Coxsackie Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE X
Site Plan Review
§ 201-72 Authority of Planning Board.
The Town Planning Board is hereby empowered to grant site plan approval in accordance with the provisions of § 274-a of the New York State Town Law and pursuant to the powers vested in the Town under the Municipal Home Rule Law. The Planning Board may review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove site plans prepared to specifications set forth in this article.
Where it is deemed appropriate, the Town Planning Board may waive any submission criteria requirements for the approval, approval with modifications or disapproval of site plans submitted for approval. Such waiver may be exercised by the Planning Board 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. The Planning Board shall make a written finding stating the reasons that the regulations were waived.
The Planning Board may 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 prior to the issuance of zoning permits or buildings permits by the Building Inspector/Code Officer.
The Planning Board is hereby authorized to promulgate such rules, regulations and procedures, as it deems reasonably necessary to administer the duties and responsibilities delegated to it by this article and any amendments thereto. Any such rules, regulations and procedures promulgated by the Planning Board must first be adopted by resolution of the Town Board and then filed in the Town Clerk's office before they shall become effective.
An eligible applicant for site plan review must be the owner, lessee or purchaser under contract for the involved parcel. A lessee and purchaser under contract must have the written permission of the current property owners to submit an application for site plan review.
§ 201-73 Land use activities requiring review.
The following land use activities require submittal to the Town of Coxsackie Planning Board of an application for site plan review and approval, except those specifically exempted as identified herein, prior to the issuance of a building, zoning or other land use permits, or before the proposed use may be established, developed, or undertaken. The Building Inspector/Code Officer shall require the preparation of a site plan and refer the site plan to the Planning Board for its review and approval in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth herein.
All building and site features proposed to be newly developed or all building and site features proposed to be constructed or expanded for any of the following categories of use:
Business or commercial.
Industrial (light or heavy).
Multifamily dwellings.
Motels, hotels or similar transient accommodations.
Condominiums (commercial or residential).
Resorts, boardinghouses, college dormitories, private clubs.
Mobile home parks.
Apartment complexes.
All public facilities, including but not limited to firehouses, churches, government buildings, and all charitable, nonprofit or philanthropic institutions.
All interior renovations in an existing barroom, fast-food establishment or restaurant, which interior renovations have the effect of increasing the occupancy level of the structure and thus have the potential of increasing the parking demand at the site.
All changes of use and parking requirements in any existing facility enumerated in Subsections A and B above shall be reviewed by the Planning Board for adequacy and arrangement of vehicular traffic access and circulation, including but not limited to intersections road width, pavement surfaces, dividers and traffic controls and the adequacy of off-street parking.
The following land use activities are specifically exempted:
Single- or two-family residential dwellings and individual mobile homes, including ordinary accessory structures.
Ordinary repair and maintenance of existing structures or uses.
Incidental landscaping or grading associated with residential dwellings.
Lands used in agricultural production, as defined by the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, Article 25AA, Agricultural Districts, § 301, Definitions.
§ 201-74 Sketch plan.
A sketch plan conference shall be held between the Planning Board and the applicant to review the basic site design concept and generally determine the information to be required on the site plan. At the sketch plan conference, the applicant should provide the data discussed below in addition to a statement or rough sketch describing what is proposed:
Area map: an area map showing the parcel under consideration for site plan review, and all properties, subdivisions, streets and easements within 200 feet of the boundaries thereof.
Topographic map: a map of site topography at no more than twenty-foot contour intervals. If general site grades exceed 5% or portions of the site have susceptibility to erosion, flooding or ponding, a soil's overlay and a topographic map showing contour intervals of not more than two feet of elevation is recommended.
§ 201-75 Application for site plan approval.
An application for site plan approval shall be made, in writing, to the Building Inspector/Code Officer and shall be accompanied by information drawn from the following checklist, as determined necessary by the Planning Board at the sketch plan conference. All site plans shall be prepared by an engineer or architect licensed in New York State, unless specifically waived by the Planning Board pursuant to § 201-72B.
Site plan checklist:
Title of drawing, including name and address of applicant and person responsible for preparation of such drawing.
North arrow, scale and date.
Boundaries of the property plotted to scale.
Existing watercourses.
Grading and drainage.
Location, proposed use and height of all buildings.
Location, design and construction materials of all parking and truck-loading areas, showing access and egress.
Provisions for pedestrian access.
Location of any outdoor storage, loading areas, and/or dumpsters.
Location, design and construction materials of all existing or proposed site improvements, including drains, culverts, retaining walls and fences.
Description of the method of sewage disposal and location, design and construction materials of such facilities.
Description of the method of securing public water and the location, design and construction materials of such facilities.
Location of fire and other emergency zones, including the location of fire hydrants.
Location, design and construction materials of all energy distribution facilities, including electrical, gas and solar energy.
Location, size and design and construction materials of all proposed signs.
Location and proposed development of all buffer areas, including existing vegetative cover.
Location and design of outdoor lighting facilities.
Designation of the amount of building area proposed for retail sales or similar commercial activity.
General landscaping plan and planting schedule.
Identification of adjoining uses, specifically historical structures or sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other elements to the proposed development as considered necessary by the Planning Board, including, within reason, engineering plans to illustrate grading plan, public or private utilities systems, sewer and water facilities, and such other supporting data as may be necessary, and identifications of any state or county permits required for the project's execution.
Additional requirements. In addition to the above, the Planning Board may require the applicant to submit additional information to aid in rendering a decision. Additional information may include, but is not limited to:
Traffic study to show impact of project on existing traffic patterns.
On-site testing for water quantity and/or quality.
Study to review the potential for air pollution when a use is identified as releasing possible pollutants.
Study to indicate the project's impact on groundwater and adjacent watercourses in regard to increased water runoff and/or release of effluent to a nearby stream.
Project's impact on existing public services such as ambulance services, fire service, hospitals, utilities and schools.
Appropriate environmental assessment form.
§ 201-76 Planning Board review.
General considerations. The Planning Board's review shall include, as appropriate but not limited to, the following:
Adequacy and arrangement of vehicular traffic access and circulation, including intersections, road widths, pavement surfaces, dividers and traffic controls.
Adequacy and arrangement of pedestrian traffic access and circulation, walkway structures, control of intersections with vehicular traffic and overall pedestrian convenience.
Location, arrangements, appearance and sufficiency of off-street parking and loading.
Location, arrangement, size, design and general site compatibility of buildings as required in § 201-51, Design standards.
Adequacy of stormwater and drainage facilities.
Adequacy of water supply and sewage disposal facilities.
Adequacy, type and arrangement of trees, shrubs and other landscaping constituting a visual and/or noise buffer between the applicant's and adjoining lands, including the maximum retention of existing vegetation as required in § 201-52, Landscaping and buffering.
In the case of an apartment complex or other multiple dwelling, the adequacy of usable open space for play areas and informal recreation.
Protection of adjacent or neighboring properties against noise, glare, unsightliness or other objectionable features.
Adequacy of fire lanes and other emergency zones and the provisions of fire hydrants.
Special attention to the adequacy of structures, roadways and landscaping in areas with susceptibility to ponding, flooding and/or erosion.
Adequacy of protection for and compatibility with any adjacent historic resources as identified by the Town of Coxsackie and the New York State and Federal Registers of Historic Places.
Consultant review. The Planning Board may consult with the Building Inspector/Code Officer, fire commissioners, Conservation Council, Highway Superintendent, other local and county officials, and its designated private consultants, in addition to representatives of federal and state agencies, including but not limited to the Soil Conservation Service, the State Department of Transportation and the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The cost of private consultants retained to assist in the review of applications, excluding the cost of an environmental impact statement, up to 1% of the final proposed cost of the project under consideration, shall be charged to the applicant.
Public hearing. The Planning Board shall conduct a public hearing on the site plan. Such public hearing shall be conducted within 62 days of the receipt of the application for site plan approval and shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at least five days before the public hearing. The Planning Board shall mail notice of said hearing to the applicant at least 10 days before said hearing.
If review by the Greene County Planning Board is required under General Municipal Law § 239-m, the Planning Board shall mail notice of the hearing to the Greene County Planning Board at least 10 calendar days before the hearing.
§ 201-77 Planning Board action.
Within 62 days of the receipt of an application for site plan approval (including required information indicated in § 201-75), the Planning Board shall render a decision. In the event that a public hearing is held, the Planning Board shall render a decision within 62 days of the public hearing.
Approval. Upon approval of the site plan and payment of all fees and reimbursable costs due to the Town, the Planning Board shall endorse its approval on a copy of the site plan and shall forward such copy to the Building Inspector/Code Officer.
Approval with modification. Upon approval of the site plan, with modifications enumerated by the Planning Board on an accompanying resolution, and payment of all fees and reimbursable costs due to the Town, the Planning Board shall endorse its approval on a copy of the site plan and shall forward such copy to the Building Inspector/Code Officer.
Disapproval. Upon disapproval of the site plan, the Planning Board shall so inform the Building Inspector/Code Officer, and the Building Inspector/Code Officer shall deny a building permit to the applicant. The Planning Board shall also notify the applicant, in writing, of its decision and the reasons for its disapproval.
§ 201-78 Certification of occupancy; inspection.
Issuance. A certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Building Inspector/Code Officer within 10 days after all improvements shown on the site plan are installed or a sufficient performance guarantee has been posted for improvements not yet completed. The sufficiency of such performance guarantee shall be determined by the Planning Board after consultation with the Building Inspector/Code Officer, Public Works Commissioner or other competent persons.
Inspection of improvements. The Building Inspector/Code Officer shall be responsible for the overall inspection of site improvements, including coordination with the Commissioner of Public Works and other officials and agencies, as appropriate.