Through site plan review, it is the intent to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the Village, its residents and property owners. A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants of the Village, and in addition such an environment is deemed essential to the maintenance and continued development of the economy of the Village and the general welfare of its inhabitants.

It is further the intent to ensure the optimum overall conservation, protection, preservation, development and use of the natural and man-related resources of the Village by regulating land use activities within the Village through review and approval of site plans.

In addition to the site plan application fee established by the Board of Trustees, costs projected to be incurred by the Planning Board for consultation fees with respect to engineering, legal, architectural, surveying or other like expenses related to the site plan review shall be the sole responsibility of the applicant.

Upon receipt of a site plan and/or special use permit application, the applicant and the applicant's representative, if any, shall receive a written notice of this responsibility. The determination of the need for retaining such consultants/experts shall be in the sole discretion of the Planning Board and consultants/experts shall be chosen solely by the Planning Board.

The Planning Board shall notify the applicant as soon as is reasonably possible of the need for such consultants/experts. Such notification shall be in writing directed to the applicant and the applicant's representative, if any. In the event that such a determination is made during a meeting at which the applicant and/or the applicant's representative is present, such determination shall be made known verbally and placed in the record of the meeting, followed up with the written notification specified above.

The applicant shall be advised of an estimate of the costs of such consultant(s)/expert(s). Reasonable efforts shall be made to advise applicant of the estimated costs for such consultant(s)/expert(s). Any changes in the costs for consultants/experts shall be made known to applicant and/or applicant's representative as soon as is reasonably possible. Any change in cost shall not relieve applicant or responsibility for payment.

In any event, payment of any such costs incurred by the Village for consultants/experts for the site plan review shall be paid to the Village by or on behalf of the applicant prior to issuance of any permits, certificates or other documents required for the implementation of the site plan approval or conditions imposed upon the site plan approval and issuance of a special use permit.

In the alternative, the Planning Board may determine, in its sole reasonable discretion, that the applicant be required to establish an escrow fund with the Village of Penn Yan. That determination and the amount of the escrow fund shall be based upon the perceived complexity of the site plan review and special use permit application, the type and number of consultants/experts that may be required and the estimated cost for such consultation(s). The refusal of an applicant to establish an escrow fund as directed by the Planning Board shall result in disapproval of the site plan application and/or special use permit application.

Consultant/experts costs shall be paid from the applicant's escrow fund. Upon completion of the site plan review and special use permit application process, the rendering of a decision thereon and payment of all consultant/expert costs, any balance remaining in the applicant's escrow fund shall be refunded to the applicant. Escrow funds shall be deposited with a banking institution under the name of the Village of Penn Yan. Such escrow funds shall be managed pursuant to standard municipal finance guidelines.

All new land use activities within the Village, whether by zoning district classification, variance granted by the ZBA or otherwise, shall require site plan review and approval before being undertaken, except the following uses:

Any person uncertain of the applicability of this chapter to a given land use activity may apply, in writing, to the Code Enforcement Officer for a written jurisdictional determination.

Approval required; recommended procedures. Prior to undertaking any new land use activity, except uses specifically exempted of this chapter, a site plan approval by the Planning Board is required. Applicants for site plan approval shall follow the recommended procedures related to the sketch plan conference as hereinafter set forth. Applicants must comply with all other procedures and requirements of the chapter.

Applicability of Village Law § 7-725-a, Site plan review. All site plan reviews shall comply with the provisions of Village Law § 7-725-a, Site plan review, or any law which is a successor thereto.

Site plan conference. A site plan conference may be held between the Planning Board and the applicant prior to the preparation and submission of a formal site plan. The intent of such a conference is to enable the applicant to inform the Planning Board of his proposal prior to the preparation of a detailed site plan and for the Planning Board to review the basic site design concept, to advise the applicant as to potential problems and concerns and to generally determine the information to be required on the site plan. In order to accomplish these objectives, the applicant shall provide the following:

Application requirements. At least three weeks in advance of the Planning Board meeting at which a site plan is to be considered, the requisite number of copies of the site plan, at a scale of not less than one inch equals 20 feet for multifamily residential development and one inch equals 40 feet for all other development, and three copies of the application for site plan approval shall be submitted to the Village Planning Office and shall be accompanied by the information contained on the following checklist. The Planning staff shall determine the number of copies of the site plan that the applicant must submit and shall inform the applicant or the applicant's representative of the number of copies required.

Site plan filing fee. An application for site plan review shall be accompanied by a fee in an amount set by resolution duly adopted by the Board of Trustees.

Expenses incurred by Planning Board. Any expenses incurred by the Planning Board for consultation fees or other extraordinary expense in connection with the review of a proposed site plan shall be charged and paid for by the applicant.

Determination that application is complete.

The location, arrangement, size, design and general site compatibility of buildings, lighting and signs.

The adequacy and arrangement of vehicular traffic access and circulation, including intersections, road widths, pavement surfaces, dividers and traffic controls.

The location, arrangement, appearance and sufficiency of off-street parking and loading.

The adequacy and arrangement of pedestrian traffic access and circulation, walkway structures, control of intersections with vehicular traffic and overall pedestrian convenience and safety.

The adequacy of stormwater and drainage facilities.

The adequacy of water supply and sewage disposal facilities.

The adequacy, type and arrangement of trees, shrubs and other landscaping constituting a visual and/or noise buffer between the applicant's and adjoining lands, including the maximum retention of existing vegetation.

The adequacy of fire lanes, other emergency zones and the provision of fire protection infrastructure.

Special attention to the adequacy and impact of structures, roadways and landscaping in areas with susceptibility to ponding, flooding and/or erosion.

The overall impact of the project on the neighborhood, including compatibility of design considerations.

In the event that the application under review is approved by the Planning Board and it is wholly or partially in a historic preservation district or is a Village landmark, then no building permit, special permit or sign permit shall be issued with respect to any building, sign, sign structure or other structure until the application has been approved by the Historic Preservation Commission.

The Code Enforcement Officer shall forward to the Historic Preservation Commission said approved site plans signed by the Planning Board Chairman. It shall then be the responsibility of the Historic Preservation Commission to review the site plan following its procedures of compliance and, if approved, to forward the final plans to the Code Enforcement Officer to carry out duties assigned pursuant to this Code.

Approval. Upon approval of the site plan application and payment by the applicant of all fees and reimbursable costs due the Village, the Planning Board Chairperson shall endorse the Planning Board approval on a copy of the site plan and shall immediately file it and a written statement of approval with the Village Clerk and the Code Enforcement Officer. A copy of the written statement of approval shall be mailed to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Approval with modifications. The Planning Board may conditionally approve the site plan application. A copy of the written statement containing the modifications required by the conditional approval shall be mailed to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested. After adequate demonstration to the Planning Board that all conditions have been met and payment by the applicant of all fees and reimbursable costs due the Village, the Planning Board Chairperson shall endorse the Planning Board approval on a copy of the site plan and shall immediately file it and a written statement of approval with the Village Clerk and the Code Enforcement Officer. A copy of the written statement of approval shall be mailed to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Disapproval. Upon disapproval of a site plan application, the written decision of the Planning Board shall immediately be filed with the Village Clerk and the Code Enforcement Officer and a copy thereof mailed to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested. The written decision shall set forth in full the reasons for disapproval.

No timely action. Absence of a decision within the time frame herein specified shall constitute approval thereof. The Code Enforcement Officer shall proceed on that basis.