[Adopted 8-10-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
As used in this article, the following terms
have the following meanings:
LAND USE APPLICATION
Any application for a subdivision, site plan, specific permit,
use variance, zoning amendment, rezoning or zoning interpretation.
The application shall also be deemed to include the SEQR-related environmental
documents submitted to evaluate the proposed action.
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT
The Town's planning, engineering and legal consultants. The
term also includes other specialized consultants in land use and environmental
matters retained in individual cases, including title examiners, traffic
consultants, and other technical and environmental experts,
REVIEWING BOARD
The Town Board, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of
Appeals, as the case may be.
Payment by the applicant of professional fees
actually incurred in the review of the application shall be required
prior to:
A. Any approval of the application by the reviewing board.
The Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board, as the case may be,
shall not take any action or grant approval of any kind on any application
until the Clerk/Secretary has certified to the Board that review fees
actually incurred to the date of approval under this article have
been fully paid and/or reimbursed and that sufficient escrow amounts
remain to cover any costs for professional reviews which will be incurred
thereafter until the conclusion of the matter, including time spent
but not yet billed as of the date of final Planning Board action,
costs for review of proposed deeds and offers of cession, and similar
matters.
B. Any administrative action in furtherance of an approval.
In the event that any approval is granted and professional review
fees remain to be paid, the reviewing board shall not take any further
administrative action in furtherance of the approval until sufficient
provision is made for the payment of these fees. For example, no rezoning
amendment at the request of an applicant shall be forwarded for filing
with the Secretary of State until the Clerk/Secretary of the Planning
Board has certified, in writing, to the Town Clerk that all professional
review fees actually incurred to date have been fully paid and/or
reimbursed and that sufficient escrow amounts remain to cover any
professional review costs which will be incurred thereafter until
the conclusion of the matter. Similarly, no site plan or subdivision
plat approved by the Planning Board shall be signed unless the Clerk/Secretary
has certified, in writing, to the Chair that all professional review
fees actually incurred to date have been fully paid and/or reimbursed
and that sufficient escrow amounts remain to cover any costs for professional
reviews which will be incurred thereafter until the conclusion of
the matter.
C. Issuance of building permits and certificates of occupancy.
No building permits or certificates of occupancy or use shall be issued
unless all professional review fees charged in connection with the
project have been paid and reimbursed.
Any balance remaining in the escrow account
shall be refunded within a reasonable time upon the applicant's request,
upon completion of project review, or upon withdrawal of an application,
after all fees already incurred by the Town are first paid and deducted
from the escrow account.
In the event the applicant fails to reimburse
to the Town funds expended to consultants as provided herein, the
following remedies may apply:
A. The Town may seek recovery of billed and unpaid fees
by bringing an action venued in a court of appropriate jurisdiction,
and the applicant shall pay the Town's reasonable attorney fees in
prosecuting such action in addition to any judgment.
B. Alternatively, and at the sole discretion of the Town
Board, an applicant's failure to comply with this article by paying
professional review fees by escrow, or in failing to reimburse the
Town for fees expended by the Town for professional review fees, may
be remedied by charging such sums, together with any legal or other
professional fees incurred in collection efforts, against the real
property that is subject to the permit application and by adding that
charge to and making it a part of the next annual real property tax
assessment roll of the Town. Prior to charging such assessments, the
real property owners shall be provided with written notice to the
applicant, at its last known address as contained in the permit application
and to the property owner, if other than the applicant, at the owner's
address of record as contained in the current assessment roll. Such
written notice shall be sent certified mail, return receipt requested.
Such notice shall inform the owner and applicant of the delinquent
amount of fees owed to the Town and shall provide an opportunity to
be heard and object, before the Town Board, to the proposed additional
real property assessment, at a date to be designated in the notice,
which shall be not less than 30 days after the mailing. If and when
imposed, such charges shall be levied and collected at the same time
and in the same manner as general Town taxes, and such fees shall
be applied to reimbursing the account from which the professional
review fees were paid.