All uses listed as subject to special permit
authorized by the Town Board are declared to possess characteristics
of such unique and special form that each such use shall be considered
as an individual case. Such uses shall be deemed to be permitted uses
in their respective districts, subject to the requirements of this
section in addition to other requirements of this chapter. Application
for special permits shall be obtained from the Town Clerk.
A. Standards applicable to special uses.
(1) The location and size of the use, the nature and intensity
of the operations involved in or conducted in connection with it,
the size of the site in relation to it and the location of the site
in respect to streets giving access thereto shall be such that such
use will be in harmony with the orderly development of the district
in which it is located.
(2) Screening or other protective measures shall be adequate
to protect any adjacent properties in any R District from objectionable
aspects of any such special use.
(3) Off-street parking areas shall be of adequate size
for the particular use, and access drives shall be laid out so as
to achieve maximum safety.
(4) The Town Board may prescribe any conditions that it
deems to be necessary or desirable and shall require a site plan of
the proposed development showing pertinent information to aid it in
making a determination on the application.
[Amended 8-17-1987]
B. Public hearing.
(1) Before authorizing a special permit, the Town Board
shall give public notice and hold a public hearing on the application
for such special permit in the same manner as required by law for
amendments to a zoning ordinance. In case of a protest against such
special permit by the owners of 20% or more of the area of the land
immediately adjacent to the land involved and extending 100 feet therefrom
or of the land directly opposite thereto and land extending 100 feet
from the street frontage of such opposite land, such special permit
shall not be authorized except by the favorable vote of at least four
members of the Town Board.
(2) Prior to such public hearing, the application shall
be referred to the Town Planning Board for report and recommendation.
In the event that the Planning Board shall fail to submit a report
within 45 days after said referral, the Town Board shall hold such
public hearing at the earliest possible date.
C. Limitations. A special permit shall be deemed to authorize
only the particular use or uses specified in the permit and shall
apply only to the area specified in the permit. A special permit shall
expire if the special use or uses shall cease for more than one year
for any reason.
D. Exceptions. The requirement for a special permit shall
not apply to any use lawfully existing on the effective date of this
chapter or, in the case of a special permit for a cemetery, to land
owned by a cemetery corporation or religious organization and which,
on the effective date of this chapter, was dedicated for cemetery
purposes.
The following temporary structures shall be
deemed to be permitted uses in all zoning districts:
A. Temporary portable storage containers shall require
a building permit if they are to remain on the property for over a
thirty-day period of time. The placement is not permitted in any required
setback.
[Added 11-28-2011 by L.L. No. 3-2011]
B. The temporary use of a dwelling as a model home shall
be permitted for a period of time not to exceed one year.
C. Any temporary structure or use permitted by the Board of Appeals as authorized in Article
VII.
Any portion of a lot used for open off-street
parking or reservoir space or for open sales, service or storage areas
for motor vehicles, contractors' equipment or boats shall be deemed
to be an automotive use area. New automotive use areas or enlargements
of existing automotive use areas shall be subject to the following
requirements:
A. Surfacing. Every automotive use area and access driveway
thereto shall be surfaced with a durable and dustless material and
shall be so graded and drained as to dispose of surface water accumulation.
B. Lighting. Any fixture used to illuminate any automotive
use area shall be so arranged as to direct the light away from the
street and away from adjoining premises in any R District.
C. Screening. Every automotive use area, except off-street
parking areas for less than five vehicles, shall be screened from
any adjoining lot in any R District, including lots situated across
the street, as follows:
(1) Along a street line, by a planting strip five feet
wide; provided, however, that no shrub planting or tree foliage shall
be placed or maintained which obstructs vision at an elevation between
three feet and seven feet above the street level. Such screening may
be interrupted by normal entrances and exits.
(2) Along a rear lot line or an interior side lot line
which abuts on existing or future rear yard or side yard on such adjoining
lots, by a compact evergreen hedge which will reach a height of five
feet within three years or by a solid fence or an unpierced masonry
wall five feet in height.
(3) Such screening shall be maintained in good condition
at all times.
D. Access.
(1) No entrance or exit to any automotive use area shall
be permitted within 30 feet of any intersecting street lines, and
except for off-street parking areas for uses permitted in any R District
requiring less than 10 parking spaces, no entrance or exit shall be
permitted within 10 feet of a lot in any R District.
(2) Access to automotive areas, except for off-street
parking areas in R Districts for less than 10 vehicles, shall be approved
by the Town Engineer and shall be so arranged that vehicles shall
not back into a street.
E. Restriction on use. No automotive use area shall be
used for auto wrecking or for the storage of wrecked, partially dismantled
or junked vehicles or equipment or of motor vehicles which do not
qualify for New York State motor vehicle registration.
The removal of topsoil or the excavation of
clay, gravel, rock, sand, shale or other earth or mineral deposits
shall be permitted in any district, subject to separate regulating
ordinances of the Town of West Seneca; provided, however, that where any such material is to
be sold or removed from the premises, such use shall be permitted
only by special permit authorized by the Town Board.