Cortlandville City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Conditional Permit
§ 178-73 Purpose.
A.
The uses and structures listed in each district, with the exception of the Aquifer Protection District, which require conditional permits are recognized as potentially desirable for the town. However, the uses and structures requiring conditional permits may, because of their nature, present some degree of hazard or danger to the Town and its people. In the Aquifer Protection District, special permits shall be considered pursuant to Article X.
[Amended 5-1-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]
B.
The purpose of this article is to establish guidelines for the Planning Board to use in determining whether or not a conditional permit should be issued.
§ 178-74 Application procedure; Planning Board review and decision.
A.
Application shall be made to the Zoning Officer and shall include detailed site plan to scale. Topographic information may be required in certain instances. With each application a fee shall be paid in the amount as set forth from time to time by Town Board resolution, except with an application for a change in use, in which case a fee in a different amount as set forth from time to time by Town Board resolution shall be paid.
[Amended 4-1-1987 by L.L. No. 4-1987; 8-5-1998 by L.L. No. 2-1998]
B.
At its next regular meeting following application, the Planning Board shall review the plan and give tentative approval or ask for revisions or for more detail. More detail may include complete architectural drawings of proposed structures and landscaping. (At the same time the Planning Board may set a date for a final review of the application).
C.
Referral; public hearing.
(1)
Within five days of first review, the Planning Board shall refer the application to the Cortland County Planning Board along with Town comments and recommendations (if required by General Municipal Law) and set a date for final review.
(2)
The Planning Board may conduct a public hearing on the application. If a public hearing is considered desirable by a majority of the authorized members of the Planning Board, such public hearing shall be conducted within 45 days of the acceptance of the application and shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at least five days before the public hearing.
[Added 5-1-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]
D.
The Town Planning Board will take no final action until it has received comments and recommendations from the County Planning Board or 45 days have passed from the date of submittal to the County Planning Board, if such is required by General Municipal Law § 239.
F.
The Town Planning Board will make a factual record of all proceedings in issuing a conditional permit, and such record shall contain the reasons for the decision.
G.
If approval or conditional approval is given, a building permit shall be authorized at such time as all conditions are met. Application to the Zoning Officer for any building permit or certificate of zoning compliance authorized by resolution of the Planning Board under which a conditional permit is granted shall be made within 60 days from the date the resolution is filed with the Town Clerk or within a time period agreed upon by the applicant and the Planning Board. If a building permit is not applied for within this time frame or a building permit has expired, the applicant shall submit a new application to the Planning Board.
[Amended 8-17-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1988; amended 12-16-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
H.
The Planning Board, on its own motion, may revoke any conditional permit for noncompliance with conditions set forth in the granting of said permit after first holding a public hearing and giving notice of such hearing as provided in § 178-74C. The foregoing shall not be the exclusive remedy, and it shall be unlawful and punishable hereunder for any person to violate any condition imposed by a conditional permit.
[Added 8-17-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1988]
§ 178-75 Structure/use requirements for permit approval.
A.
In order to grant approval for a conditional permit, the applicant must prove that the structure and/or use:
(1)
Is appropriate for the particular lot and area, and will not conflict with allowed uses.
(2)
Is in compliance with all other applicable sections of this chapter.
(3)
Is physically and visually compatible with general neighborhood or planned neighborhood development.
(4)
Provides a suitable transition when located between differing uses or districts where none is provided or provides a visual buffer by landscaped green areas or fencing.
(5)
Has adequate space and plans for off-street parking.
(6)
Has future expansion or revision capabilities without need for variances.
(7)
Provides for safe handling of vehicular traffic to and from the site without causing congestion. No new vehicular entrances shall be permitted within 50 feet of an existing intersection.
(8)
Provides for safe passage of pedestrians.
(9)
Enhances neighboring property and does not lead to depreciation of properties (by reason of noise, traffic, dust, fumes, smoke, odor, fire, glare, flashing lights or sewage disposal).
B.
In granting a conditional use, the Planning Board shall make findings of fact consistent with the provisions of this chapter. The Planning Board shall not approve a conditional use except in conformity with the spirit, purposes, conditions and standards outlined in this chapter. In order to obtain the Planning Board's approval of a conditional permit, the applicant must prove that the location, structure, and/or use:
[Added 1-16-2008 by L.L. No. 1-2008]
(1)
Is consistent with the general intent of the Town of Cortlandville's Land Use and Aquifer Protection Plan.
(2)
Is in conformity with all applicable requirements of this chapter and all Town ordinances.
(3)
Will not pose a significant threat to the quality and/or quantity of Cortlandville's sole source aquifer or its delineated wellhead protection zones.
(4)
Is in the best interests of the Town, the community, and the public welfare, and shall not be a detriment to the properties in the immediate vicinity.
(5)
Is suitable for the property in question and designed to be constructed, operated, and maintained so as to be in harmony with and appropriate in appearance with the existing or intended character of the general vicinity.
(6)
Does not cause unsuitable effects on highway traffic and safety with adequate access to protect streets from undue congestion and hazard.
§ 178-76 Additional specific requirements.
A.
Residential.
(1)
Multifamily dwellings with over four dwelling units must have two means of egress and ingress, unless, at the approval of the Cortlandville Code Office and Cortlandville Board of Fire Commissioners, the building is equipped with proper fire prevention equipment pursuant to the New York State Fire Code, Appendix D, Fire Apparatus Access Roads, Section D105.1.
[Amended 5-3-2023 by L.L. No. 3-2023]
(2)
Public sewer and water facilities must be provided for multifamily dwellings with over four dwelling units.
(3)
Customary home occupations must be of a type that will not create noise and traffic problems in residential neighborhoods.
(4)
Customary home occupations must have sufficient off-street parking for all customer vehicles.
(5)
In the B2 and B3 District, multiple-family is only allowed as a mixed use with commercial. For one-story structures the commercial use shall have a minimum of 50% of the gross floor area in use for business. For multistory buildings the commercial use shall have a minimum gross floor area equal to the story with the greatest floor area. For projects with multiple structures, these percentages shall apply to gross square footage allowing for a mix of commercial and residential structures.
[Added 12-16-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
B.
Agricultural related uses.
(1)
Liquid and solid manure storage facilities shall be sited in a manner to reduce odor problems with adjacent residential areas.
(2)
Land application of human and animal waste products shall be carried out in a manner to reduce environmental hazard.
(3)
Visual screening of used equipment may be required for agricultural implement sales areas.
D.
Recreational and social activities.
(1)
Sufficient visual and sound screening shall be provided between activities and adjacent residential neighborhoods to limit noise and sight disturbances.
(2)
Traffic routes shall be located to protect safety of pedestrians.
(3)
Parking areas and drives shall be surfaced so as to be dust-free.
(4)
Lighting must not create glare on adjacent properties and roads.
E.
Religious and charitable institutions. Buildings shall be architecturally designed to enhance or be compatible with neighborhood.
F.
Health, medical and care services. Hospital and clinic emergency traffic entrances shall have sufficient capacity to handle loads without interrupting neighboring traffic patterns. Entrances to parking areas shall be of sufficient width for two-way traffic or shall have separate entrance and exit locations.
G.
Transportation and utility facilities.
(1)
Private air landing fields must not locate glide paths and takeoff patterns over existing residential neighborhoods.
(2)
Utility substations shall be screened with vegetative material from adjacent residential and commercial properties and shall be adequately fenced to prevent entry by unauthorized personnel.
(3)
Entrances to warehousing, bus and truck terminals shall be of sufficient width to allow turns out into the nearest traffic lane without necessitating a swing into another lane.
(4)
In residential neighborhoods, all new utility lines shall be underground to the maximum extent possible. Where existing services use poles, this condition may be waived, at the discretion of the Planning Board.
(5)
Communication antennas and towers shall be located so as not to interfere with adjacent property's solar access. Siting of facilities over 30 feet in height will not be permitted in residential neighborhoods.
H.
Business uses.
(1)
Commercial garages, gasoline service stations, automotive repair shops and other facilities storing petroleum products on-site shall have tanks tested in accordance with Cortland County Health Department requirements and NFPA 329 or latest NFPA code on testing of underground storage tanks. Above-ground petroleum storage shall be placed within impervious containment structures a minimum of 30 feet from any structure or property line.
(2)
Retail sales with over 15,000 square feet of gross floor area and shopping centers shall have at least two means of access to parking facilities.
I.
Industrial uses.
[Added 1-16-2008 by L.L. No. 1-2008]
(1)
Uses and/or activities such as but not limited to the storage of or use of chemicals of any form or quantity shall not pose a significant threat to the Town of Cortlandville's sole source aquifer or its delineated wellhead protection zones.
(2)
Sufficient open space will be provided to ensure the protection of community character, aesthetics, groundwater infiltration, and buffering.
(3)
Buildings shall be architecturally designed to enhance or be compatible with surrounding structures in terms of form, function, and design. Structures will be consistent with the aesthetic general intent of the Town's current Master Plan.
(4)
Structures and uses will have adequate buffers to prevent negative impacts associated with noise, traffic, dust, fumes, smoke, odor, fire, glare, and/or flashing lights.
(5)
The use will not cause and/or be considered a nuisance to surrounding properties and will not have a negative effect on surrounding property values.
(6)
The use will have adequate site access to protect streets from undue congestion and hazard and will not cause unsuitable effects on highway traffic and safety.
(7)
The use will provide adequate space for parking and future development or expansion needs.
§ 178-77 Activities in industrial facilities.
The following activities are prohibited:
A.
The production from raw materials of cement, explosives, fertilizer, rubber, soaps, starch and the by-products of coal, coke, petroleum and natural gas.
B.
The milling or processing of flour; the reduction, refining, smelting and alloying of metal or metal ores; the distillation of wood or bones; and the reduction and processing of wood pulp and fiber.
C.
The operation of stockyards, slaughterhouses and rendering plants.
D.
Storage involving inflammable and explosive materials except in accordance with the laws and regulations of the State of New York.
E.
Storage of crude oil or any of its volatile products or other highly inflammable liquids except in accordance with the laws and regulations of the State of New York, and all such tanks shall be properly diked with dikes having a capacity equal to 1 1/2 times the capacity of tank or tanks surrounded.
F.
Storage of crude oil or any of its volatile products or other highly inflammable liquids within 30 feet of any property line.
G.
Activities which emit dangerous radiation adversely affecting the operation at any point of any equipment other than that emitting the radioactivity.
H.
Visible grey smoke of a shade darker than No. 1 as shown on the Power's Micro-Ringelmann Chart, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1954, except that visible grey smoke of a shade not darker than No. 2 on said chart may be emitted for not more more than four minutes in any 30 minutes. These provisions, applicable to a visible grey smoke, shall also apply to visible smoke of a different color but with an equivalent apparent density.
I.
Emissions from any chimney or other orifice which can cause any damage to health, to animals or vegetation, or other forms of property or which can cause any excessive soiling at any point, and in no event any emission, from any chimney or otherwise, of any solid or liquid particles in concentrations exceeding 0.3 grains per cubic foot of the conveying gas or air at any point. For measurement of an amount of particles in gases resulting from combustion, standard corrections shall be applied to a stack temperature of 500° F. and 50% excess air.
J.
Discharges into any private sewage disposal system or stream, or into the ground, of any materials of such a nature or temperature as can contaminate any watercourse or supply, or can cause any dangerous or unhealthy condition, except:
K.
Activities which produce any material effect on the temperature, motion or humidity of the atmosphere at the lot line or beyond.