West Haverstraw City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXII
Architecture and Community Appearance Board of Review
§ 250-127 Purpose.
The Village Board hereby finds that the inappropriate or poor quality of design in the exterior appearance of buildings or land developments adversely affects the desirability of the immediate and neighboring areas and, in so doing, impairs the stability and value of both improved and -unimproved real property in such areas, impedes the most appropriate development of such areas, produces degeneration of property in such areas all with attendant deterioration of conditions affecting the health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants thereof and creates an improper relationship between the taxable value of real property in such areas and the cost of municipal services provided therefor. It is the purpose of this article to prevent these and of other harmful effects of such exterior appearance of buildings and land developments and thus to promote and protect the health, safety and general welfare of the community.
§ 250-128 Board created; members; compensation.
[Amended 11-2-2016 by L.L. No. 7-2016]
A.
There is hereby created an Architecture and Community Appearance Board of Review which shall consist of five or seven members to be appointed by the Village Board, as set forth at subsection B hereof. All members of said Board shall be residents of the Village and shall be specifically qualified by reason of training or experience in architecture, land development, municipal planning, real estate, landscape architecture or other relevant business or profession, or by reason of civic interest and sound judgment, to judge the effects of a proposed building or land development upon the desirability, property values and development of surrounding areas,
B.
The term of office of each member shall be three years measured from the date of the Village's December reorganizational meeting for the year in which the appointment is made, whether the member was appointed at that meeting or at a later meeting during the Village year), except that when first established, the total membership of the Board shall consist only of five members, with the initial appointments to be as follows: shall be a term of one year for one member; two years for two members; and three years for two members. The initial terms of the remaining members, if and when later appointed, shall be for one, two or three years, in the Village Board's discretion, provided that at no time shall a majority of the seats on the full Board come up for appointment Or reappointment in any single year. The Chairman of the said Board of Review shall be designated by the members of the Village Board annually. The Village Board shall have the power to remove any member for cause. Vacancies shall be filled by the Village Board for the unexpired term of any member whose place has become vacant.
C.
The members of the Architecture and Community Appearance Board of Review shall serve for such compensation as the Village Board shall from time to time provide for by resolution duly adopted.
§ 250-129 Duties and functions.
A.
Regularly scheduled meetings of the Architecture and Community Appearance Board of Review shall be held monthly on an "as needed" basis, and at such other times as the Chairman may designate. A majority of said Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings. Any report, recommendation or decision made by the Board of Review must have the approval of the majority of the Board and shall be officially filed with the Village Clerk and the referring board or department, hereinafter cited as the "referring party," within 30 days. Where changes or modifications on any submission are made by the Board of Review, there shall be set forth the specific changes and the reason(s) for the same. After having referred an application for a building or land development permit or approval to the Board of Review, the referring party shall not take final action prior to receiving the decision of the Board of Review. The referring party shall provide a full set of plans and accompanying data to the Board of Review for its use and permanent file. The applicant may be requested to appear to review with the Board any submission to it.
B.
The referring party shall not finally approve any application, or, if required, close the public hearing on any application required to be referred to the Board of Review, unless the Board of Review shall first have approved said application, with or without changes, or if the decision of the Board shall not have filed its decision within 30 days of the meeting at which it was considered, in which case the application shall be deemed to have been approved by the Board of Review; provided, however, the referring agency may override the decision, or any part or parts of the decision, of the Board of Review by an affirmative vote of a majority plus one of the full membership of the referring party.
§ 250-130 Review of applications for building permits and land use approvals.
A.
Every application for a building permit for the construction, reconstruction or exterior alteration of any structure, including every application for site development plan approval, subdivision approval, of the issuance of a special permit, filed with the Village Board, Planning Board shall be referred to the Architecture and Community Appearance Board of Review within seven days of the submission of the application, provided that the application conforms in all respects to all other applicable laws and ordinances.
(1)
This article shall not apply to an application for a single- or two-family residence or residential accessory structure on individual property except that the Building Inspector, in his discretion, may refer such an application to the Board of Review if it appears, in the light of the standards set forth herein, there is a need for such referral.
B.
Each application for review shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable review fee as established by resolution of the Village Board.
§ 250-131 Recommendations.
The Board of Review shall base its recommendations on the following criteria: No building or structure or land development shall be so detrimental to the desirability, property values or development of the surrounding area as to provoke one or more of the harmful effects set forth in § 250-127 by reason of:
A.
The repeated and adjacent use of identical or nearly identical facades or structures arranged without respect to natural features of terrain or other existing structures.
B.
Inappropriateness of a structure or land development in relation to any other structure or land development existing or for which a permit has been issued or to any other structure or land development included in the same application with respect to one or more of, the following features:
(1)
Cubical contents.
(2)
Gross floor area.
(3)
Height of building or height of roof.
(4)
Other significant design features such as material or quality or architectural design, roof structures, chimneys, exposed mechanical equipment and service, service and storage enclosures, signs, landscaping, retaining walls, parking areas, service and loading docks, dividing walls, fences, lighting posts and standards.
§ 250-132 Hearings before Board of Review.
Although all proceedings before the Architectural and Community Appearance Board of Review shall be publically conducted, to the extent that any decision of the Board of Review is advisory to the referring party, and may be overridden by the referring party in the manner set forth in § 250-129 hereof, no public hearing is required to be conducted by the Board of Review on any referral to it. Any appeal by an aggrieved party from any portion of the decision of the Board of Review that may be incorporated in the final decision of the referring party shall be an appeal from the decision of the referring party filed and prosecuted in the manner, and within the time periods, applicable to the final decision of the referring party.
§ 250-133 Applicability.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to permits or land use applications that have been filed and have received preliminary and/or final approval prior to the effective date hereof.