Mc Graw Village City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XII
Special Permits
§ 175-45 Policy.
While recognizing that certain types of uses may be desirable or necessary in the Village, their nature can cause certain problems or difficulties. Consequently, particular uses are controlled by a special permit procedure which requires additional regulations designed for each use in order to mitigate such problems or difficulties and to minimize the impact of these upon the zoning district in which such use is located. All identified special permits herein are hereby declared to posses unique characteristics that each specific use shall be considered as an individual case.
§ 175-46 Application procedure; hearing; notice; approval.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall refer the completed special permit application to the Village Planning Board within 10 days after receiving a completed application.
The Planning Board shall conduct a public hearing within 62 days from the day an application is received on any matter referred to it under this section. Public notice of said hearing shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village at least five days prior to the date thereof. Said notice shall contain the date, time and place of the public hearing, as well as sufficient information so as to identify the property involved and the nature of the proposed action.
At least 10 days before such hearing, the Planning Board shall mail notice thereof to the Cortland County Planning Board as required by § 239-m of the General Municipal Law, which notice shall be accompanied by a full statement of the matter under consideration, as defined in Subdivision 1 of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law.
The Planning Board shall comply with the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations.
The Village Planning Board shall make a factual record of all its proceedings involving the granting of a special permit. The decision of the Planning Board shall contain the reasons for its decision.
The Planning Board shall decide upon the application within 62 days after the close of the hearing. The time within which the Planning Board must render its decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Board. Failure to render its decision within said sixty-two-day period, or such extended period as may have been agreed upon, shall constitute approval. The decision of the Planning Board on the application after the holding of the public hearing shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk within five business days after such decision is rendered, and a copy thereof shall be mailed to the applicant.
§ 175-47 Interpretation of findings.
The findings hereinafter set forth are general and special. General findings are a prerequisite prior to the issuance of any special permit in this chapter. Special findings are in addition to general findings and apply only to those uses hereinafter enumerated.
§ 175-48 General findings.
Before granting a special permit, the following findings shall be made:
The proposed use is in compliance with all other applicable regulations of this chapter, inclusive of specific district controls and controls applicable to all districts, and all other applicable local, state and federal regulations.
The proposed use is physically and visually compatible with and will not discourage the appropriate planned development or redevelopment of the general neighborhood or adversely affect the character of existing land uses within close proximity to the subject site.
The proposed use will be provided with adequate supporting services, such as fire and police protection, public and private utilities and all other supporting public services necessary and appropriate to the proposed use.
Access facilities are adequate for the estimated traffic from public streets or highways so as to assure the public safety and to avoid traffic congestion and hazards; and, further, vehicular entrances and exits shall be clearly visible from the street and shall not be within 50 feet of the intersection of street lines at a street or highway intersection, except under unusual circumstances.
There are an adequate number of off-street parking and loading spaces provided for the anticipated number of occupants, employees, attendants and patrons or visitors; and, further, the layout of spaces and driveways is convenient and conducive to safe operation.
Adequate buffer areas and screening are provided where necessary to protect adjacent properties and land uses.
Controls for pedestrian movement are designed to provide for the safety of the general public and the employees, occupants, attendants, patrons and visitors for whose benefit the proposed use is intended.
Adequate provisions are made for the collection and disposal of stormwater runoff from the site, sanitary sewage, refuse or other waste, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or of other character.
The lot area is sufficient, appropriate and adequate for the use and the reasonably anticipated operation and expansion thereof.
§ 175-49 Special findings; special permit uses.
The Village Planning Board may grant a special permit for uses in this section, provided that all the additional requirements and conditions set forth in the subsections below are complied with.
Ancillary parking areas.
The parking area must be in the same ownership as the lot being served and a covenant to run with the land must be established for as long as the principal use exists for which the ancillary parking area is provided.
No fee may be charged for parking.
There shall be no sales, dead storage, repair work, dismantling or servicing of any kind on the parking lot.
The ancillary parking area shall be surfaced with asphalt paving.
Entrances and exits shall provide direct access to the street separating the lot served by the ancillary parking lot.
There shall be a five-foot buffer strip along all contiguous property lines, in which there shall be screening of either fencing or plantings having a height not less than three feet above finished grade.
Lighting facilities shall be arranged so that no direct rays will fall on the adjoining property and shall be confined within the boundaries of the parking area.
Bed-and-breakfasts. This use shall not be permitted in other than a single-family dwelling.
Churches or places of worship.
The minimum lot size shall be 40,000 square feet, and the minimum lot frontage shall be 120 feet.
All buildings and structures shall be at least 15 feet from any property line.
Parking areas shall not be within 10 feet of any property line.
Entrance and exit points shall be from a publicly maintained road.
Extended-care medical facilities.
The minimum lot size shall be 20,000 square feet, and the minimum lot frontage shall be 100 feet.
Landscaping areas of at least 10 feet in width shall be provided along all lot lines, except in front yards.
No structure or use shall be located within 20 feet of any property line.
The applicant must demonstrate that the requested permit complies with all state and county health codes.
Entrance and exit points shall be from a publicly maintained road.
Fuel stations.
The minimum lot size shall be 20,000 square feet, and the minimum lot width shall be 100 feet.
Entrance and exit driveways shall have an unrestricted width of not less than 25 feet and shall be located not nearer than 15 feet to any property line and shall be designed to avoid the necessity of any vehicle backing out into any public right-of-way.
Entrance and exit points shall be from a publicly maintained road.
Fuel stations must meet all state and federal requirements.
No zoning permit for any such establishment shall be issued within a distance of 200 feet of a school, church, extended-care medical facility, senior citizen housing or other place of public assembly designed for occupancy by more than 50 persons, or within 500 feet of another fuel station or repair garage on the same side of a street, said distance to be measured in a straight line between the nearest points of each of the lots or premises, regardless of the distance where either premises is located.
No motor vehicle sales, major motor or body repairing, wrecking or dismantling shall take place on the premises.
No motor vehicle shall be parked or stored in any required front yard which shall be adequately landscaped.
Buffer areas of at least 10 feet in width shall be provided along all property lines, with a variety of plants to lessen any visual unattractiveness of this type of use.
There will be clear separation of motor vehicle traffic from pedestrian traffic on the site.
Curbing to regulate the location of vehicular traffic shall be installed at the edge of the roadway along the entire street frontage of the lot upon which the gasoline station is located.
Aboveground and below-ground petroleum bulk storage facilities are subject to compliance with standards described in Articles XIX, XX and XXI of the Sanitary Code of the Cortland County Health Department.
Home occupations.
No persons other than residents of the dwelling may be employed in the conduct of the home occupation.
No more than 200 square feet of the habitable space of the dwelling unit may be used in conjunction with the home occupation.
No objectionable noise, obnoxious odors, vibrations, glare, smoke, fumes, dust or other particulate matter, heat, humidity or electrical or electronic interference detectable to normal sensory perception outside the structure may emanate from the property.
The area for the storage and/or display of goods for sale must be included in the calculation of habitable space.
No toxic, explosive, flammable, combustible, corrosive, or radioactive materials may be used or stored on the site.
Appearance enhancement services, real estate offices, restaurants and the retail sale of goods shall not be allowed as home occupations.
Motor vehicle sales.
The minimum lot size shall be 20,000 square feet, and the minimum lot width shall be 100 feet.
Entrance and exit driveways have an unrestricted width of not less than 25 feet and shall be located not nearer than 10 feet to any property line and shall be so laid out to avoid the necessity of any vehicle backing out across any public right-of-way. Further, entrance and exit roads shall be from major or secondary roads.
No storage of motor vehicle fuel shall take place.
There will be a clear separation of motor vehicle traffic from pedestrian traffic on the site.
Motor vehicle services.
The minimum lot size shall be 25,000 square feet, and the minimum lot width shall be 100 feet.
Entrance and exit driveways shall have an unrestricted width of not less than 25 feet and shall be located not nearer than 10 feet to any property line and shall be designed as to avoid the necessity of any vehicle backing out into any public right-of-way.
No more than 10 licensed motor vehicles being serviced or repaired shall be stored or parked outdoors for more than 48 hours, and these shall be in areas effectively screened from all property lines.
Buffer areas of at least 10 feet in width shall be provided along the property lines with a variety of plants to lessen any visual unattractiveness of this type of use.
There will be a clear separation of motor vehicle traffic from pedestrian traffic on the site.
Outside storage of junk, automobile parts, debris, or wrecked, abandoned, unlicensed, dismantled or partly dismantled vehicles shall not be permitted.
All buildings shall be set back a distance of not less than 30 feet from all property lines.
Curbing to regulate the location of vehicular traffic shall be installed at the edge of the roadway along the entire street frontage of the lot upon which the motor vehicle repair shop is located.
Side yards of not less than 25 feet shall be provided along all lot lines adjacent to property zoned or used for residential or office purposes.
Entrance and exit points shall be from a publicly maintained road.
Floor drains must be connected to a holding tank or sanitary sewer equipped with an oil and grit separating tank. Floor drains which are connected to a sanitary sewer must meet discharge limits established by the Cortland Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Wastes collected in a holding tank must be disposed of through a licensed waste hauler.
Waste-degreasing solvents must be stored in drums or a holding tank and disposed of through a licensed waste hauler.
Waste oil must be stored in tanks or drums for disposal by a licensed waste hauler.
Storage facilities for tanks and/or drums require coated concrete floors and dikes to retain accidental spills or leaks and a permanent roof to protect tanks or drums and to prevent precipitation from entering dikes. Drums should be sealed, and tanks and drums must be located away from floor drains.
Large drip pans should be kept beneath drums which have spigots and are stored in a horizontal position on racks.
Potentially contaminated scrap, including but not limited to scrap parts, batteries and used filters, shall be stored in proper containers to prevent environmental release of contaminants.
Multifamily dwellings. The maximum number of dwelling units shall not exceed three dwelling units per acre.
Veterinary establishments and kennels.
The minimum lot size shall be 25,000 square feet, and the minimum lot frontage shall be 125 feet.
Adjacent properties shall be adequately protected from noise, odors and unsightly appearance.
All buildings, structures or other accessory uses shall be at least 50 feet from any property line.
All animals shall be kept within a totally enclosed and suitably ventilated building between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Lot coverage shall not exceed 50%.
Entrance and exit points shall be from a publicly maintained road.