A.
Establishment. Pursuant to the provisions of § 267
of the Town Law of the State of New York, a Board of Appeals is hereby
established in the Town of Phelps.
B.
Appointment. The Board of Appeals shall consist of
five members to be appointed by the Town Board. The terms of the initial
appointees shall be for one, two, three, four and five years from
and after the date of appointment. Their successors, including such
additional members as may be appointed by the Town Board, shall be
appointed for the term of five years after the expiration of the terms
of their predecessors in office.
C.
Appointment to fill vacancies. Appointments to fill
vacancies shall be for the unexpired term of the member or members
whose term or terms become vacant. Such appointments to fill such
vacancies shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment.
D.
General grant of power. The Board of Appeals shall
perform all the duties and have all the powers prescribed by the laws
of the State of New York and as herein described.
E.
Votes necessary for a decision. The concurring vote
of a majority of the members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary
to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the
Code Enforcement Officer or to decide in favor of the appellant any
matter upon which it is required to pass under the terms of this chapter
or to effect any variation of this chapter.
[Added 12-22-1997 by L.L. No. 4-1997]
A.
Title. This section shall be known as a "Local Law
Designating the Appointment of an Alternate Member to the Town of
Phelps Zoning Board of Appeals."
B.
Appointment; term; compensation. The Town Board of
the Town of Phelps, Ontario County, New York, hereby designates that,
in addition to the five regular members of the Zoning Board of Appeals,
one alternate member shall be appointed to serve on the Town of Phelps
Zoning Board of Appeals. An alternate member shall be appointed by
resolution of the Town Board, and the term of office shall be for
five years. The Town Board may provide for compensation to be paid
to said alternate.
C.
Incompatible offices; conflict of interest. As with
regular members, the alternate member shall hold no elective office
in the Town of Phelps nor be permitted to act on any matter in which
he/she or she has, either directly or indirectly, any personal or
financial interest.
D.
Voting privileges. The alternate member may participate
in discussions of the proceedings but may not vote except in the absence
of a quorum of a regular meeting. A vote shall not be delayed in order
that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member. The
absent regular member shall not thereafter vote in any manner with
respect to that application.
E.
Amendment of Town Law. The foregoing provisions shall,
where applicable, specifically amend and supersede § 267
of the Town Law of the State of New York. Where not so amended, § 267
shall remain in full force and effect.
[Amended 10-3-1994 by L.L. No. 2-1994]
A.
Orders, requirements, decisions, interpretations,
determinations. The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly
or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, interpretation
or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement,
decision, interpretation or determination as, in its opinion, ought
to have been made in the matter by the administrative official charged
with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law and to that end
shall have all the powers of the administrative official from whose
order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination the
appeal is taken.
B.
Use variances.
(1)
The Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision
or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement
of such ordinance or local law, shall have the power to grant use
variances, as defined herein.
(2)
No such use variance shall be granted by a Board of
Appeals without a showing by the applicant that applicable zoning
regulations and restrictions have caused unnecessary hardship. In
order to prove such unnecessary hardship, the applicant shall demonstrate
to the Board of Appeals that under applicable zoning regulations the
applicant is deprived of all economic use or benefit from the property
in question, which deprivation must be established by competent financial
evidence; that the alleged hardship relating to the property in question
is unique and does not apply to a substantial portion of the district
or neighborhood; that the requested use variance, if granted, will
not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and that the
alleged hardship has not been self-created.
(3)
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of use variances,
shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and
adequate to address the unnecessary hardship proven by the applicant
and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood
and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
C.
Area variances.
(1)
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power,
upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the administrative
official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law,
to grant area variances, as defined herein.
(2)
In making its determination, the Zoning Board of Appeals
shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the
variance is granted, as weighed against the detriment to the health,
safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant.
In making such determination the Board shall also consider whether
an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood
or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting
of the area variance; whether the benefit sought by the applicant
can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue,
other than an area variance; whether the requested area variance is
substantial; whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect
or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood
or district; and whether the alleged difficulty was self-created,
which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Board
of Appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the
area variance.
(3)
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of area variances,
shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and
adequate and at the same time preserve and protect the character of
the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
D.
Imposition of conditions. The Board of Appeals shall,
in the granting of both use variances and area variances, have the
authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as
are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the
property and/or the period of time such variance shall be in effect.
Such conditions shall be consistent with the spirit and intent of
this Zoning Chapter and shall be imposed for the purpose of minimizing
any adverse impact such variance may have on the neighborhood or community.
A.
The Board of Appeals shall act in strict accordance with the procedure specified by law and by this chapter. All appeals and applications made to the Board shall be in writing, on forms prescribed by the Code Enforcement Officer and in accordance with § 145-57. Every appeal or application shall refer to the specific provision of this chapter involved and shall exactly set forth the interpretation that is claimed, the use for which the special permit is sought or the details of the variance that is applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the variance should be granted, as the case may be. At least 30 days before the date of the hearing required by law on an application or appeal to the Board of Appeals, the Secretary of said Board shall transmit to the Planning Board a copy of said application or appeal, together with a copy of the notice of the aforesaid hearing and shall request that the Planning Board make a determination in accordance with § 145-54.
B.
Every decision of the Board of Appeals shall be by
resolution, each of which shall contain a full record of the findings
of the Board in the particular case.
