The Village of Woodridge Planning Board is authorized, in accordance
with §§ 7-725-a and 7-725-b of the New York State Village
Law, to review and approve, approve with modifications or disapprove
special uses and site plans connected therewith. Site plan review
shall be required for all special use permits, new nonresidential
uses, nonagricultural changes of use and such other uses as the Village
Board may from time to time designate by local law. The following
procedures shall apply.
An applicant for a special use permit may submit a preliminary
site plan for review and advice by the Planning Board. Such a preliminary
site plan should provide locations and dimensions of the proposed
use in relation to the property boundaries and adjacent uses. It should
also indicate all accesses and improvements, both existing and proposed,
and any site features which could have a bearing on the project, including
the general topography and existing ground cover. This preliminary
plan shall be used by the Planning Board as a basis for advising the
applicant regarding information it shall require on the site plan
before it conducts a public hearing or takes any action with respect
to the plan. The Planning Board shall give no approval or disapproval
regarding any preliminary site plan but may use it to schedule a public
hearing if sufficient data is available, determine if any provisions
of this article should be waived or begin its review of the application
under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
The Planning Board shall be under no obligation to schedule
a public hearing or take any action with respect to a special use
permit application until formal application has been made on forms
provided by the Board and a detailed site plan providing the following
information has been submitted:
A.
The location of all existing watercourses, wooded areas, rights-of-way,
roads, structures or any other significant man-made or natural feature,
if such feature has an effect upon the use of said property.
B.
The location, use and floor or ground area of each proposed building,
structure or any other land use, including sewage disposal and water
supply systems.
C.
The location of all significant landscaping and ground cover features,
both existing and proposed, including detailed planting plans and
a visual depiction or rendering of the final appearance of the property
after all landscaping and other physical improvements are completed.
D.
The location, dimensions and capacity of any proposed roads, off-street
parking areas or loading berths, including typical cross-sections
for all paving or regrading involved.
E.
The location and treatment of proposed entrances and exits to public
rights-of-way, including traffic signals, channelizations, acceleration
and deceleration lanes, widenings or any other measure having an impact
on traffic safety conditions.
F.
The location and identification of proposed open spaces, parks or
other recreation areas.
G.
The location and design of buffer areas and screening devices to
be maintained.
H.
The location of trails, walkways and all other areas proposed to
be devoted to pedestrian use.
I.
The location of public and private utilities, including maintenance
facilities.
J.
The specific locations of all signs existing and proposed, including
a visual depiction of the latter.
K.
Preliminary architectural plans for the proposed buildings or structures,
indicating typical floor plans, elevations, height and general design
or architectural styling.
L.
A completed SEQR environmental assessment.
M.
Any other information required by the Planning Board which is clearly
necessary to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this chapter
and limited to such information.
The Village of Woodridge Planning Board shall, pursuant to the
aforementioned Village Law, have the right to waive, when reasonable,
any of the requirements of this article for the approval, approval
with modifications or disapproval of special use permits and site
plans submitted for approval. This waiver authority may be exercised
in the event any such requirements are found not to be requisite in
the interest of the public health, safety, or general welfare or are
inappropriate to a particular site plan. Any such waiver shall be
subject to the following conditions:
A.
No waiver shall result in allowing a use not permitted within the
applicable zoning district.
B.
No waiver shall be given with respect to standards outside the scope
of this article which would otherwise require a variance from the
Zoning Board of Appeals.
C.
Waivers shall be limited to those situations where the full application
of the requirements contained herein would generate unnecessary data
and create unnecessary costs with regard to deciding the matter at
hand, due to the scope or nature of the project involved. The proposed
enclosure of a deck or a simple change of use with no significant
structural modifications in the case of a commercial property, for
example, might not require typical cross-sections for proposed regrading
or water supply data.
D.
An applicant for site plan approval who desires to seek a waiver
of certain of the above-referenced requirements pertaining to such
applications shall submit a preliminary site plan as provided above.
The Planning Board shall review the preliminary site plan, advise
the applicant as to potential problems and concerns and determine
if any additional site plan information is required. The Planning
Board shall consider such site plan as adequate when, in its judgment,
the information submitted is sufficient to make a determination of
compliance with the development standards contained herein and the
intent of site plan review criteria found below.
E.
Nothing herein shall authorize the Planning Board to waive State
Environmental Quality Review requirements.
The Planning Board shall fix a time, within 62 days from the
day an application for a special use permit or site plan approval
is made, for the hearing of any matter referred to under this section.
It shall give public notice of such hearing at least five days prior
to it in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village and decide
upon the application within 62 days after such hearing. It shall not,
however, grant approval before a decision has been made with respect
to environmental impacts pursuant to SEQR. The decision of the Planning
Board shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk and a copy
thereof mailed to the applicant within five business days after such
decision is rendered.
The Planning Board shall have the authority to impose such reasonable
conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental
to the proposed special use permit or site plan. Upon approval of
said permit and/or plan, any such conditions shall be met prior to
the actual issuance of permits by the Village. These conditions may
include requirements of the applicant to provide parkland or to provide
fees in lieu thereof pursuant to § 7-725-a(6) of the New
York State Village Law.
[Amended 4-20-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
The Planning Board is authorized to refer special use permit
applications and site plans to other agencies, groups or professionals
employed or used by the Village for review and comment and to charge
the applicant fees for any reasonable expenses connected therewith.
The Planning Board shall also refer all special use applications to
the Fire Department for review whenever any new use is proposed that
potentially changes emergency access or water requirements or otherwise
impacts fire-fighting capabilities or risk. The Board shall in particular
ensure that the requirements of § 239-m of the General Municipal
Law regarding review by the Sullivan County Planning Department are
met. It shall also comply with all requirements of the New York State
Environmental Quality Review Act.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Planning Board or
any officer, department, board or bureau of the Village may apply
to the Supreme Court for review by a proceeding under Article 78 of
the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
The site plan as approved by the Planning Board shall be binding
upon the applicant. Any changes from the approved plan shall require
resubmission and reapproval by the Planning Board. The site plan shall
remain effective, as an authorization to establish the use, for a
maximum of two years from the date of approval unless the Planning
Board shall have granted an extension in writing. Absent such an extension
the special use shall be deemed to have expired. A special use which
has been discontinued for a period of two or more years shall also
be deemed to have lapsed.
The Planning Board may require, at the time it is initially
granted, that any special use approval be renewed periodically. Such
renewal shall be granted following public notice and hearing and may
be withheld only upon a determination that the conditions attached
to any previous approval have not been met. A period of 62 days shall
be granted the applicant in such cases to make remedies and bring
the use into full compliance with the terms of the special use approval.
Should the applicant fail to make such remedies, the special use approval
shall be revoked and the use immediately discontinued.
The Planning Board, in reviewing the site plan, shall consider
its conformity to the Village of Woodridge Master Plan and the various
other plans, laws and ordinances of the Village. Conservation features,
aesthetics, landscaping and impact on surrounding development as well
as on the entire Village shall also be part of the Planning Board
review. The Board, in acting upon the site plan, shall also be approving,
approving with modifications or disapproving the special use permit
application connected therewith. Traffic flow, circulation and parking
shall be reviewed to ensure the safety of the public and of the users
of the facility and to ensure that there is no unreasonable interference
with traffic on surrounding streets. The Board shall further consider
the following:
A.
Building design and location. Building design and location should
be suitable for the use intended and compatible with natural and man-made
surroundings. New buildings, for example, should generally be placed
along the edges and not in the middle of open fields. They should
also be sited so as to not protrude above treetops or the ridgelines
of hills seen from public places and busy highways. Building color,
materials and design should be adapted to surroundings as opposed
to adaptation of the site to the building or the building to an arbitrary
national franchise concept.
B.
Large commercial buildings. Commercial facades of more than 100 feet
in length should incorporate recesses and projections, such as windows,
awnings and arcades, along 20% of the facade length. Variations in
rooflines should be added to reduce the massive scale of these structures
and add interest. All facades of such a building that are visible
from adjoining streets or properties should exhibit features comparable
in character to the front so as to better integrate with the community.
Where such facades face adjacent residential uses, earthen berms planted
with evergreen trees should be provided. Loading docks and accessory
facilities should be incorporated in the building design and screened
with materials comparable in quality to the principal structure. Sidewalks
should be provided along the full length of any facade with a customer
entrance and integrated into a system of internal landscape-defined
pedestrian walkways breaking up all parking areas.
C.
Lighting and signage. Improvements made to the property should not
detract from the character of the neighborhood by producing excessive
lighting or unnecessary sign proliferation. Recessed lighting and
landscaped ground signs are preferred.
D.
Parking and accessory buildings. Parking areas should be placed in
the rear whenever possible and provide for connections with adjoining
lots. Accessory buildings should also be located in the rear with
access from rear alleys. If placement in the rear is not possible,
parking lots should be located to the side with screening from the
street.
E.
Drainage systems. Storm drainage, flooding and erosion and sedimentation
controls should be employed to prevent encroachment upon or injury
to persons, water damage to property and siltation to streams, wetlands
and other water bodies.
F.
Driveway and road construction. Whenever feasible, existing roads
onto or across properties should be retained and reused instead of
building new, so as to maximize the use of present features such as
stone walls and tree borders and avoid unnecessary destruction of
landscape and tree canopy. Developers building new driveways or roads
through wooded areas should reduce removal of tree canopy by restricting
clearing and pavement width to the minimum required for safely accommodating
anticipated traffic flows.
G.
Construction on slopes. The crossing of steep slopes with roads and
driveways should be minimized, and building which does take place
on slopes should be multistoried with entrances at different levels
as opposed to regrading the site flat.
H.
Tree borders. New driveways onto principal thoroughfares should be
minimized for both traffic safety and aesthetic purposes and interior
access drives which preserve tree borders along highways should be
used as an alternative. Developers who preserve tree borders should
be permitted to recover density on the interior of their property
through use of clustering.
I.
Development at intersections. Building sites at prominent intersections
of new developments should be reserved for equally prominent buildings
or features which will appropriately terminate the street vistas.
All street corners should be defined with buildings, trees or sidewalks.
J.
Streets and sidewalks. Cul-de-sac and dead-end streets should be
discouraged in favor of roads and drives which connect to existing
streets on both ends. Streets within residentially developed areas
should be accompanied by on-street parking and a sidewalk on at least
one side of the street. Sidewalks should also be provided in connection
with new commercial development adjacent to residential areas and
pedestrian access should be encouraged.
K.
Setbacks. New buildings on a street should conform to the dominant
setback line and be aligned parallel to the street so as to create
a defined edge to the public space.
L.
Adjacent properties. The proposed use should not have a detrimental
impact on adjacent properties or the health, safety and welfare of
the residents of the Village of Woodridge.
M.
Conditioned approval. If the proposed use is one judged to present
detrimental impacts with respect to noise, lighting, surface runoff,
emissions or other similar factors the Planning Board shall determine
whether an approval could be conditioned in such a manner as to eliminate
or substantially reduce those impacts.
N.
Community impacts. The Planning Board shall consider whether the
use will have a positive or negative effect on the environment, job
creation, the economy, housing availability or open space preservation.
The granting of an approval should not cause an undue economic burden
on community facilities or services, including but not limited to
highways, sewage treatment facilities, water supplies and fire-fighting
capabilities. The applicant shall be responsible for providing such
improvements or additional services as may be required to adequately
serve the proposed use and any approval shall be so conditioned. The
Village shall be authorized to demand fees in support of such services
where they cannot be directly provided by the applicant. This shall
specifically apply, but not be limited to, additional fees to support
fire-district expenses.
