Gloversville City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIII
Board of Appeals
§ 300-59 Board established; membership.
A Board of Appeals is hereby established in accordance with § C-47 of the Charter of the City of Gloversville. The Board of Appeals shall consist of five members. Vacancies for the unexpired term of any member shall be filled for such unexpired period only.
§ 300-60 Organization.
The Board of Appeals shall choose its own Chairman and an Acting Chairman to serve in his absence. The Board shall adopt rules of procedure governing the organization of the Board and the conduct of its meetings.
§ 300-61 Meetings.
Meetings of the Board shall be held as provided in rules of procedure adopted by the Board. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member on each question and shall keep records of its hearings and other official actions. If any member is absent or fails to vote, the minutes shall indicate such fact. The concurring vote of a majority of the total voting membership of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order or decision of the Building Inspector or to decide in favor of any applicant on any matter over which the Board has jurisdiction.
All hearings of the Board shall be open to the public, and the minutes of Board meetings and hearings shall be a public record. Every rule or regulation, amendment or repeal thereof, order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall be filed immediately with the Building Inspector and shall be a public record.
§ 300-62 Appeals.
An appeal from a determination of the Building Inspector may be taken by any aggrieved person or by an officer, department or board of the City of Gloversville. Such appeal shall be taken within 30 days of the date of the decision by filing with the Building Inspector a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof.
An appeal shall be made in writing on forms provided by the Board. The Building Inspector shall then transmit to the Board of Appeals all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
The Board of Appeals shall set a public hearing date within 30 days of its receipt of all of the information constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
The Board shall give public notice of a hearing in the official newspaper of the City at least 10 days before the hearing. In addition to the public notice of a hearing, notice shall be given by first-class mail to all property owners of land immediately adjacent extending 100 feet from or directly opposite thereto a property which is subject to a request before the Zoning Board of Appeals at least 10 days' prior to the hearing. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall give its decision within 60 days from the date of a hearing.
Referral to county. Any application for a use or area variance affecting real property within 500 feet of the City boundary; or the boundary of any existing or proposed county or state park or other recreational area; or the right-of-way of any existing or proposed county or state roadway; or the boundary of any existing or proposed right-of-way for a stream or drainage channel owned by the county for which the county has established channel lines; or the boundary of any existing or proposed county or state-owned land on which a public building or institution is situated; or the boundary of a farm operation located in an agricultural district as defined by article 25AA of the agriculture and markets law (except that this subparagraph shall not apply to area variances) shall be referred to the Fulton County Planning Department for an advisory review and report in accordance with General Municipal Law § 239-m.
Referral to adjacent municipality(s). The Board shall give notice to the clerk of the adjacent municipality at least 10 days before the hearing for any use variance on a property that is within 500 feet of an adjacent municipality in accordance with General Municipal Law § 239-m.
All actions taken by the Board shall comply with the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA") under Article 8 of the New York Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations.
§ 300-63 Powers and duties.
The Board of Appeals shall have the following powers and duties prescribed by statute and by this chapter:
Interpretation: on appeal from a determination of the Building Inspector, to hear and decide on questions where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Inspector involving the interpretation of any provision of the chapter.
Use variances.
The Board of Appeals, on appeal from a decision or determination of the Building Inspector, shall have the power to grant use variances authorizing a use of the land which otherwise would not be allowed or would be prohibited by the terms of this chapter. No such use variance shall be granted by the Board of Appeals without a showing by the applicant that applicable zoning regulations and restrictions have caused unnecessary hardship. In order to prove such unnecessary hardship, the applicant shall demonstrate to the Board of Appeals that:
Under these zoning regulations, the applicant is deprived of all economic use or benefit from the property in question which deprivation must be established by competent financial evidence.
The alleged hardship relating to the property in question is unique, and does not apply to a substantial portion of the district or neighborhood.
The requested use variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
The alleged hardship has not been self-created.
All applications for use variances that are made to the City of Gloversville Zoning Board of Appeals shall be sent to the City of Gloversville Planning Board for a recommendation prior to any Board of Appeals action.
Area variances.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the Building Inspector to grant area variances from the area or dimensional requirements of this chapter. In making this determination, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant. In making such determination, the Board shall also consider:
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby property will be created by the granting of the area variance.
Whether the benefits sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue other than an area variance.
Whether the requested area variance is substantial.
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district.
Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Board of Appeals but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of area variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
Imposition of conditions. The Board of Appeals shall, in the granting of both use and area variances, have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property, or the period of time such variance shall be in effect. Such conditions shall be consistent with the spirit and intent of this chapter and shall be imposed for the purpose of minimizing any adverse impact such variance may have on the neighborhood or community.
The Board may deny permits if the proposed use fails to meet the specified standards. All provisions of this chapter relating to the Board of Appeals shall be strictly construed, provided that none of the provisions shall be deemed to limit any power of the Board of Appeals conferred by statute.
§ 300-64 Decisions.
All decisions of the Board shall be in writing, and a copy of each decision shall be sent to the applicant and to the Building Inspector. The Board shall also retain in its files a copy of each decision, which files shall be available for inspection by the public. Each decision shall set forth fully the reasons for the decision of the Board and the findings of fact on which the decision was based. Such findings and reasons shall include references to the standards of appropriate subsections of § 300-63A(2) and (3), where the appeal is for a variance.