[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Rye Brook 3-22-2005 by L.L. No. 5-2005. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Code of Ethics — See Ch. 24.
Professional fees — See Ch. 47.
Conservation easements — See Ch. 105.
Erosion and sediment control — See Ch. 118.
Excavations and topsoil removal — See Ch. 121.
Site plan review — See Ch. 209.
Steep slope protection — See Ch. 213.
Stop-work orders — See Ch. 214.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 219.
Wetlands and watercourses — See Ch. 245.
Zoning — See Ch. 250.
The purpose of this chapter is to define the authority of the Planning Board of the Village of Rye Brook.
A. 
Final approval authority.
(1) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to review and approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove, preliminary and final minor subdivision plats showing lots, blocks or sites, with or without streets, within the Village of Rye Brook, in accordance with the definitions and requirements set forth in Chapter 219 of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook. The Clerk of the Village shall file a certificate with the County Clerk under § 7-728(3) of the Village Law informing the County Clerk that the Planning Board has been granted minor subdivision approval authority.
(2) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to review and approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove site plan applications for parcels of less than four acres within the Village of Rye Brook, where a site plan is required under the Zoning Law[1] or under the provisions of Chapter 209 of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook, in addition to all site plan applications enumerated at § 209-1A(2) of the Village of Rye Brook Code.
[Amended 1-28-2014 by L.L. No. 2-2014; 9-9-2014 by L.L. No. 6-2014]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 250, Zoning.
(3) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to review and approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove wetland permits in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 245, Wetlands and Watercourses, of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook.
(4) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to review and approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove steep slope permits in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 213, Steep Slope Protection, of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook.
(5) 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to review and approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove such other applications or permits as hereinafter delegated by the Village Board.
B. 
Advisory authority.
(1) 
The Planning Board shall review and make recommendations to the Village Board on all major subdivision applications, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 219, Subdivision of Land, of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook.
(2) 
The Planning Board shall review and make recommendations to the Village Board on all site plan applications for parcels of four or more acres and all other site plan applications not hereby prescribed to fall within the final approval authority of the Planning Board, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 209, Site Plan Review, of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook.
(3) 
The Planning Board shall review and make recommendations to the Village Board on all site plan and subdivision applications concerning property within a PUD District.
(4) 
Where the Village Board has been designated the approval authority for special use permit applications, the Planning Board shall review and make recommendations to the Village Board on such special use permit applications and all site plan applications submitted in connection with such special use permit application, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 250, Zoning, of the Code of the Village of Rye Brook.
[Amended 9-9-2014 by L.L. No. 6-2014]
(5) 
The Planning Board shall review and make recommendations to the Village Board on all other matters referred to the Planning Board at the Village Board's discretion.
A. 
Membership.
(1) 
The Planning Board shall be composed of seven members appointed by the Mayor, subject to the approval of the Village Board.
(2) 
The Chairperson of the Planning Board shall be appointed annually by a majority vote of the Village Board. In appointing a Chairperson, the Village Board shall carefully weigh the relative merits of continuity and competence verses rotation and fresh approaches.
B. 
Term of office.
(1) 
The term of office of members of the Planning Board shall be five years, except that the first appointments after reconstitution of the Planning Board, effective as of the April 2005 term, shall be made as set forth in Subsection B(2) of this section.
(2) 
The Planning Board shall be fully reconstituted by the Village Board, effective as of the April 2005 term. The terms of members of the Planning Board first appointed, effective as of the reconstitution, shall be so fixed that the term of two members shall expire at the end of the Village official year in which such members were initially appointed. The terms of the remaining members first appointed shall be so fixed that one term shall expire at the end of each official year thereafter, except that two members terms shall expire after a five-year term. At the expiration of the term of each member first appointed, such member may be reappointed or his or her successor shall be appointed for a five-year term.
C. 
Vacancies. If a vacancy shall occur other than by expiration of term, the Mayor shall appoint a new member for the unexpired term, subject to approval by the Village Board.
D. 
No person who is a member of the Village Board shall be eligible for membership on the Planning Board.
The members of the Planning Board shall serve without compensation.
The Village Board is hereby authorized and empowered to make such appropriation as it may see fit for Planning Board expenses. The Planning Board shall have the power and authority to employ experts, clerks and a secretary and to pay for their services, and to provide for such other expenses as may be necessary and proper, not exceeding, in all, the appropriation that may be made for such expenses by the Village Board for the Planning Board.
Every formal motion or resolution of the Planning Board shall require for its adoption the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the Planning Board.
The Planning Board will have both primary and advisory functions as set forth in § 179-2 of this chapter.
The Planning Board shall be required to meet twice monthly on the second and fourth Thursdays of each calendar month.
A. 
If a member must miss a regularly scheduled meeting, she or he shall advise the Chair in advance and shall, at the discretion of the Chair, be recorded as "excused" for the meeting missed. In the event that a member is absent for five regularly scheduled meetings in any one calendar year, or without excuse for two consecutive meetings, the Chair shall notify the Mayor, and the member shall be, unless good cause is shown, deemed to have resigned, and a replacement shall be appointed by the Village Board for the balance of the term outstanding.
[Amended 4-11-2006 by L.L. No. 9-2006]
B. 
The Village Board shall have the authority to remove any member of the Planning Board for just cause after notice and a public hearing.
[Amended 1-9-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007]
A. 
Planning Board members shall be subject to compulsory annual education, at the spring Westchester Planning Federation/Pace Law School program or with another provider of an acceptable curriculum as approved by the Village as follows:
(1) 
New members. All first-year members of the Planning Board shall be required to attend all four scheduled sessions of the Westchester Planning Federation/Pace Law School program or another similar program as determined by the Village Board or Village Administrator. The programs must amount to a total minimum of four training hours.
(2) 
Returning members. All returning members shall be required to attend at least two sessions of the Westchester Planning Federation/Pace Law School program or another similar program as determined by the Village Board or the Village Administrator. The programs must amount to a total minimum of four training hours.
(3) 
Current members. All current members of the Planning Board who have served for at least one year, as of the effective date of this chapter, shall be deemed returning members. Current members who have not served for at least one year, as of the effective date of this chapter, shall be deemed new members.
B. 
The Village shall reimburse Planning Board members for any expenses associated with the completion of compulsory continuing education.
C. 
The above requirements of this section may be waived by resolution of the Village Board.
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the provisions of the Village Law with respect to terms of office of Planning Board members.
[Added 5-10-2005 by L.L. No. 6-2005]
A. 
In order to facilitate the planning process, the Village Board and/or the Planning Board, where applicable, shall have the discretion at any time during their review of a site plan application, subdivision application or in connection with any other zoning or land use application or request for a permit, to refer an application or permit to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a determination as to any variance relief or zoning interpretation needed, in connection with such application or permit. The referral to the Zoning Board of Appeals shall include a referral resolution outlining any planning issues which may impact the zoning relief requested but shall not include a recommendation as to the variance or interpretation referred. All variances requested in connection with such application shall be included in the referral from the Village Board and/or Planning Board. Any final determination by the Village Board and/or Planning Board with respect to any such referred application or permit shall be conditioned upon the Zoning Board of Appeals granting a variance or rendering a zoning interpretation, if applicable.
[Amended 8-12-2008 by L.L. No. 7-2008]
B. 
Whenever a use variance is sought in connection with a site plan application, subdivision application or in connection with any other zoning or land use application or request for a permit, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall first make a determination on the use variance relief sought prior to final review of the other land use application(s) by the Village Board, the Planning Board or any other agency serving in an advisory capacity or as the designated approval authority. The Zoning Board of Appeals may request that the Village Board, the Planning Board or any other agency serving in an advisory capacity or as the designated approval authority for an application or permit, engage in preliminary review of a site plan, subdivision or other zoning or land use application or permit, for the purpose of providing input on related planning issues to the Zoning Board of Appeals relevant to the Zoning Board of Appeals review of the use variance application.