The Village of Pelham Board of Trustees or, with its consent, the Zoning
Board of Appeals (ZBA), the Planning Board (PB) and the Architectural Review
Board (ARB), in the review of any application, may refer any such application
presented to it to such engineering, planning, legal, technical or environmental
consultant or other professional consultant as such Board shall deem reasonably
necessary to enable it to review such application as required by law. Charges
made by such consultants shall be in accord with charges usually made for
such services in the metropolitan New York region or pursuant to an existing
contractual agreement between the Village and such consultant. The applicant
shall reimburse the Village for the cost of such consultant services upon
submission of a copy of a Village voucher. In the event that an application
is required to be reviewed by more than one Board, then to the extent practicable
all Boards shall use the same consultant, who shall prepare, to the extent
practicable, one report providing the data, information and recommendations
requested. In all instances, the Village will attempt to avoid duplications
of consultants' reports or services in order to minimize where practicable
the cost of such consultants' reports or services to the applicant. The
above fees are in addition to any and all other fees required by any other
law, rule or regulation or the Village Code.
At the time of submission of any application, or thereafter, the Board
of Trustees may require the establishment of an escrow account, from which
withdrawals shall be made to reimburse the Village for the costs of professional
review services. The applicant shall then provide funds to the Village for
deposit into such account in an amount to be determined by the reviewing board
based on its evaluation of the nature and complexity of the application. The
applicant shall be provided with copies of any Village voucher for such services
as they are submitted to the Village. 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 to bring its balance up to the amount of the initial
deposit. If such account is not replenished 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. Any application
shall be deemed incomplete if any amount shall be outstanding. No building
permit or certificate of occupancy or use shall be issued unless all professional
review fees charged in connection with the applicant's project have been
reimbursed to the Village. 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 chapter shall be collected by the
Village Clerk or the Village Treasurer.
This chapter shall be applicable to applications pending at the time
it shall become effective, unless the reviewing board shall determine that
its application would be impracticable, unfair or unjust in the particular
circumstances. Where this chapter shall be applicable to a pending application,
it shall require an applicant only to pay for professional fees for the services
rendered after this chapter shall have become effective.