Manchester Village City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IV
Board of Appeals and Planning Board
§ 290-19 Creation, appointment and organization of Board of Appeals; rehearing procedure.
A Board of Appeals is hereby created. Said Board shall consist of five members and two alternates appointed by the Mayor, subject to approval by the Village Board, who shall also designate a Chairman and Vice Chairman. The alternate members shall serve at the request of the Chairman in case one or more of the five members shall be unable to serve because of conflict of interest, illness or other cause. The existing Board of Appeals shall be continued. No person who is a member of the Village Board shall be eligible for membership on such Board of Appeals. The terms of all members of the Board of Appeals, including alternate members, shall be five years. Any vacancies in the Board of Appeals shall be filled by appointment by the Village Board to complete the unexpired term.
[Amended 7-6-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Board of Appeals shall establish such rules and regulations as are required by state and local laws for the transaction of its business and may amend, modify and repeal the same from time to time.
Whenever the Board of Appeals, after hearing all the evidence presented upon an application for appeals under the provisions of this chapter, denies or rejects the same, said Board of Appeals shall refuse to hold further hearings on the same or substantially similar application for appeal by the same applicant, his successors or assigns for a period of one year, except and unless the Board of Appeals shall find and determine from the information supplied in the request for a rehearing that a change in conditions has occurred which relates to the promotion of public health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity and general welfare and that a reconsideration is justified. Such rehearing may be granted only upon the favorable vote of a majority of the Board of Appeals plus one.
§ 290-20 Powers and duties of Board of Appeals.
The Board of Appeals shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by Article 7 of the Village Law of the State of New York and by this chapter, which are more particularly specified as follows:
Administrative review.
The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative officer or body in the enforcement of this chapter.
The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision or determination as in its opinion ought to be made and, to that end, shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.
The Board of Appeals shall hear and decide on interpretive matters where the provisions of this chapter, including the determination of exact district boundaries, are not clear.
Variances.
The Board of Appeals is empowered to authorize, upon appeal, in specific cases, such variance from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of the action of the applicant, a literal enforcement of the provisions herein would result in unnecessary hardship (use variance) or practical difficulties (area variance).
As used herein, a variance may be authorized for height, area, size of structure, size of yards and open spaces or establishment or expansion of a use otherwise prohibited.
A variance shall not be granted solely because of the presence of nonconformities in the zoning district or uses in other zoning districts.
In granting any variance, the Board of Appeals shall prescribe any conditions that it deems to be necessary or desirable.
Variances granted shall be the minimum which would accomplish the purpose of providing for reasonable use of land or buildings.
Variances granted shall be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this chapter and shall not be injurious to the neighborhood or otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.
§ 290-21 Variance and appeals procedures.
Variance procedure.
The applicant may arrange an informal discussion with the Board of Appeals to determine any and all of the data to be included in the application.
All applications for variances shall be made in quadruplicate to the Code Enforcement Officer or designee on forms provided and shall be accompanied by plans and supporting documents and a completed SEQR Part 1, to sufficiently describe the proposal. The Board of Appeals may request additional information it deems necessary in order to act on the application.
The Code Enforcement Officer or designee, after determining that an application is in proper form, shall transmit copies of the application and all supporting documents to the Board of Appeals for action thereon.
All requests for a variance shall be referred to the Village Planning Board for its recommendations concurrent with the submission to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Planning Board shall have 62 days from the receipt of said variance application to provide the Board of Appeals with an advisory opinion on the application. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not act on the application for a period of 62 days, unless a reply is received from the Planning Board within the sixty-two-day period. Absence of a reply within said sixty-two-day period shall constitute an approval by the Planning Board.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
A copy of the complete variance application and supporting documents shall also be transmitted to the County Planning Board for review when required under Article 12-B, § 239-m, of the General Municipal Law and to neighboring municipalities when required under General Municipal Law § 239-nn.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of variances and shall give due notice of the time set for the hearing to the applicant. Public notice shall be made by the publication of a notice in the official newspaper of the Village. Said notice shall briefly describe the nature of the variance and the time and place of the hearing. The Board of Appeals or its designee shall, at least seven days prior to the date of the hearing, give written notice to all property owners within 500 feet of the property to be affected by said variance or to all property owners of contiguous land or properties adjoining said property.
The Village shall supply the applicant with one variance poster which shall be placed on the property for which a zoning variance is requested. Said poster shall be four feet wide by two feet high and be placed in a location which is easily read from a public street. The poster shall specify the date, time and place of the public hearing and a telephone number to call for more specific information. Such poster shall be placed on the site not less than seven days prior to the public hearing and shall be removed within five days following the hearing.
In its review, the Board of Appeals may consult with any Village, county and state officials or boards as well as the Village Attorney and Village Engineer.
The Board of Appeals shall approve, with or without conditions, or disapprove the application within the time limit specified in the Village Law and shall communicate its action, in writing, to the applicant, the Village Clerk, the Code Enforcement Officer or designee and other appropriate boards within one week of the time of the meeting at which it decided the application. When applicable, the Board of Appeals shall comply with the provisions of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law and to neighboring municipalities when required under General Municipal Law § 239-nn.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Village Clerk shall provide the Village Board and the Planning Board with a monthly report of the actions taken by the Board of Appeals.
The Code Enforcement Officer or designee shall, upon receipt of the notice of approval and upon application by the applicant, issue the appropriate permit or such other approval permitting the variance, subject to all conditions imposed by such approval.
Appeals procedure.
An appeal, specifying the grounds for the appeal, shall be filed with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the Board of Appeals. All appeals and applications shall be made to the Board of Appeals within 60 days of the date on which the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from was rendered and shall be on forms prescribed by the Board of Appeals.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the Village.
The concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such administrative official.
The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall, within 30 days of the filing of the appeal, transmit all papers constituting the record upon which the appeal is taken to the Board of Appeals.
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Board of Appeals, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record, on application, on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
If the Board of Appeals determines that a public hearing is necessary, the Board of Appeals shall fix a time for the hearing of the appeal and provide public notice of such hearing by publication in a paper of general circulation in the Village at least five days prior to the date thereof and decide the same within a reasonable length of time thereafter. At the time of the hearing, any party may appear in person, by agent or by attorney.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Board of Appeals shall render a decision on each appeal or administrative review within 62 days of the filing of the appeal, giving timely notice thereof as provided by state law. The time within which the Board of Appeals must render is decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Board.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
Filing of decision and notice. The decision of the Board of Appeals on the appeal shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk within five business days after the day such decision is rendered, and a copy thereof mailed to the applicant.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
§ 290-22 Board of Appeals office.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Office of the Village Clerk shall be the office of the Board of Appeals. Every rule, regulation, amendment or repeal thereof and every order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall within five business days be filed in said office as required by Article 7 of the Village Law of the State of New York. The Board of Appeals shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote, indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official action.
§ 290-23 Lapse of authorization.
Any variance or modification of regulations authorized by the Board of Appeals shall be automatically revoked unless a site plan permit or building permit, conforming to all the conditions and requirements established by the Board of Appeals, is obtained within six months of the date of approval by the Board of Appeals and construction commenced within one year of such date of approval.
§ 290-24 Violation of conditions or restrictions.
Failure to comply with any condition or restriction prescribed by the Board of Appeals in approving any appeal for a variance, or a modification of regulations, shall constitute a violation. Such violation may constitute the basis for revocation of a variance or modification or for imposing penalties and other applicable remedies.
§ 290-25 Creation, appointment and organization of Planning Board.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Village Law applicable thereto, the Village Board hereby creates a Planning Board. The existing Planning Board shall be continued.
The Planning Board shall consist of five members and two alternates, who shall serve at the request of the Chairman in case one or more of the five members shall be unable to serve because of conflict of interest, illness or other cause. The Village Board shall designate one of the regular members of said Planning Board as Chairman, and shall also designate a Vice Chairman. The Mayor, subject to the approval of the Village Board, shall appoint the alternate members of the Planning Board. The terms of all members, including alternates, of the Planning Board shall be five years. The Planning Board is hereby vested with the powers and duties as set forth in § 7-718 of the Village Law, subject to the limitations set forth therein, as the same may from time to time be amended, modified or changed.
[Amended 7-6-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Planning Board shall establish such rules and regulations as are required by law and the provisions herein for the transaction of its business and may amend, modify and repeal the same from time to time.
§ 290-26 Powers and duties of Planning Board.
The Planning Board shall have the following powers and duties:
To prepare and from time to time change the Master or Comprehensive Plan for the development of the Village.
To review proposals to approve or disapprove the laying out, closing off, abandonment or changes in lines of streets, highways and public areas and to make recommendations to the Village Board.
To make investigations and reports relating to the planning and development of the Village as it deems desirable. This shall include, but not be limited to, changes in boundaries of districts, recommended changes in the provisions of this chapter, other land use and development matters of importance to the Planning Board and action on any matter lawfully referred to it by the Village Board.
To review, act on or provide advisory reports as specified by this chapter.
To review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove site plans, prepared to specifications set forth in this chapter, showing the arrangement, layout and design of proposed uses, buildings and/or structures shown on such plan.
To review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove plans showing lots, blocks or sites for subdivisions under § 7-728 of Article 7 of the Village Law.
To review and approve specially permitted uses subject to regulations specified in this chapter.
All such powers as are conferred upon Village Planning Boards by the provisions of the Village Law, now or hereafter in effect.