The Mayor, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, shall appoint a Zoning Board of Appeals consisting of five members, each of whom shall be a resident of the Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff and each of whom shall serve for a term of five years in the position to which he shall be appointed. Every member of said Board of Zoning Appeals shall be considered a public officer, shall take and sign a constitutional oath of office prior to assuming his duties and commencing his term of office and shall be subject to all of the provisions of law applicable to public officers. The Chairman of said Board shall be appointed from among the five members by the Mayor, with the approval of the Board of Trustees. No member of the Board of Trustees shall be eligible for membership on said Zoning Board of Appeals during his term of office as Trustee. Any member of the Zoning Board of Appeals may be removed by the Mayor for cause after a public hearing.

The terms of the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be so fixed that one member's term shall expire at the end of each official Village year. At the expiration of the term of each current member's appointment, the replacement member shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees for a term which shall be equal in years to the number of members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Board of Trustees finds that it is in the best interests of the Village residents to create two positions of alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals to sit on applications and other matters for such members as are unable to participate because of a conflict of interest or because of an inability to attend a meeting, in order to help assure that a quorum is readily available to hear applications and other matters in a timely manner. Since Paragraph 11 of § 7-712 of the Village Law provides for the establishment of such positions only when members are unable to participate because of a conflict of interest, the Board of Trustees seeks to both implement the provisions of said section and simultaneously to supersede the limitations of said section, to the extent necessary, if at all, to provide that such alternate members may also act when regular members are unwilling, unavailable or for any other reason do not attend a meeting or participate on an application.

In addition to regular members appointed and serving pursuant to § 138-1301 of this chapter, the Mayor is hereby authorized to appoint, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, two alternate members to the Zoning Board of Appeals to serve as provided herein. No alternate member shall also serve as a member or alternate member of the Planning Board.

Each alternate member shall serve for a term of two years expiring at the end of the Village official year, except that in the first year of the application of this section, to stagger the terms, one alternate member shall be appointed for one year and one for two years. Their successors shall be appointed for a term of two years after the expiration of the terms of their predecessors in office. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled by the Mayor for the unexpired term, subject to the approval of the Village Board of Trustees. The Village Board of Trustees shall have the power to remove any alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for cause, after a public hearing if one is requested.

The Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals may designate an alternate member to substitute for a regular member when such member is unable to participate because of a conflict of interest on an application or other matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals, or when a regular member is unwilling, unavailable or for any other reason does not attend a meeting or participate on an application. The alternate member shall be designated prior to the initial meeting on each application where a regular member is unable to participate, when practical, and attend, deliberate, and vote in every meeting and action taken by the Zoning Board of Appeals thereafter during the review of the application in place of the member being substituted. Once designated to serve on a particular matter before the Board, the alternate member shall have the same powers, duties, and responsibilities as a regular member of the Board until that matter is concluded. When so designated, such designation shall be entered into the minutes of the initial Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at which the substitution is made. Any determination by the Board consisting of alternate members shall have the same weight and be entitled to the same authority as the act or deed of the regular Zoning Board of Appeals, and all laws, statutes and regulations shall apply and be applied with equal force and effect.

If the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals is unable to participate because of a conflict of interest on an application or other matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals, or is unwilling, unavailable or for any other reason does not attend a meeting or participate on an application, the acting Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals may designate an alternate member to substitute for the Chairman and an alternate member to substitute for any other regular member of the Board who is unable to participate pursuant to this section.

Although alternate members of the Zoning Board of Appeals may attend all meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals, they shall have no power to participate in any actions of the Zoning Board of Appeals except as provided herein.

All provisions of state law, as well as any provisions of any local law, relating to Zoning Board of Appeals member training and continuing education, attendance, conflict of interest, compensation, eligibility, vacancy in office, removal, compatibility of office and service on other boards shall apply to alternate Zoning Board of Appeals members.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or any other provision of this Code, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the following purpose and authority:

Included in the foregoing powers shall be the power of the Board of Appeals to vary or modify the application of provisions of this chapter in harmony with their general purpose and intent and in accordance with the general and specific rules herein contained.

The Zoning Board of Appeals may render its decision on any appeal, application, or other matter in a short-form format, setting forth the Board's determination and conditions, if any, without enumerating the findings which formed the basis for its determination. Any appellant, applicant, or other person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved by a decision of the Board may, within 30 days after the filing of the short-form decision in the office of the Village Clerk, file a written demand with the Village Clerk requesting that the Zoning Board of Appeals render its decision in a long-form format containing findings which formed the basis for the Board's determination. The Village Clerk shall promptly deliver this written demand to the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Village Attorney. The chairman shall then cause the long form decision to be prepared and, upon its approval by the Board, file it with the Village Clerk.

In cases where the Zoning Board of Appeals renders a short-form decision, and no written demand requesting a long-form decision is filed within the required thirty-day period, the date of filing of the short-form decision with the Village Clerk shall be deemed the date of the filing of the Board's decision for all purposes. In cases where the Board renders or is required to render a long-form decision, the date of filing of the long-form decision with the Village Clerk shall be deemed the date of filing of the Board's decision for all purposes.

Expiration, lapse, extension and reinstatement of variances. Any variance granted pursuant to this chapter shall automatically expire and be of no further force and effect 180 days after the granting thereof unless, within such one-hundred-eighty-day period, substantial construction shall have been commenced. Such construction must be completed within one year of the date of commencement of substantial construction. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall be authorized, upon application and without hearing, to grant extensions of the variance for periods not to exceed 180 days in duration or to reinstate a lapsed variance for good cause shown. Any variance issued prior to the effective date of this section shall be deemed to have been issued on such effective date.

Extinguishment of variance. Whenever a use established pursuant to a variance shall have been abandoned for a term of 180 days, or whenever the location of such a use is substantially destroyed, the land, building or structure in which said use shall have existed shall not thereafter be used for the previously established use. Such one-hundred-eighty-day period of abandonment may be discontinued only by 30 or more consecutive business days of operation. A use shall be "substantially destroyed" if the cost to repair and replace the structure in which it is located exceeds 50% of the current structural replacement value thereof.

Revocation of variance. Any variance granted pursuant to this chapter shall be revocable on the order of the Zoning Board of Appeals at any time upon the failure of the owner or operator of the use or structure covered by the variance to observe all requirements of this chapter with respect to the maintenance and conduct of the use or structure or upon failure to observe all conditions in connection with such variance which were designated by the Zoning Board of Appeals issuing the same. Prior to revoking any such variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall give the holder of the variance at least 10 days' written notice of violation. If within such 10 days the variance holder so requests, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold a hearing on the revocation of such variance and shall give the applicant for the hearing at least 10 days' written notice thereof either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service. The foregoing provisions shall not be deemed to preclude the use of any other remedy by the Zoning Board of Appeals or by any enforcement agent of the Village to compel compliance with any conditions of the variance. The violation of any condition imposed by the Zoning Board of Appeals as part of a variance shall constitute a violation of this chapter and shall subject such violator to the penalties set forth in § 2-4B(2) of this Code.