There is hereby established a Zoning Board of
Appeals to consist of five members, to be appointed by the Town Board.
The Town Board shall designate the Chairman
of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Town Clerk shall be Clerk of the Zoning
Board of Appeals.
Of the members first appointed, one shall hold
office for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one
for the term of three years, one for the term of four years and one
for the term of five years after his appointment. Their successors
shall be appointed for terms of five years from and after the expiration
of the terms of their predecessors in office.
[Amended 4-19-2004 by L.L. No. 3-2004]
Every member of the Zoning Board of Appeals,
at the time of his appointment and throughout his term of office,
shall be a resident of the Town and the record owner of real property
in the Town.
[Amended 4-19-2004 by L.L. No. 3-2004]
If a vacancy shall occur in the Zoning Board
of Appeals otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled
by the Town Board by appointment for the unexpired term. Removal of
a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals from the district for which
he shall have been appointed shall create a vacancy if he shall move
outside of the territorial limits of the Town of Tonawanda.
The Town Board shall have the power to remove
any member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for cause and after public
hearing.
[Added 11-20-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
A.Â
From time to time, the Zoning Board of Appeals and
the Planning Board of the Town of Tonawanda have experienced difficulty
in securing a quorum necessary for the conducting of business due
either to conflict of interest, absence, illness or inability of some
members to attend meetings.
B.Â
In order to alleviate that problem, the Town Board
of the Town of Tonawanda deems that it is necessary to appoint additional
and alternate board members to function as set forth below:
(1)Â
Authorization to appoint. The Town Board is
hereby authorized to appoint two additional and alternate members
to both the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board for a term
of two years. When sitting as a regular member, the additional and
alternate members shall have the same qualifications, authority and
power as a duly and regularly appointed member of the respective Board.
(2)Â
Powers. The additional and alternate Board members
shall sit as members of the respective Board, exercising full power
as if they were regular members, when regular members on the Board
are unable to attend, so as to make up a quorum for the Board to conduct
business upon designation of the Board Chairman. When such an additional
and alternate Board member(s) shall sit as a full member of the Board,
the Town Clerk, or the Secretary of either Board, shall make an entry
in the minutes of the Board meeting certifying that a regular member
or members of the Board were unable to attend and that the alternate
and additional member or members were sitting as a full member of
the Board and giving the date, time, place and purpose of such meeting.
The additional and alternate members shall receive the same compensation
for attendance as regular Board members, whether in an official capacity
or not.
(3)Â
All provisions of state law relating to Zoning
Board of Appeals or Planning Board member eligibility, vacancy in
office, removal, compatibility of office and service on other boards,
as well as any provision of a local law/local ordinance relating to
training, continuing education, compensation and attendance, shall
also apply to alternate members.
(4)Â
Supersession of Town Law. This section, adopted
pursuant to the provisions of § 10 of the New York State
Municipal Home Rule Law, supersedes New York State Town Law § 271
and § 267 to the extent that said sections limit the number
of board members, fail to provide for appointment of and substitution
by alternate board members and prohibit new board members from taking
part in the consideration of any matter for which an application was
on file prior to the member's appointment. This section shall also
supersede any inconsistent provision of state law enacted subsequent
to adoption of this section.
All meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals
shall be held at the call of the Chairman and at such other times
as such Board may determine. All meetings shall be open to the public.
The Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals,
or in his absence the Acting Chairman, may administer oaths and compel
the attendance of witnesses.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall keep minutes
of its proceedings, showing a vote of each member upon every question
or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall
also keep records of its examinations and other official actions.
[Amended 3-26-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007]
Every rule, regulation, every amendment or repeal
thereof and every order, requirement, decision or determination of
the Zoning Board of Appeals shall immediately be filed in the office
of the Zoning Board of Appeals and in the office of the Code Enforcement
Officer and shall be a public record.
Three members of the Zoning Board of Appeals
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
[Amended 11-20-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
A.Â
Such Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear and decide
appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination
made by the Code Enforcement Officer, the Director of Community Development,
or Planning Board. It shall also hear and decide all matters referred
to it or upon which it is required to pass under this chapter. The
concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board shall be
necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination
of the Code Enforcement Officer or any other administrative official,
or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is
required to pass under this chapter or to effect any variation in
such chapter.
[Amended 3-26-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007; 8-29-2016 by L.L. No. 1-2016]
B.Â
Within these powers, the Board of Appeals may reverse
or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement,
decision, interpretation or determination appealed from and shall
make such order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination
as in its opinion ought to have been made in the matter by the administrative
official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law,
and to that end shall have all the powers of the administrative official
from whose order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination
the appeal is taken.
C.Â
The Board of Appeals shall also have, on appeal from
the decision or determination of the administrative official charged
with enforcement, the power to grant use and/or area variances, including
the power to impose reasonable conditions and restrictions.
D.Â
Rehearing. A motion for the Zoning Board of Appeals
to hold a rehearing to review any order, decision or determination
of the Board not previously reheard may be made by any member of said
Board. A unanimous vote of all members of the Board then present is
required for such rehearing to occur. Such rehearing is subject to
the same notice provisions as an original hearing. Upon such rehearing,
the Board may reverse, modify or annul its original order, decision
or determination upon the unanimous vote of all members then present,
provided that the Board finds that the rights vested in persons acting
in good faith in reliance upon the reheard order, decision or determination
will not be prejudiced thereby.
[Amended 11-20-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
A.Â
Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved or by
an officer, department, board or bureau of the Town by presentation
to the Clerk of said Zoning Board of Appeals a petition accompanied
by the sum of $100.
B.Â
Such appeals shall be taken within 60 days after the
filing in the Town Clerk's office of any order, requirement, decision,
interpretation or determination of the Code Enforcement Officer, the
Director of Community Development, or by the Planning Board by filing
a variance request with the Code Enforcement Officer or the Planning
and Development Department. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall specify
the grounds thereof and relief sought. The Code Enforcement Officer
or Director of Community Development shall transmit to the Zoning
Board of Appeals all the papers constituting the record upon which
the action appealed from was taken. The Code Enforcement Officer or
his assistants shall, within five days, notify any petitioner of the
denial of a petition presented to the Building Department for a building
permit on account of violation of the Zoning Local Law.
[Amended 3-26-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007; 8-29-2016 by L.L. No. 1-2016]
C.Â
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of
the action appealed from unless the Code Enforcement Officer, after
the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, certifies to
the Zoning Board of Appeals that, by reason of acts stated in the
certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to
life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise
than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Zoning Board
of Appeals, Town Board or by a court of record on application, on
notice to the Code Enforcement Officer and on due cause shown.
[Amended 3-26-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007]
[Amended 11-20-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
A.Â
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable
time for the hearing of the appeal or other matters referred to it.
B.Â
Notice. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall give due
notice advising the public of the nature of the application, relief
sought, development proposed, if any, and the time, date and place
of the hearing. Public notice of said hearing shall be by publication
in a paper of general circulation in the Town of Tonawanda at least
five days prior to the date thereof. The cost of sending and/or publishing
any notices relating to such appeal shall be borne by the appealing
party and shall be paid to the Zoning Board of Appeals prior to the
hearing of such appeal. At least five days before such hearing, the
Zoning Board of Appeals shall also mail notices thereof, accompanied
by a full statement of the matter under consideration, to the parties;
to the regional state park commission having jurisdiction over any
state park or parkway within 500 feet of the property affected by
such appeal; and to the county, metropolitan or regional planning
agency. Upon a hearing, the party may appear in person or by agent
or attorney.
C.Â
Time of decision. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall
decide upon the appeal within 62 days after the conduct of such hearing.
The time within which the Zoning Board of Appeals must render its
decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and said
Board.
