[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Valley Stream 9-27-1999 by L.L. No. 15-1999. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
A.
The Board of Trustees hereby finds that structures
which are visually offensive or inappropriate, by reason of poor qualities
of exterior design, monotonous similarity or striking visual discord
in relation to their sites or surroundings, mar the appearances of
their areas, impair the use, enjoyment and desirability and reduce
the values of properties, are detrimental to the characters of neighborhoods,
prevent the most appropriate development and utilization of land and,
therefore, adversely affect the functioning, economic stability, prosperity,
health safety and general welfare of the entire community.
B.
It is the purpose of this chapter to preserve and
promote the character and appearances and conserve the property values
of the village, the attractiveness of whose residential and business
areas is the economic mainstay of the community, by providing procedures
for an architectural review of structures henceforth erected, reconstructed
or altered in the village and thereby: encourage good qualities of
exterior building design and good appearances and relate such design
and appearances to the sites and surroundings of structures; permit
originality and resourcefulness in building design and appearances
which are appropriate to the sites and surroundings; and prevent such
design and appearances as are unnecessarily offensive to visual sensibilities.
There is hereby established an Architectural
Review Board consisting of the five members of the Valley Stream Planning
Board who shall be appointed, with a designated Chairman, by the Mayor,
subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, and whose compensation
shall be determined by resolution of the Board of Trustees.
A.
Meetings of the Board of Architectural Review shall
be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the
Board shall determine. The Board may hold a public hearing when it
deems the same to be in the public interest. A majority of the Board
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The Board
shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member
upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote indicating such
fact, and shall also keep copies of its examinations and other official
actions.
B.
The Board shall have the power from time to time to
adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations not inconsistent with
law or the provisions of this chapter, governing its procedure and
the transaction of its business and for the purpose of carrying into
effect the standards outlined herein. Such action shall be taken after
public hearing and shall be subject to the approval of the Board of
Trustees.
A.
As soon as practicable and in any event within seven
business days after determining that an application for a building
permit for the construction, reconstruction or alteration of any building
or structure complies with all provisions of the Building Code and
the Zoning Code[1] of the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream, the Building
Department Superintendent shall transmit to each member of the Architectural
Review Board a copy of any such application, where the building or
structure comes within either of the following categories.
B.
Except at the specific request of the Board of Zoning
Appeals, any application for a building permit which falls within
any of the foregoing categories and which involves site plan review,
conditional use approval, special permit approval or a variation from
the strict application of one or more provisions of the Zoning Code[2] of the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream shall not
be referred by the Building Department Superintendent to the Architectural
Review Board, but shall be referred to the Board of Zoning Appeals
for review, consideration and decision.
C.
The Board of Architectural Review shall advise with
respect to public buildings and such other matters as the Board of
Trustees and the Board of Zoning Appeals may refer to it.
D.
Every subdivision plat filed with the Planning Board
and which involves a plan of proposed building development shall be
reviewed by the Architectural Review Board under this chapter. In
considering any such plat, the Architectural Review Board shall require
the proposed developer of the land covered by the plat to submit a
plan of proposed building development, including drawings showing
the design of the exterior appearance of all proposed buildings.
A.
Approval.
(1)
In considering an application for a permit, the Board
shall take into account natural features of the site and surroundings,
exterior design and appearances of existing structures and the character
of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular purposes,
with a view to conserving the values of property and encouraging the
most appropriate use of land.
(2)
The Board may approve any application referred to
it upon finding that the building or structure for which the permit
was requested, if erected or altered in accordance with the submitted
plan, would be in harmony with the purpose of this chapter and would
not be visually offensive or inappropriate by reason of poor quality
of exterior design, monotonous similarity or striking visual discord
in relation to the sites or surroundings; would not mar the appearance
of the area; would not impair the use, enjoyment and desirability
and reduce the values of properties in the area; would not be detrimental
to the character of the neighborhood; would not prevent the most appropriate
development and utilization of the site or of adjacent lands; and
would not adversely affect the functioning economic stability, prosperity,
health, safety and general welfare of the entire community.
(3)
Approval of any building permit shall be by vote of
at least a majority of the members of the Board of Architectural Review.
B.
Disapproval.
(1)
The Board may disapprove any application for a permit, provided that the board has afforded the applicant an opportunity to confer upon suggestions for change of the plan, and provided that the board finds and states that the structure for which the permit was requested would, if erected or altered as indicated, provoke one or more of the harmful effects set forth in § 5A-1 of this chapter by reason of:
(a)
Monotonous similarity to any other structure
or structures located or proposed to be located on the same street
or a corner thereof and within 250 feet of the site of the structure
for which a building permit is requested, in respect to one or more
of the following features of exterior design and appearance:
[1]
Substantially identical facade, disregarding
color;
[2]
Substantially identical size and arrangement
of either doors, windows, porticos, porches or garages or other openings,
breaks or extensions in the facade, including reverse arrangements;
or
[3]
Other substantially identical features, such
as, but not limited to, heights, widths and lengths of elements of
the building design, and exterior materials and treatments.
(b)
A striking dissimilarity, visual discord or
inappropriateness with respect to other structures located or proposed
to be located on the same street or a corner thereof and within 250
feet of the site of the structure for which a building permit is requested,
in respect to one or more of the following features of exterior design
and appearance:
[1]
Facade, disregarding color;
[2]
Size and arrangement of doors, windows, porticos,
porches or garages or other openings, breaks or extensions in the
facade;
[3]
Other significant design features, such as,
but not limited to, heights, widths and lengths of elements of design,
exterior materials and treatments, roof structures, exposed mechanical
equipment, service and storage areas, retaining walls, landscaping,
signs, light posts, parking areas and fences, service and loading
areas; or
[4]
Visual offensiveness or other poor qualities
of exterior design, including, with respect to signs, considerations
of the harmony or discord of colors, or incompatibility of the proposed
structure with the terrain on which it is to be located, including,
but not limited to, excessive divergences of the height or levels
of any part of the structure from the grade of the terrain.
The Building Department Superintendent shall
refuse any building permit application disapproved by the Architectural
Review Board. If the Board of Architectural Review shall fail to approve
or disapprove any application referred to it within thirty days of
the date of the referral of such application to it, the application
shall be considered to have been approved unless the applicant shall
have agreed to an extension of time.
Any person aggrieved by the action of the Architectural
Review Board or the Building Department Superintendent hereunder may
appeal therefrom to the duly constituted Board of Zoning Appeals,
and the Board of Zoning Appeals shall review such action in accordance
with the powers and authority vested in said Board by the Village
Law and may reverse, modify or affirm the action of the Architectural
Review Board or of the Building Department Superintendent.
All ordinances, local laws or resolutions, or
parts of ordinances, local laws or resolutions of the Incorporated
Village of Valley Stream inconsistent with the provisions of this
chapter are hereby repealed; provided, however, that such repeal shall
be only to the extent of such inconsistency, and in all respects this
chapter shall be in addition to other legislation regulating and governing
the subject matter covered by this chapter.
If any section, paragraph, subdivision or provision
of this chapter shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional,
the same shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole
or any part or provision thereof, other than the part so decided to
be invalid or unconstitutional.
This chapter shall take effect immediately as
provided by law.
