Babylon Village City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VII
Board of Appeals
§ 365-35 Appointment; powers and duties.
[Amended 7-7-1975 by L.L. No. 1-1975; 9-14-1982 by L.L. No. 3-1982]
The Board of Trustees shall appoint a Board of Appeals consisting of five members, each to be appointed for a term of five years. The Board of Appeals shall have the powers granted by the Village Law and the following powers:
A.
Variance powers. Where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of these regulations, the Board of Appeals shall have the power to vary or modify the application of such regulations so that the spirit of this chapter shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done.
B.
Special powers and rules. Wherever a use or the location thereof is permitted only if the Board of Appeals shall approve thereof, or whenever an application for a permitted use or the location thereof is subject to approval of an application by the Board of Appeals, the Board of Appeals may, in a specific case and after notice and public hearing, authorize such use and its location within the district in which the use may be located, subject to the following provisions and such other safeguards and conditions consistent with the specific use and the location thereof:
(1)
Before such approval shall be given, the Board of Appeals shall consider that:
(a)
The use will not prevent the orderly and reasonable use of adjacent properties or of properties in adjacent use districts.
(b)
The use will not prevent the orderly and reasonable use of permitted or legally established uses in the district wherein the proposed use is to be located or of permitted or legally established uses in adjacent districts.
(c)
The safety, the health, the welfare, the comfort, the convenience or the order of the Village will not be adversely affected by the proposed use and its location.
(d)
The use will be in harmony with and promote the general purposes and intent of this chapter.
(2)
In making such determination, the Board of Appeals shall also give consideration, among other things, to:
(a)
The character of the existing and probable development of uses in the district and the peculiar suitability of such district for the location of any of such permissive uses.
(b)
The conservation of property values and the encouragement of the most appropriate uses of land.
(c)
The effect that the location of the proposed use may have upon the creation or undue increase of vehicular traffic congestion on public streets or highways.
(d)
The availability of adequate and proper public or private facilities for the treatment, removal or discharge of sewage, refuse or other effluent, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or otherwise, that may be caused or created by or as a result of the use.
(e)
Whether the use or materials incidental thereto or produced thereby may give off obnoxious gases, odors, smoke or soot.
(f)
Whether the use will cause disturbing commissions of electrical discharges, dust, light, vibration or noise.
(g)
Whether the operations in pursuance of the use will cause undue interference with the orderly enjoyment by the public of parking or of recreational facilities, if existing, or if proposed by the Village or by other competent governmental agency.
(h)
The necessity for bituminous-surfaced space for purposes of off-street parking of vehicles incidental to the use and whether such space is reasonably adequate and appropriate and can be furnished by the owner of the plot sought to be used within or adjacent to the plot where the use shall be had.
(i)
Whether a hazard to life, limb or property because of fire, flood, erosion or panic may be created by reason or as a result of the use or by the structures to be used therefor or by the inaccessibility of the property or structures thereon for the convenient entry and operation of fire emergency apparatus or by the undue concentration or assemblage of persons upon such plot.
(j)
Whether the use or the structures to be used therefor will cause an overcrowding of the land or undue concentration of population.
(k)
Whether the plot area is sufficient, appropriate and adequate for the use and the reasonably anticipated operation and expansion thereof.
(l)
Whether the use to be operated is unreasonably near to a church, school, theater, recreational area or other place of public assembly.
(3)
The Board of Appeals shall, in authorizing such permissive uses, impose such conditions and safeguards as it may deem appropriate, necessary or desirable to preserve and protect the spirit and objectives of this chapter.
§ 365-36 Rules and regulations.
The Board of Appeals shall, consistent with the Village Law, make rules and regulations as to the manner of filing appeals and applications for variances and for special exceptions to be heard by it and also determine its own rules, regulations and procedures with respect to its hearings on such appeals and applications.
§ 365-37 Time limit for action.
A.
Every variance or application granted by the Board of Appeals in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter shall be and become null and void and of no further force or effect unless, within 120 days after filing with the Village Clerk of the decision of the Board of Appeals, the use so granted shall actually have commenced upon the premises or the erection and construction of the principal building or structure for the construction or use of which a variance or special exception shall have been granted by the Board of Appeals shall actually have been commenced; provided, however, that excavation for or construction of a building foundation shall not be deemed to be commencement of the erection or construction of such building or structure within the meaning of this section.
B.
Where the use or erection and construction of the principal building or structure for the construction or use of which a variance or special permission has been granted by the Board of Appeals shall not have been commenced within the original one-hundred-twenty-day period by reason of weather conditions, circumstances beyond the control of the applicant or otherwise, said Board may, in its discretion and without public hearing, grant one or two extensions, each of 60 days or less, where the applicant shall submit proof in writing of all the facts and circumstances and such other proof and material as said Board may require; provided, however, that the conditions upon which the variance or special permission was granted originally have not changed substantially or materially in the judgment of the Board.
§ 365-38 Public hearing required; notice.
Upon the filing with the Board of Appeals of an appeal or of an application for special exception or variance from the terms of this chapter, the Board of Appeals shall fix a time and place for a public hearing thereon and shall give notice thereof as follows:
A.
By publishing a notice thereof once a week for two weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the Village.
B.
By mailing a notice thereof to the Village Clerk.
C.
By mailing a notice thereof to every association of residents of the Village which shall have registered its name and address for this purpose with the Board of Appeals.
§ 365-39 Contents of hearing notice.
The notices required by § 365-38 shall state the location of the building or lot and the general nature of the question involved.
§ 365-40 Fee to cover hearing cost.
[Amended 4-18-1974; 6-22-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
No application to the Board of Appeals pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or the Village Law will be received unless and until there shall be paid to the Clerk of the Board of Appeals the sum of $100, or $250 depending on the zone; amount is indicated on the application.