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Village of Briarcliff Manor, NY
Westchester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (3) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Briarcliff Manor as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-17-1998 by L.L. No. 5-1998]
The Village of Briarcliff Manor incurs significant expenses in the operation of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Village Board of Trustees, the office of the Building Inspector and the Police Department in administering the Municipal Code. Further, the Village incurs costs in connection with production of documents and photocopying. There is hereby established a local law whereby the Village Board of Trustees shall have the authority to impose and collect all reasonably necessary administrative fees in connection with any application as set forth or as may hereinafter be set forth in the laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor and review of said applications, including but not limited to, fees to be paid in connection with any application for licenses, permits, public safety and health matters, and planning, zoning, building and construction approval. These fees are necessary to carry out the Village of Briarcliff Manor's regulatory measures.
The Village Board of Trustees shall establish, by resolution, a Master Fee Schedule setting forth the fees to be charged to applicants in connection with all applications made pursuant to the laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor, including but not limited to any application for licenses, permits, public safety and health matters, and planning, zoning, building and construction approval. The Village Board of Trustees may also set forth fees in the Master Fee Schedule for reimbursement of various administrative fees, including, but not limited to, the cost of photocopies, preparation of birth and death certificates, and rental of the Village Recreation Hall, Village Youth Center and Village Court Room. The Master Fee Schedule may be amended by resolution from time to time, as the Village Board of Trustees deems necessary.
All administrative costs that are reasonably necessary in carrying out the objectives of the laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor shall be charged to the applicant. Administrative costs shall be set forth in the Master Fee Schedule, and shall be reflected as the actual costs of administering and reviewing such applications by the Village. For the purpose of this article, administrative costs shall include, but are not limited to, actual costs involved in processing applications, preparation of hearing notices, publication of hearing notices, providing notice to other governmental agencies, preparation of affidavits of posting and publication, preparation and maintenance of official records regarding the application and municipal review of the application, processing of resolutions, photocopies, preparation of birth and death certificates, rental of the Village Recreation Hall, Village Youth Center and Village Court Room and other similarly related and necessary costs in connection with administering the laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor.
Unless otherwise specifically provided in this article, the fees required pursuant to this article shall be paid in advance upon submission of the application. The failure to submit the full payment required shall render the application incomplete.
Whenever an extension is necessary to prevent an approval from lapsing or becoming otherwise void, the first such request for an extension shall be processed at no charge. The second and each subsequent request for an extension shall be processed only upon prior payment of fees established pursuant to the Master Fee Schedule.
[Adopted 9-17-1998 by L.L. No. 6-1998]
The Village of Briarcliff Manor incurs significant expenses in professional consultant review of applications for subdivisions, site plans, special permits, wetlands permits, zoning amendments and any similar or related local, county, state or federal laws and procedures, and such professional consultant review is necessary to carry out the purposes of the laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor. There is hereby established the authority to submit any such land use application which may come before any board in the Village to a professional consultant, such as a planner, engineer, attorney, environmental expert, or other professional consultant as it may deem reasonably necessary to enable it to review such applications as required by law.
[Amended 12-4-2008 by L.L. No. 3-2008]
A. 
The Village Board of Trustees, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals may, in the review of any application which may come before it, refer such application presented to it to such planner, engineer, environmental expert, attorney or other professional consultant as the reviewing board shall deem reasonably necessary to enable it to review such application as required by law. Fees charged by such professionals shall be in accord with fees usually charged for such services in the metropolitan New York region and pursuant to a contractual agreement between the Village and such professional consultant. All such charges shall be paid by the Village upon submission of a Village voucher by such professional consultant.
B. 
The applicant shall be provided with copies of any Village voucher for such professional consultant review services as they are submitted to the Village. The applicant shall reimburse the Village for the cost of such professional consultant review services directly upon billing or in accordance with the procedures described in § 122-8 herein. The payment of such fees shall be a condition of any approval and shall be set forth in any resolution of approval and shall be required in addition to any and all other fees required in connection with the review of the application as set forth in any laws of the Village of Briarcliff Manor or the Master Fee Schedule.
C. 
An applicant may appeal any charges for professional review fees to the Board of Trustees before or after payment. Any such appeal shall be made at any time before the passage of 90 days after the reviewing board has disposed of the application and shall be promptly determined by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall receive, hear and determine appeals in accordance with the following procedures:
(1) 
To appeal any charge of consultant fees, an applicant who is appealing shall write to the Board of Trustees and fully describe:
(a) 
Specific fee(s) from Village consultant which is being appealed.
(b) 
Rationale for appeal of fee. Rationale shall be specific as to why the fee should not have been charged under the standards of Village Code § 122-7. Generalized rationale and/or explanations will not be deemed responsive (e.g., the fee was excessive or making the applicant pay is unfair).
(c) 
Relief requested on the appeal.
(d) 
Whether the appellant wants to meet with the Board to answer any questions the Board may have in regards to their appeal or whether the questions will be addressed via mail or email.
(e) 
Whether the appellant wants to meet with the Board to present their appeal, in addition to the written appeal documents which must be submitted to the Board.
(2) 
The Board of Trustees shall determine whether there is sufficient information upon which to render a decision on the appeal. If more information is needed, the appellant will be contacted prior to any presentation and/or meeting with the Board.
(3) 
The appellant shall have a right to meet with the Board of Trustees in person. Appeal meetings shall be scheduled within 30 days of accepted notice and, in general, shall be scheduled prior to a regularly scheduled Board of Trustees work session.
(4) 
All decisions of the Board of Trustees shall be final. A determination by the Board of Trustees shall be rendered within 10 days of the appeal meeting or within 30 days of accepted notice if no appeal meeting is required. There shall be no administrative appeal of the decision of the Board of Trustees.
(5) 
During the appeal process, the application for which the fees have been charged and are being appealed shall continue to be heard by the Planning Board.
(6) 
If the Board of Trustees determines that the payment of the consultant fees by the appellant is appropriate, the payment of the fees shall be made and the escrow account relating to the application replenished within 10 days of written determination by the Board of Trustees.
(7) 
The provisions of this subsection and of Village Code § 122-7 shall continue to apply to review of any application during and after any appeal process.
D. 
Proof of payment of all professional consultant review fees shall be obtained by the applicant from the Village of Briarcliff Manor Treasurer and presented to the Secretary or Clerk of the reviewing board having jurisdiction over the application. No building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued nor shall any use or work be authorized under any resolution of approval unless all professional review fees charged in connection with the applicant's project have been reimbursed to the Village.
E. 
In the event that an application is required to be reviewed by more than one reviewing board, then in such event and to the extent applicable, each such reviewing board shall use the same consultant who shall in such case prepare one report providing the data, information and recommendations requested. In all instances, duplication of consultants' reports shall be avoided wherever possible in order to minimize the cost of such consultant's reports to the applicant.
[Amended 12-4-2008 by L.L. No. 3-2008]
At the time of submission of any application which may come before it, the reviewing board shall require the establishment of an escrow account as set forth by the Board of Trustees in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended from time to time, from which withdrawals shall be made to reimburse the Village for the cost of professional review services. The applicant shall then provide funds to the Village for deposit into such account, in an account to be determined by the Village Board based on its evaluation of the nature and complexity of various application categories. No application shall be considered complete for review purposes until said escrow account is funded in accordance therewith. When the balance in such escrow account is reduced to 1/3 of its initial amount, the applicant shall deposit additional funds into such account in an amount to be determined by the reviewing board, which funds shall bring the escrow account balance up to an amount not to exceed the initial deposit, unless mutually agreed to by the Village and the applicant. If such account is not replenished or the amount appealed pursuant to § 122-7C within 30 days after the applicant is notified, in writing, of the requirement for such additional deposit, the reviewing board may suspend its review of the application. Neither the Village Board of Trustees or Planning Board, as the case may be, shall be obligated to comply with any time periods for review of site plans, special permits and subdivisions pursuant to state or local law if the applicant falls to replenish the account or appeal the charges as aforesaid. Any such time periods shall begin to accrue again upon receipt of the required payment in the amount noticed or finally determined after appeal. After all pertinent charges have been paid, the Village shall refund to the applicant any funds remaining on deposit.
All fees required pursuant to this article shall be collected by the Village Treasurer.
[Amended 1-16-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003]
This article shall supersede any inconsistent provision of Article 7 of the Village Law, §§ 7-706, 7-712, 7-725-a, 7-725-b, 7-728, 7-730 and 7-738.