Hamburg Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE LII
Pre-Permitted Site Incentive
[Added 9-12-2011 by L.L. No. 10-2011]
§ 280-360 Purpose and intent
The purpose and intent of these provisions are to offer the incentive of a pre-permitted site incentive designation to applicants who propose to create an industrial/business park in the appropriate areas of the Town of Hamburg. The pre-permitted site incentive status, as achieved through this specific process, will allow future proposed projects within an industrial/business park to proceed directly to the Town for site and building permits. This incentive will enable the Town to achieve its goals for targeted growth patterns, economic benefits and providing the creation of critical jobs for the region.
§ 280-361 Districts designated for incentives; amendment of Zoning Map.
All lands zoned for industrial use are designated as eligible for this zoning incentive. Once this designation is achieved, the Town of Hamburg Zoning Map will be amended, and the site receiving the designation will be identified on the map with a "P" after the zoning district category to indicate that the site has pre-permitted site incentive status.
§ 280-362 Criteria and procedure for approval.
To receive designation as a pre-permitted site, an applicant must meet the following requirements:
General requirements.
The project must be a proposed multiuse industrial/business park.
The applicant must follow the processes identified in this article. In general, this includes the SEQR EIS process and the required process to designate the site as pre-permitted.
The project site must be located in an existing industrial zoning district, or if a rezoning is required, the project must be in accordance with the goals and recommendations of the Town of Hamburg Comprehensive Plan.
The project must go through the state environmental quality review (SEQR) process, requiring the preparation of a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) or a supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS), and must be issued a positive findings at the end of this review process. This GEIS requirement is not a pre-judgment of the project's potential environmental impacts; it is, though, a requirement of receiving this incentive.
The GEIS or SGEIS must include or be based on exemplar or prototypical site plan(s), illustrating potential project design and layout.
The process will include the Planning Board and the Hamburg Industrial Development Agency in the review of the proposed incentive zoning. It must receive recommendations from both for the pre-permitted designation.
The project will require approval from the Hamburg Town Board, essentially receiving a rezoning to this pre-permitted site designation.
Conceptual planning.
To initiate the process for obtaining pre-permitted site incentive designation, a pre-application meeting is required with the Town of Hamburg Planning Department. The purpose of this meeting is to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the proposed project to determine if it meets the general criteria and is acceptable for continued review.
If a proposed project is found to warrant continued review, an application for pre-permitted site incentive designation shall be submitted to the Town. As part of this application review process, the following information shall be submitted to the Town Building Department:
The pre-permitted site incentive concept application form;
A site location map;
Information on the existing zoning classification of the subject property and types of uses proposed for the site;
A sketch illustrating the size of the property and the approximate square footage of buildings that will be developed on the site;
A letter explaining how/why the proposed project is in conformance with the Town of Hamburg Comprehensive Plan and the anticipated economic benefits of the project; and
Appropriate fees.
The Town Building Department will distribute the application materials to the Planning Board and the Hamburg Industrial Development Agency for their review and comment at their next scheduled meeting date (meeting the deadline requirement to be placed on their agenda). Their comments will be submitted to the Town Board for its consideration.
The Town Board, after receiving these comments, shall review the project information and recommendations and make a determination, by resolution, as to whether or not to issue concept acceptance for the proposed project and allow the project to move forward through the process. This acceptance does not guarantee approval; it is just an authorization to move forward through the process described in Subsection C.
Approval process. After receiving concept acceptance to proceed, the following process shall be utilized to apply for and potentially receive pre-permitted site incentive approval for the proposed project. The process will be one of the two processes described in this section, depending on the type of project proposed.
Process 1: new project application.
The applicant shall submit the required application for pre-permitted site incentive designation, along with an application for site plan approval for a pre-permitted site (this is not a full site plan because future projects are not definitive at this time) for the proposed project to the Town Building Department. If a rezoning to industrial is also required for the project site, a rezoning application must also be submitted.
The Town Board shall act as SEQR lead agency for all projects requesting pre-permitted site incentive designation.
Once the Town Board is established as SEQR lead agency, a positive declaration will be issued to require the preparation of a GEIS. This is a requirement of the pre-permitted site incentive, not a prejudgment of the environmental impact of the project.
The Planning Board shall be an involved agency and will assist with the review and completion of the GEIS. They will be the major contributor on the review of the "exemplar" site plans and setting thresholds and conditions.
The GEIS will reflect not only the potential impacts of the project itself but the designation of the pre-permitted site incentive.
All required processes and steps for site plan review, rezoning and any other required approvals will be followed. The public hearing on the draft GEIS can also be the public hearing for the pre-permitted site incentive (which is essentially a rezoning of the site to this incentive zoning designation) and other public hearings as required for other approvals.
The draft GEIS and statement of findings will reflect the impacts of the pre-permitted site incentive designation and the potential impacts of the project itself. The draft GEIS will include exemplar and/or prototypical site plans and other information requested by the Town and other involved agencies to assist with the assessment of the proposed project.
If the proposed project receives positive SEQR findings the Town Board can proceed with making a formal decision on issuing the pre-permitted incentive designation. Once approved for this incentive, the Planning Board can act on approving the overall generic site plan layout for this project. With these approvals received, future development within the park would proceed to building and site permits in accordance with § 280-357 of this article.
Process 2: previously approved site (having previously completed an environmental impact statement):
The applicant shall submit a formal application for the pre-permitted site incentive designation to the Town Building Department.
The Town Board will be established or reestablished as lead agency under SEQR and, once established as lead agency, will issue a positive declaration requiring the preparation of a supplemental GEIS, which would be targeted on the environmental impacts of the pre-permitted site incentive designation (this is not a pre-judgment of the environmental impacts of this project but a requirement of this designation).
The Town Board shall follow the required process for a supplemental GEIS and will include the Planning Board as a SEQR interested agency.
The public hearing for the draft SGEIS can be combined with the public hearing for the pre-permitted site incentive designation and the public hearings for other required approvals.
The SGEIS and the statement of findings will reflect the impacts of the pre-permitted site incentive designation, through the evaluation of exemplar and/or prototypical site plans and other information requested by the Town and other involved/interested agencies to assist with the assessment of the proposed project.
§ 280-363 Effect of pre-permitted site incentive approval.
If the industrial/business park receives a pre-permitted site incentive designation, any project proposed on the site will follow the following process:
Engineering plans/site plans/subdivision plans will be submitted to the Planning and Engineering Departments (the format of these plans shall be in accordance with the Town requirements for site plan/subdivision review).
The Planning Department will review the plans for conformance with the SEQR statement of findings, any condition(s) placed on the pre-permitted site incentive approval by the Town Board, and zoning requirements.
The Engineering Department will review the plans for conformance with applicable Town standards.
If the Planning Department and Engineering Department find the project to be in conformance with the SEQR findings and Town standards, and other regulatory permits and approvals have been issued, the applicant can proceed with applications for site-clearing and building permits.
It is not necessary for the applicant to appear before the Town Board or Planning Board for any other approvals.
§ 280-364 Severability.
The provisions of this article are severable. If any section, subdivision or provision of this article shall be adjudged invalid, such invalidity shall apply only to the section, subdivision or provision adjudged invalid, and the rest of this article shall remain valid and effective.
§ 280-365 When effective.
This article shall be effective immediately upon its filing with the Office of the New York State Secretary of State.