Bethlehem City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Administration and Enforcement
§ 128-81 Building Inspector.
A.
This chapter shall be enforced by the Building Inspector.
B.
No building shall hereafter be erected or structurally altered within the area covered by the Zoning Map until a permit authorizing the same shall have been issued by the Building Inspector.
C.
The Building Inspector shall require that the application for a building permit shall be accompanied by a plot plan, building plans and specifications, which shall contain all the information necessary to enable him to ascertain whether the proposed building complies with the provisions of this chapter.
D.
No building permit shall be issued until the Building Inspector has certified that the proposed building or alteration complies with the provisions of this chapter.
E.
In case any building or structure is erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, converted or maintained, or any building, structure or land is used, or any land is divided into lots in violation of this chapter or Chapter 103, Subdivision Regulations, or in violation of any approvals granted pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 103, the Building Inspector, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, maintenance, use or division of land, to restrain, correct or abate such violation, to prevent the occupancy of said building, structure or land, or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about such premises. In addition to any other remedies the Building Inspector is hereby authorized to issue a cease and desist order or stop-work order as may be required to enforce this chapter and to enforce any approvals granted pursuant to this chapter. The Building Inspector shall notify the Town Board of the issuance of any appearance ticket or any other action. In addition to the above-mentioned penalties and punishment, the Town Board may also maintain an action or a proceeding in the name of the Town in a court or competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction any violation of this chapter.
§ 128-82 Building permits and certificates of occupancy.
A.
Building permits. Building permits shall be required and issued pursuant to Chapter 53, Building Construction and Fire Prevention Administration, of the Town Code. No person shall alter or add to any existing structure, or construct a new structure or part thereof, nor change the use of any building, without a valid zoning and building permit as required by Chapter 53 and issued by the Building Inspector.
[Amended 10-8-2008 by L.L. No. 3-2008]
B.
Certificates of occupancy. Certificates of occupancy shall be issued pursuant to Chapter 53, Building Construction and Fire Prevention Administration, of the Town Code. No person shall occupy or use any structure that has been issued for that structure or building where a valid building permit has been issued.[1] No certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance will be issued until all required inspections are conducted by the Inspector or his assistants and any engineering reports or other required documentation has been provided to the Building Inspector for his or her approval.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
§ 128-83 Penalties for offenses.
[Amended 6-11-2008 by L.L. No. 1-2008]
A violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be an offense, punishable by a fine not exceeding $350 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both, for conviction of a first offense; for conviction of a second offense, both of which were committed within a period of five years, punishable by a fine of not less than $350 nor more than $700 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both; and, upon conviction for a third or subsequent offense, all of which were committed within a period of five years, punishable by a fine of not less than $700 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both. Each day's continued violation shall constitute a separate, additional violation.
§ 128-84 Application and inspection fees.
A.
Application fees. An application for subdivision, site plan, special use permit and variance approval shall be accompanied by a fee as set by the Town Board.
B.
Inspection fees. Prior to commencement of any work in a development with a road that has site plan approval, the developer shall deposit into an escrow account a sum of money to be determined by the Town Board. Said sum shall be based on the estimated cost to the Town of professional review of the proposed road construction work. The Town Board may consider available surveys of professional review expenses in determining the initial sum of money to be deposited in an escrow account by the developer. Said sum of money shall be used to cover the reasonable and necessary costs of professional review of the road construction work. Costs may include consultant fees for engineering, legal and other professional technical services required for a proper and thorough inspection of the road construction. Said moneys shall be deposited in escrow and governed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
§ 128-85 Engineering, legal and consulting fees.
A.
Escrow. In connection with any application for a special permit, site plan approval, subdivision approval, zoning amendment, other local law change, planned development district, special exception permit, use variance, area variance, interpretation, or other land use application or appeal, the reviewing department may, in addition to the requirements of SEQRA and inspections, require an applicant to deposit an initial sum of money into an escrow account in advance of the review of the application. Said sum shall be based on the estimated cost to the Town of securing professional consultant services to review the application. For the purpose of this section, professional review services shall be defined as, but not limited to, those services provided by engineers, lawyers, architects, landscape designers, certified surveyors, property appraisers, planners and related professionals.
B.
Said escrow shall be used to pay the reasonable and necessary costs of a proper and thorough professional review of the application. The review expenses provided for herein are in addition to application or administrative fees required pursuant to other provisions of this chapter and the Town Code. Money deposited by applicants pursuant to this section shall not be used to offset the Town's general expenses of professional services for the several boards of the Town or its general administrative expenses. The review and escrow requirements governed by this section shall include environmental review pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
C.
The initial deposit by the applicant shall be in an amount as determined by the reviewing department, but in no case shall it exceed the estimated total cost of consultant review. The applicant shall be required to deliver said amount to the Town for deposit in a Town of Bethlehem non-interest-bearing escrow account maintained by the Town of Bethlehem for custody of funds collected pursuant to this section. Said escrow deposit must be paid prior to the first appearance before any board.
D.
In the event that the previously established escrow fees are insufficient to pay for the necessary cost of review, then the Town shall require the applicant to make additional payments to the escrow fund, and until such payment is made by the applicant review of the application shall be suspended.
E.
Upon receipt and approval by the reviewing department of itemized vouchers from consultants for services rendered on behalf of the Town regarding a particular application, the Town shall cause such vouchers to be paid out of the moneys so deposited and shall debit the separate record of such account accordingly. The consultant shall make copies of such vouchers available on request to the applicant at the same time the vouchers are submitted to the Town.
F.
The Town shall review and audit all such vouchers and shall approve payment of only such consultant charges as are reasonable in amount and necessarily incurred by the Town in connection with the review and consideration of applications. A charge, or part thereof, is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable relationship to the average charge by consultants to the Town for services performed in connection with the review of a similar application. A charge, or part thereof, is necessarily incurred if it was charged by the consultant for services rendered in order to protect or promote the health, safety, or other vital interests of the residents of the Town and protect public or private property from damage. In no event shall any applicant make direct payment to any Town consultant.
G.
If at any time during the processing of an application there shall be insufficient moneys on hand to the credit of an applicant to pay the approved vouchers in full, or if it shall reasonably appear to the reviewing department that such moneys will be insufficient to meet vouchers yet to be submitted, the reviewing department shall cause the applicant to deposit additional sums as the department deems necessary or advisable in order to meet such expenses or anticipated expenses.
H.
In the event the applicant fails to deposit the requested review fees into an escrow account, any application review, approval, permit or certificates of occupancy shall be withheld or suspended by the reviewing department, officer or employee of the Town until such moneys are deposited. There will be no conditional approvals given on the basis of future payments to be made. Payment in full must be made prior to the granting of preliminary and final approval. Any costs incurred by the Town for professional services in processing a certificate of occupancy shall be recovered as a fee before said certificate shall be issued. No application to the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals shall be accepted, nor shall any building permit or certificate of occupancy be issued, if said applicant has outstanding any fees due the Town from any previous applications.
I.
The Town Board, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals, as applicable, shall not make any final determination in a matter pending before it until all applicable fees and reimbursable costs imposed by the reviewing department on the applicant under authority of this section have been paid to the Town.
J.
Upon completion of the review of an application or upon the withdrawal of an application, and after all fees already incurred by the Town have been paid and deducted from the escrow account, any balance remaining in the escrow account shall be refunded within 60 days after the applicant's request.
K.
Exceptions. This section shall not apply to area variance applications for single-family residential uses.
L.
In the event of an applicant's failure to reimburse to the Town funds expended to consultants for professional review fees as provided herein, the following remedies may apply:
(1)
The Town may seek recovery of billed and unreimbursed fees by bringing an action venue in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, and the applicant shall be responsible to pay the Town's reasonable attorney fees in prosecuting such action in addition to any judgment.
(2)
Alternatively, and at the sole discretion of the Town Board, an applicant's failure to reimburse the Town for professional review fees expended by the Town shall be collected by charging such sums against the real property that is subject to the permit application and by adding that charge to and making it a part of the next real property tax bill associated with the subject property. Such charges shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as general Town taxes and such fees shall be paid by the Receiver of Taxes to the Town Supervisor to be applied to the escrow fund from which the costs for consultants' fees are paid. Prior to incorporating such delinquent fees into the real property tax bill, the Town shall send written notice to the applicant's address as contained in the permit application and to the property owner, if other than the applicant, at the owner's address of record as contained in the current assessment roll. Such written notice shall be sent by the Town Supervisor by certified mail, return receipt requested. Such notice shall inform the owner and applicant of the delinquent amount of fees owed to the Town and shall set a date for the owner-applicant's objections to be heard by the Town Supervisor. Such notice shall be mailed or delivered no later than 10 calendar days from the hearing date set forth in the notice unless such time period is waived by the owner-applicant in writing. After the hearing, the Supervisor shall be empowered to correct any errors in the fees owed by the owner or applicant and to extend terms of payment and adequate security of the debt and enter into a written agreement with the owner or applicant to facilitate the payment in full of the fee.
M.
Determination of payment. In the event of a rezoning of property or other local law by request of the owner, the Town Clerk shall determine from the Town Supervisor if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant prior to submitting such rezoning or other local law to the New York State Secretary of State. Such local law shall not be filed with the Secretary of State until such outstanding fees have been reimbursed to the Town or the Town Supervisor has entered into a written agreement with the applicant extending the time of payment of such fees.
N.
In the event of a site plan approved by the Planning Board pursuant to § 274-a of the Town Law of New York State and this chapter, the Planning Board Chairman shall determine from the reviewing department if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant. All such outstanding consultant fees billed to the applicant during the application process shall be paid in full to the Town prior to the Planning Board Chairman affixing his signature to the site plan.
O.
In the event of a subdivision plat approved by the Planning Board pursuant to § 276 of the Town Law of New York State and this chapter, the Planning Board Chairman shall determine from the reviewing department if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant prior to affixing his signature to the final plat. All such outstanding consultant fees billed to the applicant during the application process shall be paid in full to the Town prior to the Planning Board Chairman affixing his signature to the site plan.
P.
This section shall apply to all land use permit applications and requested local law changes pending before the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals as of the effective date of this chapter. All professional review fees incurred by the Town thereafter shall be paid as provided herein.