East Hampton City Zoning Code

Application information.

Narrative information.

Geographic information.

Procedural rules. Every board may prescribe procedural rules not inconsistent herewith for the conduct of its own affairs, including for the processing of applications, the holding of public hearings, and other matters.

Substantive rules. Every board may by resolution formally adopt substantive rules not inconsistent with any provision of this chapter with regard to applications it is charged with processing and approvals it grants. Where any such rule is made a part of the Town Code by Town Board action, the penalty for a violation of the same shall be as prescribed therein. With regard to other formally adopted rules of boards not explicitly incorporated in the Code, an intentional violation of any such rule by a person with actual knowledge thereof shall constitute a violation of this chapter subject to the provisions of Article X hereof.

Open meetings. All meetings of boards involving matters which are the subject of this chapter shall be open to the public, unless the board shall resolve at such meeting to conduct an executive session for one or more of the purposes authorized in § 105 of the New York State Public Officers Law. Where this chapter incorporates provisions less restrictive with regard to public access than Article 7 of the Public Officers Law, then the provisions of this chapter shall control.

Form of decisions. Every final determination of a board with regard to an application brought before it under provisions of this chapter shall be by formal resolution and shall contain the findings of the board on which it is based.

Imposition of conditions. In making a determination to approve an application in whole or part, every board shall have the power to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions on its approval as are directly related and incidental to the application. Such conditions or restrictions shall be met in connection with the issuance of building permits or certificates of occupancy, or as otherwise specified by the board.

Personal wireless service facility decisions. All decisions resulting in approvals or denials by the Planning Board shall be in writing and supported by findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon competent substantial evidence in the record.

Receipt of application. When a board receives from the Building Inspector or from an individual applicant or from another agency, all as provided for in this chapter, an application for an approval over which the board has jurisdiction, it shall immediately stamp the application with the date of such receipt.

Review of applications and determination of completeness. The board shall review each application and determine within 10 days of the receipt thereof whether or not it is complete and ready for processing. No application shall be deemed to be complete and ready for processing unless and until the application is in compliance with this chapter and with the rules of the board regarding the contents of applications. If the application is deemed incomplete or defective for any reason, the applicant shall be promptly notified. Such notification shall include the reason(s) why the application cannot be processed and shall set forth with particularity any additional information which the board requires of the applicant in order to further process the application. The board shall not be required to take any further action on the application, including the scheduling of a public hearing if one is required, until all required forms, materials or information have been submitted. In any case in which the board requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement, the application shall not be deemed complete for the purposes of any provision of the Town Law or of this chapter imposing time limits upon board action until said environmental impact statement has been prepared, submitted and accepted by the board as complete.

SEQRA compliance. Every application for an approval, other than an application solely for Architectural Review Board approval, shall be subject to review pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and Chapter 75 of this Code, and each board when serving as lead agency shall comply with the procedures thereof. No determination shall be made to approve an application, with or without conditions, until either the board reviewing the same or the lead agency if different shall have issued a negative declaration thereon, pursuant to SEQRA or until such board or agency shall have issued a positive declaration and a draft environmental impact statement shall have been submitted and accepted as complete.

Method of making completeness determination. The board's determination of completeness in the preceding subsection shall be made only by resolution of the board; provided, however, that the duly adopted rules of a board may provide that this determination shall be delegated in certain or all cases to the board's presiding officer or to the Town Planning Department.

Setting of hearing; notice. Upon determining that an application is incomplete, the board reviewing the same shall fix a time and place for a public hearing thereon. The public hearing shall be held within 62 days following the board's determination that the application is complete, except that a public hearing on an application before the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be held within a reasonable time after the Board of Appeals has determined the application to be complete, as provided in Town Law § 267-a, Subdivision 7, and as permitted by the Town's municipal home rule powers (superseding Town Law § 274-b, Subdivision 6, to the extent necessary). The board reviewing an application shall provide for the giving of notice at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing as follows:

Exceptions. The provisions of Subsection A hereof shall not apply in the following circumstances, to the extent described herein:

Conduct of hearings. Hearings shall be conducted in a fair and open fashion and in accordance with § 101 et seq. of the New York Public Officers Law. Procedures regarding the taking of testimony, swearing in of witnesses, cross-examination and the like shall be as prescribed in the rules of the particular board.

False statements. False statements, misrepresentation or mistake of material fact in the application, supporting papers or supporting testimony.

Noncompliance with permit. Failure of the applicant permittee to comply with any conditions or terms of the approval.

Activity beyond permit. Exceeding the scope of the activity use or project as the same was described in the application.

Violation of other local rules. Willful or continuing noncompliance by the applicant with any provision of the Town Code, or local agency regulations adopted thereunder, directly related to the approved activity, use or project.

Fees generally. The fees presently charged by the Town for applications for special permits, site plan approvals, architectural and design reviews and variances and for engineering reviews connected with the same are hereby continued. From time to time, the Town Board may by resolution amend one or more of the above fees or institute new fees for other reviews, permits or approvals required of local agencies under this chapter. The Building Inspector shall maintain a current schedule of all such fees and shall make the same available to any member of the public wishing to obtain a copy of the same.

Authority of Town Board. In amending by resolution one or more of the fees referred to in the preceding subsection, or in instituting by resolution new fees as authorized by the preceding subsection, the Town Board may also by resolution do the following:

Completeness of applications. Unless the Town Board has, by resolution, specifically directed that a particular fee be collected only after a local agency approval, no application for a review, permit or approval required under this chapter shall be deemed complete for the purpose of scheduling a public hearing or for the purpose of approval by the local agency reviewing the same until and unless all fees required of such application have been remitted to and collected by the Town. Should the foregoing provision be deemed in any way inconsistent with the timing requirements of § 267 (effective until July 1,1992), § 267-a (effective July 1, 1992) or § 274-a of the New York Town Law, those Town Law provisions are hereby superseded to the extent that they might be construed to require local agency action before the remittance of proper fees.

Validity of approvals; nonwaivability of fees. The failure of the Town or any local agency to collect a fee required under this section shall not be deemed to invalidate an approval issued or granted by the local agency, unless the local agency conditioned its approval upon remittance of the fee and it is not remitted. However, the failure of the Town or any local agency to collect a fee required under this section before the local agency approves an application shall not constitute a waiver of the Town's right to collect said fee.

Fees for personal wireless service facility applications.

Method. This chapter, including the use and dimensional tables of Article XI and the Use District Map of Article XII hereof, may be amended only by local law duly enacted by the Town Board. See generally New York Town Law §§ 264 and 265 and New York Municipal Home Rule Law § 20. Any amendment of the Use District Map of Article XIII hereof shall be adopted only after compliance with the notification provisions set forth in Subsection G hereof.

Petition to amend Use District Map (rezone property). All private petitions to amend the Use District Map shall be submitted to the Town Board in the form prescribed by the Town Board. No fee shall be charged for such petitions.

Referral to Planning Board. Every proposed amendment or change to this chapter, however initiated, shall be referred to the Planning Board for a written recommendation. Such referral shall be made prior to any public hearing which the Town Board may hold on the proposed change and shall be made with sufficient time to allow the Planning Board to consider the proposed change at a regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting and to forward its recommendation to the Town Board prior to the date of any Town Board hearing. If the referral required hereunder is timely made, the Planning Board's failure to make or to forward a written recommendation regarding the proposed change shall not prevent the Town Board from acting upon the proposal.

Hearing. No amendment of this chapter other than to the Use District Map may be made, except after a public hearing held upon at least 10 days' notice. No amendment of this chapter to amend the Use District Map shall be made, except after a public hearing held upon at least 30 days' notice to effected property owners, as provided for in Subsection G hereof.

Referral to Suffolk County Planning Commission and Suffolk County Pine Barrens Review Commission. All proposed amendments of this chapter which must by law be referred to the Suffolk County Planning Commission or the Suffolk County Pine Barrens Review Commission shall be so referred in accordance with the provisions of § 239-m of the New York General Municipal Law, §§ C37-4 and C37-5 of Article XXXVI of the Suffolk County Charter, and §§ A14-14 through A14-21 of Article XIV of the Suffolk County Administrative Code, as the same may be from time to time amended. With regard to such proposed amendments of this chapter, the Town Board shall not act on a proposed amendment until it has received the report of the County Planning Commission, provided that such report is received within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt by the Planning Commission of a complete referral.

Notice to other agencies. Pursuant to § 264 of the Town Law, where a proposed amendment would affect property lying within 500 feet of the lands enumerated below, notice of the amendment shall be served personally or by mail upon the representatives specified below, at least 10 days in advance of the public hearing:

Use District Map amendments - notice to property owners. Where an amendment to the Use District Map of Article XII of this chapter is proposed, the Town Clerk shall serve, upon all property owners whose zoning classification on said Map is proposed to be amended, a notice, which notice shall be delivered personally or by mail addressed to the last owner of record of such property at the address set forth in the current official tax roll of the Town of East Hampton, which notice shall be served at least 30 days prior to the date set for the public hearing to consider the proposed amendments(s). Said notice shall contain a description of the proposed change, including the existing zoning and the proposed change(s) together with a map depicting the properties whose zoning classification will be amended with the proposed changes noted thereon, and such notice shall set forth the date and time of the public hearing and shall advise the property owners that they may appear at the time of the hearing, in person or by agent, or may submit written comments on the same, which comments shall be delivered to the Town Clerk and must be received prior to the date and time set forth for such public hearing.

Effective date; publication not required. Any amendment of this chapter shall take effect as provided under the Municipal Home Rule Law. To the extent that certain provisions of §§ 264 and 265 of the New York Town Law may be construed to require that, after the adoption of an amendment, the amendment or an abstract or summary thereof be published in a newspaper designated by the Town and that an affidavit of publication be filed with the Town Clerk, those provisions of Town Law §§ 264 and 265 are superseded pursuant to the Town's powers under Article 9, § 2(b)(3) of the New York State Constitution; § 10, Subdivision 6, of the Statute of Local Governments; and § 10, Subdivision 1(ii)a(3), (11) and (14), of the Municipal Home Rule Law.

Purpose. As was formerly stated in Chapter 16 of this Town Code (repealed simultaneously with the adoption of this section), the health, safety and welfare of the community cannot be adequately protected by the Town Board unless it can speedily effect changes of land use regulations when the need for such action is clearly shown. The supermajority vote provisions of § 265 of the Town Law have in the past proven to be detrimental to the Town by impairing the Town Board's ability to speedily enact needed changes in the Town's zoning and land use regulations, even when such changes have been desired by the overwhelming majority of Town residents and by a majority of their elected representatives, with the result that sound planning has been undermined and the will of the electorate thwarted. For this reason, the Town Board on January 13, 1984, enacted Local Law No. 3-1984, which employed the powers granted the Town in the State Constitution, Statute of Local Governments and Municipal Home Rule Law to remedy this situation and supersede the pertinent provisions of Town Law § 265, as they then existed. It is the intent of this section to continue such supersession power in respect to changes or amendments of this chapter.

Supermajority vote of Town Board not required. The Town Board may amend this chapter and may adopt, amend, change, modify or repeal any land use regulation, restriction, zoning (use) district classification or zoning district boundary contained herein or to be included herein by adoption of a local law as set forth in § 255-9-30 hereof, and such local law shall be deemed to have been approved and adopted by a favorable vote of a simple majority of the entire Town Board and shall then take full force and effect as provided for in the laws of the State of New York, regardless of whether or not the amendment, change, modification or other action has been the subject of a written protest presented to the Town and signed by:

Town Law superseded. This section shall be deemed to supersede and amend, in its application to the Town of East Hampton, those portions of Subdivision 1 of Town Law § 265 which require an affirmative vote of 3/4 of the members of the Town Board to adopt a change or amendment to this chapter which change or amendment is the subject of a protest petition as set forth in said Subdivision 1 of Town Law § 265. Such supersession is accomplished pursuant to the Town's powers under Article 9, § 2(b)(3), of the New York State Constitution; § 10, Subdivision 6, of the Statute of Local Governments; and § 10, Subdivision 1(ii)a(3), (11) and (14), of the Municipal Home Rule Law.

Completion of buildings or structures for which building permits have been issued. Where a lawful building permit has been granted for the construction, reconstruction, alteration or moving of any building or structure, and said permit has not expired, no amendment to any provision of this chapter shall be deemed to require any change in the plans, construction or use of such building or structure, provided that:

Development of approved subdivision plats. Plats which have been duly approved and properly filed with the office of the Clerk of Suffolk County shall be exempt from amendments to this chapter which increase minimum lot areas or dimensions for the time period provided for in § 265-a of the Town Law. All other subdivisions shall not be so exempt.