Generally. It shall be the duty of the Director of the Building Department (DBD) to enforce this chapter. He or she shall have the powers of a peace officer of the City, and in the discharge of his or her duties shall have authority, at any reasonable hour, to enter any premises, building or structure under construction or alteration. For the purpose of identification he or she shall adopt a badge of office which he or she shall display on demand, provided that in any emergency any other method of identification shall be sufficient. He or she may request and shall receive, insofar as it may be necessary in the discharge of his or her duties, the assistance and cooperation of all City officials.

Files, records. He or she shall maintain files of all applications for building permits and for certificates of occupancy and shall keep records of all building permits and certificates of occupancy issued by him or her, which files and records shall be open to public inspection. He or she shall keep a record of every identifiable complaint of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, and of the action taken consequent on such complaint, which records shall be public records.

Reports. He or she shall report to the City Council periodically, at intervals of not more than six months, summarizing for the period since his or her last previous report all building permits and certificates of occupancy issued by him or her and all complaints of violation and action taken by him or her consequent thereon. A copy of each such report shall be filed with the Planning Board at the same time it is filed with the City Council.

All applications for building permits under the jurisdiction of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code of the City of Glen Cove shall be accompanied by plans, drawn to scale, showing all floor plans and all elevations of the building to be built, altered or reconstructed. A plot plan showing all lot dimensions, and the exact location of the building or buildings thereon, including accessory buildings, shall also be furnished.

When the foundation for any such building or buildings shown on the filed plot plan has been constructed, and prior to further construction on said building, a certified survey showing the as-built location of said foundation or foundations shall be submitted to the Director of the Building Department for his or her approval as to conformity with this chapter and any other City ordinance, law, rule or regulation.

In addition, such other information as the DBD may require to provide for the proper enforcement of the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code and this chapter may be required. All such documents and plans shall be filed in duplicate. One such set of plans, when approved by the DBD, and documents shall be returned to the applicant, to be kept available on the premises at all times during the construction operation. The other set shall be kept on file in the City Hall, open for inspection by the public, for a period of 10 years, after which time all may be destroyed, except those pertaining to public buildings.

Except as provided in Subsection C of this section, the DBD shall take action on all applications for building permits within 10 days of their receipt. He or she shall withhold a permit for construction or alteration of any building, if such building as proposed to be constructed or altered would in his or her estimation be in violation of this chapter or of the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code.

No building permit shall be issued for any exterior alteration or renovation of a building within an officially designated urban renewal area, more particularly described in the boundary description filed in the office of the City Clerk, unless such building permit application shall be submitted to the Planning Board for its approval. The Board shall determine whether the issuance of the permit is within the objectives and purposes of the adopted urban renewal plan and this chapter. The Planning Board shall make its determination within 30 days from the first regular meeting of the Board following receipt of the application by the Secretary to the Planning Board unless the request is for a site plan or special permit approval, in which case the procedure in Article IV shall be followed. If the application is for a sign approval, the City of Glen Cove Sign Ordinance shall govern.[1]

No building permit and no certificate of occupancy shall be issued for the use or occupancy of any basement in a dwelling unit other than for the purposes of recreational use, laundry area, storage area, sanitary facility and/or utility room. Basement occupancy shall not include habitable space.

It shall be unlawful to use or permit the use of any building or premises, or part thereof hereafter created, erected or enlarged, or of any building or premises or part thereof hereafter changed or converted to a different use until a certificate of occupancy shall have been issued to the owner by the DBD. Such certificate shall show that such buildings or premises or parts thereof, and the proposed use thereof, are in conformity to the provisions of this chapter. A guaranteed survey showing location of buildings on the lot shall be prerequisite to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Prior to issuance of the certificate of occupancy for a dwelling unit, commercial building, industrial building or swimming pool approval in writing must be obtained from the City of Glen Cove Water Department for the installation of a water meter and backflow prevention valves. Such certificates of occupancy shall be applied for at the same time an application is filed for a building permit and shall be issued by the DBD within five days after a request for the same shall have been applied for by any owner, provided that the DBD finds after inspecting the premises that the building and the use of the building and the use of the premises comply with the provisions of this chapter. The fee for such certificate of occupancy shall be set forth from time to time by the City Council.[1] The DBD may issue a temporary certificate of occupancy which shall expire at the end of six months, and which shall not be renewable, for the use of a part of a building.

Upon written request by the owner, the DBD shall issue a certificate of occupancy use for any existing building or premises if, upon inspection, he or she finds that such building and the use thereof and the use of such premises conforms to the requirements of this chapter and all other applicable provisions of this Code, laws, rules and regulations. All such certificates of occupancy use shall be kept on file open to the public. The fee for the issuance of a certificate of occupancy use shall be as set forth from time to time by the City Council[2] and shall be payable to the City of Glen Cove. A guaranteed survey showing location of buildings on the lot shall be a prerequisite to the issuance of such certificate.

Except as set forth in Subsection B, on all applications to the City Council, Planning Board or the Board of Appeals under this chapter, the applicant shall be liable to the City and shall pay the following costs which may be incurred by the City in processing such application:

The requirements of Subsection A shall not apply to any application concerning a single- or two-family dwelling, except if such property is used for income-producing purposes, e.g., rental property.

All of the costs in Subsection A shall be consistent with the costs for the services then prevailing in the community. The costs for legal fees incurred in the processing of applications for land use applications as required by this section shall include and be supplemental to legal fees paid generally paid by the City to counsel for the City Council, the Planning Board or the Board of Appeals.

In addition to the payment of the fees required under this chapter, deposits shall be established and required to defray the actual costs and expenses listed in Subsection A for the following types of applications:

The deposit established in Subsection D shall be made in a non-interest-bearing trust account established by the City with a trustee or escrow agent designated by the City. The deposit shall in no way be construed as a limit on the applicant's liability for costs incurred under Subsection A, and, in the event the deposit required under Subsection D is reduced to an amount of 25% or less of the initial deposit, the applicant shall be required to replenish the deposit to the initial deposit amount. This shall be done as often as required until the conclusion of the application. In the event that the amount of the deposit shall exceed said cost at the conclusion of the application, the unused portion of the deposit shall be returned to the applicant, provided that the applicant shall, within six months thereof, file with the City a written demand for such refund. All unclaimed deposits shall be deemed to be abandoned property and treated as such under the laws of the State of New York.

No action shall be taken by any City board on any application subject to the requirements of this chapter unless and until all costs set forth in Subsection A shall have been paid in full. Any costs under Subsection A which remain unpaid more than 60 days after the date of mailing of a notice of deficiency sent to the applicant shall be added to the City real estate tax levy and shall become a lien against the property and the application shall be deemed abandoned. The applicant shall have an opportunity to be heard at a public hearing by the City Council, provided that such a hearing is requested by the applicant within 30 days of the mailing of the notice of deficiency.

A charge of $100 will added to any account owing to the City where a tendered payment of such account was by a check or other written order which is returned for insufficient funds.

In the event that any reimbursable cost or deposit established in this section creates an economic or other hardship, application may be made to the City Council, which is hereby authorized to modify such cost and/or deposit in its legislative discretion, after appropriate hearing.

The City Council, the Planning Board and the Board of Appeals are hereby authorized and empowered to adopt rules and regulations to implement the requirements of this section, including the form of a written deposit agreement for the deposits required by this section. The City Council, the Planning Board and the Board of Appeals shall also be authorized and empowered to establish from time to time the amounts required for deposits pursuant to this section based upon the experience of the City with respect to past-incurred expenses for similar matters before the City and in general conformity with requirements for reimbursement and deposits established by other municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, New York.