Waterloo Village City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIII
Special Permits
§ 245-51 Policy.
Recognizing that certain types of uses may be customary, desirable or necessary in various districts but by their nature present certain problems or difficulties, these uses are permitted by special permit and require a review procedure to provide an opportunity to mitigate these problems or difficulties and to minimize the impact of these uses upon the district or neighborhood and to preserve the character of the districts or neighborhoods. For uses requiring a special permit, the Planning Board may issue a special permit after application has been made to the Code Administration Officer and after due notice and public hearing per conditions and procedures of this chapter.
§ 245-52 Special findings.
Before granting a special permit for any use, the Planning Board shall make the following special findings:
A.
That the lot area is sufficient, appropriate and adequate for the use and the reasonable anticipated operation and expansion thereof.
B.
That the proposed use will not prevent the orderly and reasonable use of adjacent properties.
C.
That the site is particularly suitable for the location of the proposed use in the community.
D.
That the characteristics of the proposed use are not such that its proposed location would be unsuitably near to a church, school, public park or other similar use.
E.
That 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 further that vehicular entrances and exits shall be clearly visible from the street and not be within 50 feet of the intersection of street lines at a street or highway intersection except under unusual circumstances.
F.
That there are an adequate number of off-street parking and loading spaces provided for the anticipated number of occupants, both employees and patrons or visitors, and, further, that the layout of the spaces and driveways is convenient and conducive to safe operation.
G.
That adequate buffer yards and screening are provided where necessary to protect adjacent properties and land use.
H.
That the proposed use will comply with all other regulations and laws applicable to such use.
§ 245-53 Review and approval procedure.
A.
The Code Administration Officer shall send the completed application to the Planning Board within 10 calendar days after receiving a completed application on the forms provided.
B.
At the next regular or special meeting of the Planning Board after an appropriate application for a special permit has been made to the Code Administration Officer, the Planning Board shall designate a hearing date within a reasonable time not to exceed 62 days.
[Amended 7-12-1999 by L.L. No. 3-1999]
C.
The Planning Board shall send a notice of the public hearing to the applicant and publish a notice of the public hearing in the official newspaper of the Village.
D.
The notice of the public hearing shall be sent and published at least five calendar days prior to the date of the public hearing and 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.
[Amended 7-12-1999 by L.L. No. 3-1999]
E.
Prior to taking action on the special permit application, the Planning Board shall comply with Chapter 112, Environmental Quality Review, and refer the application to the Seneca County Planning Board for advisory review and a report in accordance with § 239-m of the General Municipal Law.
[Added 7-12-1999 by L.L. No. 3-1999]
F.
The Planning Board shall make a factual record of all its proceedings involving the granting of a special permit. These factual records shall be taken by stenographic and/or tape recorder means and shall be accurate, but not necessarily a verbatim transcript, but may be in narrative form. The factual record shall be taken by the Clerk of the Planning Board or his/her designee.
G.
The decision of the Planning Board shall contain the reasons for its decision.
H.
The Planning Board may approve, approve with conditions or deny an application for a special permit but, in any event, shall render its decision within 62 days after 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.
[Amended 7-12-1999 by L.L. No. 3-1999]
I.
The concurring vote of a majority (three) of the full membership of the Planning Board shall be necessary to decide in favor of the applicant for any special permit. In accordance with General Municipal Law § 239-m, a concurring vote of a majority plus one (four) is necessary to override a negative recommendation by the Seneca County Planning Board on the granting of a special permit.