The provisions of this article apply to all the procedures in this part (Part 6) unless otherwise expressly stated.
A.
Form of application. Applications required under this Zoning Ordinance
must be submitted in a form and in such numbers as required by the
Code Enforcement Officer. The Code Enforcement Officer must develop
checklists of application submittal requirements and make those checklists
available to the public. Application forms and checklists of required
submittal information are available in the Code Enforcement Office.
B.
Completeness and accuracy review.
(1)
An application will be considered complete and ready for processing
only if it is submitted in the required number and form, includes
all required information and is accompanied by the required filing
fee.
(2)
If an application is determined to be incomplete, the Code Enforcement
Officer must provide paper or electronic written notice to the applicant
along with an explanation of all known deficiencies in the application
that will prevent competent review of the application. No further
processing of the application will occur until the deficiencies are
corrected. If the deficiencies are not corrected by the applicant
within 60 days, the application will be considered withdrawn.
(3)
No further processing of incomplete applications will occur,
and incomplete applications will be pulled from the processing cycle.
When the deficiencies are corrected, the application will be placed
in the next available processing cycle.
(4)
The Code Enforcement Officer may require that applications or
plans be revised before being placed on the agenda of a review or
decisionmaking body if the Code Enforcement Officer determines that:
(a)
The application or plan contains one or more significant inaccuracies
or omissions that hinder timely or competent evaluation of the plan's/application's
compliance with Zoning Ordinance standards; or
(b)
The application contains multiple minor inaccuracies or omissions
that hinder timely or competent evaluation of the plan's/application's
compliance with Zoning Ordinance standards.
C.
Application sufficiency and acceptance. Applications deemed complete
will be considered to be in the processing cycle and will be reviewed
by the Code Enforcement Officer and other review and decisionmaking
bodies in accordance with applicable review and approval procedures
of this Zoning Ordinance.
D.
Application filing fees. Application filing fees are required for
processing permit and applications to the governing boards, Planning
Boards, and Boards of Appeals. The fees help offset the cost of providing
public notice, personnel costs for plan/permit reviews and field inspections.
Fees are not required with applications initiated by the governing
body. Application fees are nonrefundable.
A.
Application processing cycles. The Code Enforcement Officer or Planning
Department as applicable, after consulting with review and decisionmaking
bodies, shall promulgate processing cycles for applications. Processing
cycles may establish:
B.
Public hearings.
(1)
Parties in interest and citizens must be given an opportunity
to appear and be heard at required public hearings, subject to reasonable
rules of procedure.
(2)
A public hearing for which proper notice was given may be continued
to a later date without providing additional notice as long as the
continuance is set for specified date and time and that date and time
is announced at the time of the continuance.
(3)
If a public hearing is tabled, deferred or postponed for an
indefinite period of time from the date of the originally scheduled
public hearing, new public notice must be given before the rescheduled
public hearing. If the applicant requests a postponement, the applicant
must pay all costs of renotification.
C.
Public hearing notices.
(1)
Newspaper notice. Whenever the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance
require that newspaper notice be provided, the notice must be published
in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipality.
(2)
Mailed notice.
(a)
Whenever the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance require that
notices be mailed, the notices must be sent by United States Postal
Service first class mail.
(b)
Addresses must be based on the latest property ownership information
available from the real property assessment records. When required
notices have been properly addressed and deposited in the United States
mail, failure of a party to receive such notice will not be grounds
to invalidate any action taken.
(3)
Posted notice. When the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance
require that posted notice be provided, at least one notice sign must
be posted on each public street frontage abutting the subject property
in a location plainly visible to passersby.
(4)
Content of notice. All required public hearing notices must:
(a)
Indicate the date, time and place of the public hearing or date
of action that is the subject of the notice;
(b)
Describe any property involved in the application by street
address or by general description;
(c)
Describe the general nature, scope and purpose of the application
or proposal; and
(d)
Indicate where additional information on the matter can be obtained.
When decisionmaking bodies approve applications with conditions,
the conditions must relate to a situation created or aggravated by
the proposed use or development and must be roughly proportional to
the impacts of the use or development.
In all cases, the burden is on the applicant to show that an
application complies with all applicable review or approval criteria.
Applications must address relevant review and decisionmaking criteria.
[Added 3-17-2017 by L.L.
No. 2-2017]
The commencement or continuation of any activity regulated by
this chapter that is not in compliance with the express provisions
of this chapter, or that is not in compliance with the express provisions
of any approved site plan, special permit or variance including any
approved plans, findings or conditions, shall be a violation of this
chapter and subject to enforcement under the terms of this article
and New York law.
[Added 3-16-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016; amended 3-17-2017 by L.L. No. 2-2017]
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject,
upon conviction, to a penalty or fine up to and not to exceed $250,
or to a term of imprisonment of not more than 15 days, or both. Each
day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate violation. In addition, the total cost to the Town of attorneys'
fees, engineering fees, consultant fees and/or court or litigation
costs to investigate and/or inspect the subject property, and to otherwise
enforce the provisions of this chapter shall be an expense and obligation
of the owner of the property, including its individual officers, managers,
partners, members, and shareholders, and alternatively or in conjunction
herewith, shall be assessed and levied upon the real property as a
lien and charge until paid or otherwise satisfied or discharged and
shall be collected as otherwise provided in the Town Law in the same
manner and at the same time as other Town charges.