[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Cortland
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-7-2008 by L.L. No. 3-2008]
A.Â
Where the Common Council, Planning Commission or the Zoning Board
of Appeals use the services of private engineers, attorneys or other
consultants for purposes of engineering, scientific land use planning,
environmental or legal reviews of the adequacy or substantive details
of applications, or issues raised during the course of review of such
applications, for special use permit approvals, site plan approvals,
subdivision approvals, use or area variances, appeals of determinations,
applications for rezoning of parcels to accommodate site-specific
land development proposals or otherwise, applications for permits
to extract topsoil or natural resources, or any other principal or
ancillary land use or development permits or approvals required under
the Code of the City of Cortland, as well as to assist in assuring
or enforcing an applicant's compliance with the terms and conditions
of all the aforementioned administrative and legislative permits or
approvals, the applicant and landowner, if different, shall be jointly
and severally responsible for payment of all the reasonable and necessary
costs of such services. In no event shall that responsibility be greater
than the actual cost to the City of such engineering, legal or other
consulting costs.
B.Â
The Common Council, Planning Commission, or Zoning Board of Appeals, through or with the assistance of the City of Cortland staff, shall require advance periodic monetary deposits, to be held on account of the applicant or landowner, by the City of Cortland to secure the reimbursement of the City's consultant expenses. The initial deposit shall be in the sum as set forth in and determined in § 134-6 hereunder. The City may make payments from the deposited funds, for engineering, legal or consulting services, after audit and approval by the Common Council of itemized vouchers for such services. The City shall supply copies of such vouchers to the applicant, appropriately redacted where necessary to shield legally privileged communications between City officers or employees and the City's consultants. When it appears that there may be insufficient funds in the account established for the applicant or landowner by the City to pay current or anticipated vouchers, the applicant or landowner shall deposit additional sums to meet such expenses or anticipated expenses.
C.Â
The Director of Administration and Finance shall review and audit
all vouchers and shall approve payment only of such engineering, legal
and consultant expenses as are reasonable in amount and necessarily
incurred by the City in connection with the review and consideration
of applications for land use or development approvals, appeals of
determinations or for the monitoring, inspection or enforcement of
permits or approvals or the conditions attached thereto. For the purpose
of this review and audit, a fee shall be reasonable in amount if it
bears a reasonable relationship to the average charge by engineers,
attorneys or other consultants to the City for services performed
in connection with similar applications and, in this regard, the Director
of Administration and Finance may take into consideration the complexity,
both legal and physical, of the project proposed, including the size,
type and number of buildings to be constructed, the amount of time
to complete the project, the topography of the land on which such
project is located, soil conditions, surface water, drainage conditions,
the nature and extent of highways, drainage facilities, utilities
or parks to be constructed and special considerations as the Director
of Administration and Finance may reasonably deem relevant. A fee
for service which was rendered in order to protect or promote the
health, safety, or other vital interests of the residents of the City,
protect public or private property from damage from uncontrolled surface
water run-off, and other environmental factors, assure the proper
and timely construction of highways, drainage facilities, utilities
and parks, protect the legal interests of the City, including receipt
by the City of good and proper title to dedicated highways and other
facilities and the avoidance of claims and liability and such other
interests as the Director of Administration and Finance may deem relevant.
D.Â
The owner(s) of the subject real property, if different from the
applicant, shall be jointly and severally responsible to pay the City
of Cortland for funds expended to compensate for services rendered
to the City under this section by private engineers, attorneys or
other consultants. In order for a land use application to be complete,
the applicant shall provide the written consent of all owners of the
subject real property, both authorizing the applicant to file and
pursue land development proposals and acknowledging potential landowner
responsibility, under this section, for engineering, legal and other
consulting fees incurred by the City. In the event of failure to pay
the City for such fees, the following shall apply:
(1)Â
The City may seek recovery of unpaid engineering, legal and consulting
fees by action venued in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, and
the defendant(s) shall be responsible for the reasonable and necessary
attorney's fees expended by the City in prosecuting such action.
(2)Â
Alternatively, and at the sole discretion of the City, a default
in payment of such engineering, legal and consulting fees expended
by the City shall be remedied by charging such sums against the real
property which is the subject of the land development application,
by adding that charge to, and making it a part of, the next annual
real property tax assessment roll of the City. Such charges shall
be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as
City assessed taxes and shall be paid to the Director of Administration
and Finance, to be applied in reimbursing the fund from which the
costs were defrayed for the engineering, legal and consulting fees.
Prior to charging such assessments, the owners of the real property
shall be provided written notice to their last known address of record,
by certified mail, return receipt requested, of an opportunity to
be heard and object before the City Assessor to the proposed real
property assessment, at a date to be designated in the notice, which
shall be no less than 30 days after it is mailed.
A.Â
The costs imposed by the permitting authority (i.e., the Common Council,
Planning Commission or Zoning Board of Appeals) on the applicant under
authority of this article must be paid in full to the City, with reasonable
written proof of such payment delivered to the Code Enforcement Office,
or an adequate escrow account must exist to pay such fees and costs,
prior to any final approvals and permits being issued by the Code
Enforcement Office.
B.Â
Escrow funds may be refunded to the applicant when the applicant
formally withdraws the application from consideration by the permitting
authority, and all actual reimbursable fees and reimbursable costs
incurred by the City are first deducted from the escrow account, leaving
an unencumbered balance that is not required by the permitting authority
to pay consulting costs or fees attributable to the application being
withdrawn or being finally acted on.
C.Â
The imposition of fees authorized in this article are in addition
to and not in place of such other fee schedules currently in force;
provided, however, the fees shall not duplicate consultant fees reimbursed
under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
This article shall not apply to an area variance application
for a residential use for a single-family home located entirely in
a residential zone.
The Director of Administration and Finance or their designee
shall set up escrow funds as part of a trust and agency fund item
whereby consultant fees incurred by the City pursuant to this article
shall be audited and paid from such special fund and not the general
fund. The Director of Administration and Finance is empowered to delegate
to the Planning Commission Secretary, the Zoning Board Secretary,
the Deputy Director of Administration and Finance or the City Clerk
the functions of having custody of escrow account records.
This article shall apply to all land use permit applications,
requests for interpretation and appeals of determinations pending
before the Common Council, Planning Commission or Zoning Board of
Appeals at the time when this article is filed with the Secretary
of State. All consulting fees incurred by the City thereafter shall
be paid as provided herein.
The minimum escrow deposit shall be set by resolution of the
Common Council. The escrow account shall be replenished by the applicant
as needed until all expenses incurred by the City are paid.
