[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Rye Brook 8-9-1994 by L.L. No. 9-1994; amended in its entirety 10-27-2020 by L.L. No.
9-2020. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Board of Trustees, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of
Appeals, Board of Architectural Review, Superintendent of Public Works/Village
Engineer and Building Inspector may retain the services of a planner,
engineer, environmental expert, attorney or other professional or
consultant as they deem necessary to ensure the timely and thorough
review of any application or appeal that comes before them. In such
instances, the applicant shall reimburse the Village all reasonable
and necessary fees and expenses incurred for such services, in addition
to any other fee that may be payable in connection with such matters.
B.
All charges for consulting services shall be audited by the Village
Treasurer and/or Superintendent of Public Works/Village Engineer.
Reimbursable applicant costs shall be limited to those that are reasonable
in amount and are necessary for the Village's review and action
on the application in accordance with the law.
(1)
Fees charged by such consultants shall be deemed reasonable when
in accord with the fees usually charged for such services in the metropolitan
New York region and pursuant to a contractual agreement between the
Village and such consultant.
(2)
Such consulting charges shall be deemed necessarily incurred when
the underlying services were performed to protect or promote the health,
safety or other interests of the residents of the Village, including
without limitation services to assure the timely and thorough review
of potential adverse environmental impacts; to protect neighboring
properties from excessive surface water runoff, nuisance or other
harmful impact; to assure the proper and timely construction of roads,
drainage facilities, utilities, sidewalks and public spaces; to protect
the legal interests of the Village, including receipt by the Village
of good and proper title to dedicated roads and other facilities and
the avoidance of claims and liability; and to protect such other interests
as the Village may deem relevant based upon any of the features, conditions
or considerations associated with the application or appeal under
review.
C.
The applicant shall reimburse the Village for the cost of such consultant
services upon submission of a copy of the invoice. In the event that
an application is required to be reviewed by more than one Board,
then, in such event and to the extent practicable, both Boards shall
use the same consultant, who shall, in such case, to the extent practicable,
prepare one report providing data, information and recommendations
requested. In all instances, duplications of consultants' reports
or services shall be sought to be avoided wherever practicable in
order to minimize 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.
A.
An escrow account to pay such consultant's fees may be required
where the Village deems it necessary to retain a consultant regarding
the application for the following applications:
B.
The applicant shall submit a separate check in an amount to be determined
by the Village Administrator or Superintendent of Public Works/Village
Engineer, but not less than $250 nor more than $2,500, to be used
to establish an escrow account, from which withdrawals shall be made
to reimburse the Village for the costs of professional review services.
C.
The applicant shall be provided with copies of any Village invoice for such services as they are submitted to the Village. All costs charged to the applicant shall be those reasonable and necessary to the decisionmaking function of the reviewing board as set/defined in § 47-1B.
D.
The applicant shall be required, from time to time, to deliver additional
funds to the Village for deposit in the escrow account if such additional
funds are required to pay for professional consultation services rendered
to the Village or anticipated to be rendered. This amount shall be
determined by the reviewing board or the Superintendent of Public
Works/Village Engineer based on an evaluation of the nature and complexity
of the application.
E.
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. An
application shall be deemed incomplete if any amount shall be outstanding.
F.
In the event that any application before any Board or department
is withdrawn prior to any actions being taken, the applicant is nevertheless
responsible for any expenses incurred by the Village with regard to
said application prior to such withdrawal.
G.
A deposit in escrow may be required at any stage in the application
process, including but not limited to preapplication discussions with
the applicant.
H.
The applicant shall be provided with copies of any invoice for consultant
fees as they are submitted to the Village and with Village staff time
records for services for which reimbursement is sought.
I.
Escrow funds shall be refunded to the applicant when the applicant
formally withdraws the application from consideration by the permitting
authority or when the applicant receives a final determination from
the permitting authority; in either case, all reimbursable charges
incurred by the Village shall be first deducted from the escrow account,
leaving an unencumbered balance that is not required by the permitting
authority to pay consulting costs attributable to the application.
Fees collected in accordance with the Village Code shall not be refunded.
After all pertinent costs have been paid, the Village shall refund
to the applicant any funds remaining in the escrow account within
30 days from the date of the final determination issued by permitting
authority or from the date the applicant notifies the Village, in
writing, of the withdrawal of the application. If the applicant is
indebted to the Village for any fees, the amount of money still owed
shall be added to the real property Village tax of the property and
shall become a lien against the property if not paid within 30 days
of written demand.
J.
A building permit nor certificate of occupancy or use shall not be
issued unless all professional review fees charged in connection with
the applicant's project have been paid by the applicant. In no
case shall a building permit or certificate of occupancy be issued
to the applicant if the applicant is indebted to the Village for any
professional review fees in excess of the escrow.
K.
The imposition of escrow account fees are in addition to, and not
in place of, other fee schedules currently in force.
All fees required pursuant to this chapter shall be collected
by the Clerk of the Board having jurisdiction over the application.
The current License and Fee Schedule is on file in the Village Clerk's
office.
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, in such event, require an applicant
only to pay for professional fees for the services rendered after
it shall have become effective.
