Dansville City Zoning Code
ARTICLE III
Board of Appeals
§ 301 Creation; appointment; organization.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A Board of Appeals is hereby created. Said Board shall consist of five members. The Mayor shall appoint the Board of Appeals and the Chairperson thereof, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees and, in the absence of a Chairperson, the Board of Appeals may designate a member to serve as acting Chairperson. No person who is a member of the Village Board shall be eligible for membership on such Board of Appeals. Of the members of the Board, first appointed, one shall hold office for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, one for the term of four years and one for the term of five years from and after his or her appointment. At the expiration of each original member’s appointment, the replacement member shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees. The successors shall be appointed for the five years from and after the expiration of the terms of their predecessors in office. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expired term, it shall be filled by the Village Board by appointment for the unexpired term.
§ 302 Powers and duties.
[Amended 3-12-1985 by L.L. No. 4-1985; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The Board of Appeals shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by §§ 7-712, 7-712-a, and 7-712-b of the Village Law of the State of New York and by this chapter which are more particularly specified as follows:
A.
To hear and to decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official in the administration or enforcement of this chapter.
B.
To authorize upon appeal in specific cases such variance from the specific terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest, when owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this chapter will result in unnecessary hardship, provided that the spirit of the chapter shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done as hereinafter provided.
C.
To hear and decide applications for interpretation of the Zoning District Map where there is any uncertainty as to the location of a district boundary.
D.
To hear and decide upon applications for such permits as specified in this chapter.
E.
No such variance shall be authorized by the Board unless it finds that:
(1)
The strict application of this chapter shall produce undue hardship.
(2)
Such hardship is not shared generally by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity and is not self-imposed.
(3)
The authorization of such variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and that the character of the district will not be changed by granting of the variance, the Board of Appeals shall prescribe any condition that it deems to be necessary or desirable.
F.
The variance granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals shall expire after one year if substantial construction or change has not taken place in accordance with the plans for which variance was granted.
§ 303 Procedures.
[Amended 3-12-1985 by L.L. No. 4-1985; 3-14-1995 by L.L. No 1-1995]
The Board of Appeals shall act in strict accordance with the procedure specified by law and by this chapter. All appeals and applications made to the Board shall be in writing, on forms prescribed by the Board, and available from the Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer. Every appeal or application shall refer to the specific provision of the law involved and shall exactly set forth the interpretation that is claimed, the use for which the special use permit is sought, or the details of the variance that is applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the variance should be granted as the case may be.
A.
All applications for appeals shall be filed with the Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer and Village Clerk-Treasurer within 60 days of the date of denial of a permit by the Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer.
B.
All applications shall be forwarded by the Village Clerk-Treasurer to the Secretary and members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
C.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall review each application - and following such review shall either schedule a public hearing within the time frame required by New York State law to return the application to the applicant, should the application lack the necessary information required by law, or needed by the Zoning Board of Appeals in order to conduct an appropriate review.
D.
Subsequent to the scheduling of a public hearing, the application for appeals shall be forwarded to the Town-Village Planning Board, and the Livingston County Planning Board when appropriate, for its review of the site plan and investigation related to any particular question raised by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
E.
Within 30 days of receipt of the request for review the Planning Board shall file the results of its review with the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Appeals. It shall include the results of its site plan review, any other information requested by the Zoning Board of Appeals, and when appropriate, any information that the Planning Board may need to assist the Zoning Board of Appeals in its review of the application. It shall not include any recommendations relating to the granting or denial of the application for appeal.
F.
Following the public hearing, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall render its decision within the time frame required under New York State law.
G.
Within five days of rendering a decision, the decision shall be forwarded, in writing, to the Village Clerk-Treasurer, who forwards the decision, in writing, to the applicant.
H.
Should the appeal be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals, a permit shall be issued by the Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer 31 days following the filing of the decision with the Village Clerk-Treasurer.
§ 304 Board of Appeals office.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The office of the Village Clerk-Treasurer shall be the office of the Board of Appeals, and every rule, regulation, amendment, or repeal thereof and every order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall within five business days be filed in said office as required by § 7-712-a of the Village Law of the State of New York.
§ 305 Notice of Board hearing.
The Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of appeals and shall give due notice of the time set for the hearing to the applicant. Such notice shall be served upon the applicant. Public notice shall be the publication of a notice in the official newspaper of the Village and shall briefly describe the nature of the appeal and the time and place of the hearing. The applicant shall, at least seven days prior to the date of the hearing, give notice in writing by registered mail or by service in person, with adequate proof of contact thereof to all property owners within 200 feet of the property to be affected by said appeal or to all property owners of contiguous land or properties adjoining said property to be affected, and other interested property owners as may be designated by the Board of Appeals. The applicant must furnish proof of services in writing and properly notarized.
§ 306 Alternate members.
[Added 12-8-1987 by L.L. No. 6-1987]
A.
This section is amending this chapter to expand the membership of the Zoning Board of Appeals to add two alternate members to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
B.
The alternate members will be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of the Village Board of Trustees, for a one-year appointment made at the annual organizational meeting.
C.
The alternate member would serve in the event, for whatever reason, that one or more regular members are either absent or unable to fulfill their duties.
D.
The alternate member may attend all meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals, but would be voting and participating members only in the event of the absence of any regular member of such Board.
E.
Upon designation by the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the alternate will also, in the event of a leave of absence, for whatever reasons, of a regular member, have all the rights and duties of that member for the period of that leave or unavailability.
F.
The alternate member will not participate in an official capacity in any Board activity in which all members are in attendance, regardless as to whether a regular member disqualifies oneself for any reason.