be minimized for both traffic safety and aesthetic purposes.
(9) 
New buildings on a street should conform to the dominant setback line and be aligned parallel to the street so as to create a defined edge to the public space.
(10) 
The proposed use should not have a detrimental impact on adjacent properties or the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Montour.