Liberty Village City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VII
Special Use and Site Plan Review Procedures
§ 87-57 Preliminary site plan.
An applicant for a special use permit or site plan approval may submit a preliminary site plan for review and advice by the Planning Board. Such a preliminary site plan should provide locations and dimensions of the proposed use in relation to the property boundaries and adjacent uses. It should also indicate all accesses and improvements, both existing and proposed, and any site features which could have a bearing on the project, including the general topography and existing ground cover. This preliminary plan shall be used by the Planning Board as a basis for advising the applicant regarding information it shall require on the site plan before it conducts a public hearing or takes any action with respect to the plan. The Planning Board shall give no approval or disapproval regarding any preliminary site plan but may use it to schedule a public hearing if sufficient data is available, determine if any provisions of this article should be waived or begin its review of the application under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
§ 87-58 Application and site plan required.
The Planning Board shall be under no obligation to schedule a public hearing or take any action with respect to a special use permit or site plan review application until formal application has been made on forms provided by the Board and a detailed site plan providing the following information has been submitted:
A.
The location of all existing watercourses, wooded areas, rights-of-way, roads, structures or any other significant man-made or natural feature, if such feature has an effect upon the use of said property.
B.
The location, use and floor or ground area of each proposed building, structure or any other land use, including sewage disposal and water supply systems.
C.
The location of all significant landscaping and ground cover features, both existing and proposed, including detailed planting plans and a visual depiction or rendering of the final appearance of the property after all landscaping and other physical improvements are completed.
D.
The location, dimensions and capacity of any proposed roads, off-street parking areas or loading berths, including typical cross sections for all paving or regrading involved.
E.
The location and treatment of proposed entrances and exits to public rights-of-way, including traffic signals, channelizations, acceleration and deceleration lanes, widenings or any other measure having an impact on traffic safety conditions.
F.
The location and identification of proposed open spaces, parks or other recreation areas.
G.
The location and design of buffer areas and screening devices to be maintained.
H.
The location of trails, walkways and all other areas proposed to be devoted to pedestrian use.
I.
The location of public and private utilities, including maintenance facilities.
J.
The specific locations of all signs existing and proposed, including a visual depiction of the latter.
K.
Preliminary architectural plans for the proposed buildings or structures, indicating typical floor plans, elevations, height and general design or architectural styling.
L.
A completed SEQR environmental assessment.
M.
Any other information required by the Planning Board which is clearly necessary to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this chapter and limited to such information.
§ 87-59 Waivers.
The Village of Liberty Planning Board shall, pursuant to the aforementioned Village Law, have the right to waive, when reasonable, any of the requirements of this article for the approval, approval with modifications or disapproval of special use permits and site plans submitted for approval. This waiver authority may be exercised in the event any such requirements are found not to be requisite in the interest of the public health, safety, or general welfare or are inappropriate to a particular site plan. Any such waiver shall be subject to the following conditions:
A.
No waiver shall result in allowing a use not permitted within the applicable Zoning District.
B.
No waiver shall be given with respect to standards outside the scope of this article which would otherwise require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
C.
Waivers shall be limited to those situations where the full application of the requirements contained herein would generate unnecessary data and create unnecessary costs with regard to deciding the matter at hand, due to the scope or nature of the project involved. The proposed enclosure of a deck or a simple change of use with no significant structural modifications in the case of a commercial property, for example, might not require typical cross sections for proposed regrading or water supply data.
D.
An applicant for a special use permit or site plan approval who desires to seek a waiver of certain of the above-referenced requirements pertaining to such applications shall submit a preliminary site plan as provided above. The Planning Board shall review the preliminary site plan, advise the applicant as to potential problems and concerns and determine if any additional site plan information is required. The Planning Board shall consider such site plan as adequate when, in its judgment, the information submitted is sufficient to make a determination of compliance with the development standards contained herein and the intent of site plan review criteria found below.
E.
Nothing herein shall authorize the Planning Board to waive state environmental quality review requirements.
§ 87-60 Hearing and decision.
[Amended 1-2-2025 by L.L. No. 1-2025]
"The Planning Board shall fix a time, within 62 days from the day an application for a special use permit or site plan approval is made, for the public hearing of any matter referred to under this section. The Planning Board shall give public notice of such hearing at least five days prior to it in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village. In addition, no less than two weeks before the public hearing, the applicant shall, at the applicant's sole cost and expense, provide written notice of the public hearing, by certified mail, to all property owners, any property line of whose real property is located within 300 feet of any property line of the tax map parcel upon which the site plan approval and/or special use permit approval is sought; such written notice shall set forth (a) the name of the applicant, (b) the street address and tax map parcel number of the property for which the site plan approval and/or special use permit is sought, (c) the relief sought by the applicant, and (d) the date, time and location of the public hearing. Proof of such certified mailing shall be provided to the Clerk of the Planning Board prior to or at the public hearing. The cost of the aforementioned publication relating to the site plan approval and/or special use permit approval shall be borne by the appealing party and shall be paid to the Board prior to the hearing of such application for site plan approval and/or special use permit approval. The Planning Board shall decide upon the application within 62 days after the close of such hearing, which period of time may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Planning Board. The Planning Board shall not, however, grant approval before a decision has been made with respect to environmental impacts pursuant to SEQR. The decision of the Planning Board shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk and a copy thereof mailed to the applicant within five business days after such decision is rendered. The failure of the Planning Board to have rendered a decision within the aforementioned 62-day period (as same may have been extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Planning Board) shall not be deemed or construed as a grant of the application.
§ 87-61 Conditions.
The Planning Board shall have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed special use permit or site plan. Upon approval of said permit and/or plan, any such conditions shall be met prior to the actual issuance of permits by the Village. These conditions may include requirements of the applicant to provide parkland or to provide fees in lieu thereof pursuant to § 7-725-a Subdivision 6, of the New York State Village Law. Conditions shall also include specified times for initiating and completing construction or establishment of the use, failure to meet such deadlines rendering the approval null and void with respect to any further activity unless later extended by the Planning Board.
§ 87-62 Referrals to other agencies or professionals.
The Planning Board is authorized to refer special use permit applications and site plans to other agencies, groups or professionals employed or used by the Village for review and comment and to charge the applicant fees for any reasonable expenses connected therewith. The Board shall, in particular, ensure that the requirements of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law regarding review by the Sullivan County Planning Department are met. It shall also comply with all requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.
§ 87-63 Appeals.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Planning Board or any officer, department, board or bureau of the Village may apply to the Supreme Court for review by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
§ 87-64 Effect of site plan approval.
The site plan as approved by the Planning Board shall be binding upon the applicant. Any changes from the approved plan shall require resubmission and reapproval by the Planning Board. The site plan shall remain effective, as an authorization to establish the use, for a maximum of one year from the date of approval unless the Planning Board shall have granted an extension in writing. Absent such an extension, the special use shall be deemed to have expired. A special use which has been discontinued for a period of one year or more shall also be deemed to have lapsed.
§ 87-65 Renewal of permits.
The Planning Board may require, at the time it is initially granted, that any special use approval be renewed periodically. Such renewal shall be granted following public notice and hearing and may be withheld only upon a determination that the conditions attached to any previous approval have not been met. A period of 62 days shall be granted the applicant in such cases to make remedies and bring the use into full compliance with the terms of the special use approval. Should the applicant fail to make such remedies, the special use approval shall be revoked and the use immediately discontinued.
§ 87-66 Special use and site plan review criteria.
The Planning Board, in reviewing the site plan, shall consider its conformity to the Joint Liberty Comprehensive Plan and the various other plans, laws and ordinances of the Village. Conservation features, aesthetics, landscaping and impact on surrounding development as well as on the entire Village shall also be part of the Planning Board review. The Board, in acting upon a site plan connected with a special use, shall also be approving, approving with modifications or disapproving the special use permit application connected therewith. Traffic flow, circulation and parking shall be reviewed to ensure the safety of the public and of the users of the facility and to ensure that there is no unreasonable interference with traffic on surrounding streets. The Board shall further consider the following:
A.
Building design and location. Building design and location should be suitable for the use intended and compatible with natural and man-made surroundings. New buildings, for example, should generally be placed along the edges and not in the middle of open fields. They should also be sited so as not to protrude above treetops or the ridgelines of hills seen from public places and busy highways. Building color, materials and design should be adapted to surroundings as opposed to adaptation of the site to the building or the building to an arbitrary national franchise concept.
B.
Large commercial buildings. Commercial facades of more than 100 feet in length should incorporate recesses and projections, such as windows, awnings and arcades, along 20% of the facade length. Variations in rooflines should be added to reduce the massive scale of these structures and add interest. All facades of such a building that are visible from adjoining streets or properties should exhibit features comparable in character to the front so as to better integrate with the community. Where such facades face adjacent residential uses, earthen berms planted with evergreen trees should be provided. Loading docks and accessory facilities should be incorporated in the building design and screened with materials comparable in quality to the principal structure. Sidewalks should be provided along the full length of any facade with a customer entrance and integrated into a system of internal landscape-defined pedestrian walkways breaking up all parking areas.
C.
Lighting and signage. Improvements made to the property should not detract from the character of the neighborhood by producing excessive lighting or unnecessary sign proliferation. Recessed lighting and landscaped ground signs are preferred. Signs are governed by Chapter 70 of the Village of Liberty Code.
D.
Parking and accessory buildings. Parking areas should be placed in the rear whenever possible and provide for connections with adjoining lots. Accessory buildings should also be located in the rear, with access from rear alleys. If placement in the rear is not possible, parking lots should be located to the side with screening from the street.
E.
Drainage systems. Storm drainage, flooding and erosion and sedimentation controls should be employed to prevent encroachment upon or injury to persons, water damage to property and siltation to streams, wetlands and other water bodies. All applications shall provide for stormwater management and erosion control measures, as may be required by the Planning Board, regardless of the applicability of New York State law in this regard.
F.
Driveway and road construction. Whenever feasible, existing roads onto or across properties should be retained and reused instead of building new, so as to maximize the use of present features such as stone walls and tree borders and avoid unnecessary destruction of landscape and tree canopy. Developers building new driveways or roads through wooded areas should reduce removal of tree canopy by restricting clearing and pavement width to the minimum required for safely accommodating anticipated traffic flows.
G.
Construction on slopes. The crossing of steep slopes with roads and driveways should be minimized, and building which does take place on slopes should be multistoried with entrances at different levels as opposed to regrading the site flat.
H.
Tree borders. New driveways onto principal thoroughfares should be minimized for both traffic safety and aesthetic purposes, and interior access drives which preserve tree borders along highways should be used as an alternative. Developers who preserve tree borders should be permitted to recover density on the interior of their property through use of clustering.
I.
Development at intersections. Building sites at prominent intersections of new developments should be reserved for equally prominent buildings or features which will appropriately terminate the street vistas. All street corners should be defined with buildings, trees or sidewalks.
J.
Streets and sidewalks. Cul-de-sac and dead-end streets should be discouraged in favor of roads and drives which connect to existing streets on both ends. Streets within residentially developed areas should be accompanied by on-street parking and a sidewalk on at least one side of the street. Sidewalks should also be provided in connection with new commercial development adjacent to residential areas, and pedestrian access should be encouraged.
K.
Setbacks. New buildings on a street should conform to the dominant setback line and be aligned parallel to the street so as to create a defined edge to the public space.
L.
Adjacent properties. The proposed use should not have a detrimental impact on adjacent properties or the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Village of Liberty.
M.
Conditioned approval. If the proposed use is one judged to present detrimental impacts with respect to noise, lighting, surface runoff, emissions or other similar factors, the Planning Board shall determine whether an approval could be conditioned in such a manner as to eliminate or substantially reduce those impacts.
N.
Community impacts. The Planning Board shall, in the case of special use applications only, consider and make a finding as to whether the use will have a positive or negative effect on the environment, job creation, the economy, housing availability or open space preservation. The granting of an approval should not cause an undue economic burden on community facilities or services, including but not limited to highways, sewage treatment facilities, water supplies and fire-fighting capabilities. The applicant shall be responsible for providing such improvements or additional services as may be required to adequately serve the proposed use, and any approval shall be so conditioned. The Village shall be authorized to demand fees in support of such services where they cannot be directly provided by the applicant. This shall specifically apply, but not be limited to, additional fees to support fire district expenses.
O.
Outstanding violations. Neither the Code Enforcement Officer nor the Planning Board shall be under any obligation to process a special use or site plan review application for a property with outstanding violations of this chapter.
P.
Professional fees. Applicants for special use approval or site plan review shall pay all professional costs incurred by the Village of Liberty in the processing and/or review of any such applications. These fees shall be governed by a schedule of uniform fees, charges and expenses adopted by the Village Board.