Hyde Park City Zoning Code
§ 108-36.3
Professional review expenses.
A.
Escrow. In connection with any application for a special permit, site plan approval, subdivision approval, zoning amendment, other local law change, planned unit development, use variance, area variance, interpretation, or other land use application or appeal, the reviewing board may, in addition to the requirements of §§ 108-36.1 and 108-36.2 relating to SEQRA and inspections, require an applicant to deposit an initial sum of money into an escrow account in advance of the review of the application. Said sum shall be based on the estimated cost to the Town of professional review of the particular type of application before it. The reviewing board may consider the professional review expenses incurred by neighboring municipalities in reviewing similar applications. The reviewing board may also consider available surveys of professional review expenses in determining the initial sum of money to be deposited in an escrow account by the applicant. For the purpose of this section, professional review services shall be defined as, but not limited to, those services provided by engineers, lawyers, architects, landscape designers, certified surveyors, property appraisers, planners and related professionals.
B.
Said escrow shall be used to pay the reasonable and necessary costs of a proper and thorough professional review of the application. The review expenses provided for herein are in addition to application or administrative fees required pursuant to other provisions of this chapter and the Town Code. Money deposited by applicants pursuant to this section shall not be used to offset the Town's general expenses of professional services for the several boards of the Town or its general administrative expenses. The review and escrow requirements governed by this section shall include environmental review pursuant to SEQRA and the provisions of § 108-36.1.
C.
The initial deposit by the applicant shall be in the amount set forth in the current schedule of fees adopted by the Town Board. The applicant shall be required to deliver said amount, or such other amount as is determined appropriate by the reviewing board, to the Town Supervisor for deposit in a Town of Hyde Park non-interest-bearing escrow account maintained by the Town of Hyde Park for custody of funds collected pursuant to this section. Said escrow deposit must be paid prior to the first appearance before any board.
D.
In the event that the previously established escrow fees are insufficient to pay for the necessary charges, then the Board before whom the applicant is appearing shall require additional payments to be made to the escrow fund, and until such payment is made by the applicant, the Board shall neither place said application on the agenda or review said application.
E.
Upon receipt and approval by the Town Board of itemized vouchers from consultants for services rendered on behalf of the Town regarding a particular application, the Town Supervisor shall cause such vouchers to be paid out of the monies so deposited, and shall debit the separate record of such account accordingly. The consultant shall make copies of such vouchers available on request to the applicant at the same time the vouchers are submitted to the Town.
F.
The Town Board shall review and audit all such vouchers and shall approve payment of only such consultant charges as are reasonable in amount and necessarily incurred by the Town in connection with the review and consideration of applications. A charge or part thereof is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable relationship to the average charge by consultants to the Town for services performed in connection with the review of a similar application. In auditing the vouchers, the Town Board may take into consideration the size, type and number of buildings to be constructed, the topography of the site at issue, environmental conditions at such site, the infrastructure proposed in the application and any special conditions the Town Board may deem relevant. A charge or part thereof is necessarily incurred if it was charged by the consultant for a service which was rendered in order to protect or promote the health, safety, or other vital interests of the residents of the Town, and protect public or private property from damage. In no event shall any applicant make direct payment to any Town consultant.
G.
If at any time during the processing of an application there shall be insufficient monies on hand to the credit of an applicant to pay the approved vouchers in full, or if it shall reasonably appear to the reviewing board that such monies will be insufficient to meet vouchers yet to be submitted, the reviewing board shall cause the applicant to deposit additional sums as the board deems necessary or advisable in order to meet such expenses or anticipated expenses.
H.
In the event the applicant fails to deposit the requested review fees into an escrow account, any application review, approval, permit or certificates of occupancy shall be withheld or suspended by the reviewing board, officer or employee of the Town until such monies are deposited. There will be no conditional approvals given on the basis of future payments to be made. Payment in full must be made prior to the granting of preliminary and final approval. Any costs incurred by the Town for professional services in processing a certificate of occupancy shall be recovered as a fee before said certificate shall be issued. No application to the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals shall be accepted, nor shall any building permit or certificate of occupancy be issued, if said applicant has outstanding any fees due the Town from any previous applications.
I.
The Town Board, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals, as applicable, shall not make any final determination in a matter pending before it until all applicable fees and reimbursable costs imposed by the reviewing board on the applicant under authority of this section have been paid to the Town Supervisor with reasonable written proof of such payment delivered to the Chairman or Secretary of the reviewing board.
J.
Upon completion of the review of an application or upon the withdrawal of an application, and after all fees already incurred by the Town have been paid and deducted from the escrow account, any balance remaining in the escrow account shall be refunded within 60 days after the applicant's request.
K.
This section shall not apply to area variance applications for one-family residential uses.
L.
In the event of an applicant's failure to reimburse to the Town funds expended to consultants for professional review fees as provided herein, the following remedies may apply:
(1)
The Town may seek recovery of billed and unreimbursed fees by bringing an action venued in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, and the applicant shall be responsible to pay the Town's reasonable attorney fees in prosecuting such action in addition to any judgment.
(2)
Alternatively, and at the sole discretion of the Town Board, an applicant's failure to reimburse the Town for professional review fees expended by the Town shall be collected by charging such sums against the real property that is subject to the permit application and by adding that charge to and making it a part of the next real property tax bill associated with the subject property. Such charges shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as general Town taxes and such fees shall be paid by the Receiver of Taxes to the Town Supervisor to be applied to the escrow fund from which the costs for consultants' fees are paid. Prior to incorporating such delinquent fees into the real property tax bill, the Town shall send written notice to the applicant's address as contained in the permit application and to the property owner, if other than the applicant, at the owner's address of record as contained in the current assessment roll. Such written notice shall be sent by the Town Supervisor by certified mail, return receipt requested. Such notice shall inform the owner and applicant of the delinquent amount of fees owed to the Town and shall set a date for the owner-applicant's objections to be heard by the Town Supervisor. Such notice shall be mailed or delivered no later than 10 calendar days from the hearing date set forth in the notice unless such time period is waived by the owner-applicant in writing. After the hearing, the Supervisor shall be empowered to correct any errors in the fees owed by the owner or applicant and to extend terms of payment and adequate security of the debt and enter into a written agreement with the owner or applicant to facilitate the payment in full of the fee.
M.
Determination of payment.
(1)
In the event of a rezoning of property or other local law by request of the owner, the Town Clerk shall determine from the Town Supervisor if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant prior to submitting such rezoning or other local law to the New York State Secretary of State. Such local law shall not be filed with the Secretary of State until such outstanding fees have been reimbursed to the Town or the Town Supervisor has entered into a written agreement with the applicant extending the time of payment of such fees.
(2)
In the event of a site plan approved by the Planning Board pursuant to § 274-a of the Town Law of New York State, the Planning Board Chairman shall determine from the Town Supervisor if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant or the Town Supervisor has entered into a written agreement with the applicant extending the time of payment of such fees prior to affixing his signature to the site plan. All such outstanding consultant fees billed to the applicant during the application process shall be paid in full to the Town prior to the Planning Board Chairman affixing his signature to the site plan.
(3)
In the event of a subdivision plat approved by the Planning Board pursuant to § 276 of the Town Law of New York State, the Planning Board Chairman shall determine from the Town Supervisor if all outstanding professional review fees have been paid by the applicant or the Town Supervisor has entered into a written agreement with the applicant extending the time of payment of such fees, prior to affixing his signature to the final plat.
N.
The Supervisor is empowered to delegate to the Planning Board Secretary, the Zoning Board of Appeals Secretary and the bookkeeper the functions of having custody of escrow account records.
O.
This section shall apply to all land use permit applications and requested local law changes pending before the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals when this section is filed with the Secretary of State. All professional review fees incurred by the Town thereafter shall be paid as provided herein.