The Board of Trustees shall adopt by resolution a schedule of
fees and escrow deposits for applications submitted pursuant to this
chapter.
A. Escrow procedures.
(1) Use of funds.
(a)
Any funds deposited for escrow shall be used to cover the reasonable
and necessary costs of reviewing an application. Costs may include
consultant fees for planning, engineering, legal and other professional
and technical services required for the proper and thorough review
of an application. The reviews governed by this section shall include
all environmental review pursuant to law, including review of the
proposed action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR).
(b)
The review expenses provided for herein are in addition to application
or administrative fees required pursuant to this or other sections
of this chapter. Monies deposited by applicants pursuant to this section
shall not be used to offset the Village's general expenses of professional
services for the several boards of the Village or its general administrative
expenses.
(c)
Fees charged strictly as a result of a SEQR review shall in
no event exceed the maximum amounts that can be charged pursuant to
the SEQR regulations promulgated by the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation.
(d)
Upon receipt of monies requested for an escrow account, the
Village Administrator shall cause such monies to be placed in a separate
non-interest-bearing account in the name of the Village and shall
keep a separate record of all such monies deposited and the name of
the applicant and project for which such sums were deposited.
(e)
Upon receipt and approval by the Village Administrator of itemized
vouchers from consultants for services rendered on behalf of the Village
regarding a particular application, the Village Administrator shall
cause such vouchers to be paid out of the monies so deposited and
shall debit the separate record of such account accordingly. The consultant
shall make copies of such vouchers available to the applicant at the
same time the vouchers are submitted to the Village.
(2) Review of vouchers; payment.
(a)
The Village Administrator shall review and audit all such vouchers
and shall approve payment of only such consultant charges as are reasonable
in amount and necessarily incurred by the Village in connection with
the review and consideration of applications. A charge or part thereof
is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable relationship to the
average charge by consultants to the Village for services performed
in connection with the review of a similar application. In auditing
the vouchers, the Village Administrator may take into consideration
the size, type and number of buildings to be constructed, the topography
of the site at issue, environmental conditions at such site, the infrastructure
proposed in the application and any special conditions the Village
Administrator may deem relevant. A charge or part thereof is necessarily
incurred if it was charged by the consultant for a service which was
rendered in order to protect or promote the health, safety or other
vital interests of the residents of the Village, and protect public
or private property from damage.
(b)
In no event shall an applicant make direct payment to any Village
consultant.
(c)
If at any time during the processing of an application there
shall be insufficient monies on hand to the credit of an applicant
to pay the approved vouchers in full, or if it shall reasonably appear
to the reviewing board that such monies will be insufficient to meet
vouchers yet to be submitted, the reviewing board shall cause the
applicant to deposit additional sums as the board deems necessary
or advisable in order to meet such expenses or anticipated expenses.
(d)
In the event the applicant fails to deposit the requested review
fees into an escrow account, any application review, approval, permit
or certificates of occupancy may be withheld or suspended by the reviewing
board, officer or employee of the Village until such monies are deposited.
(e)
Upon completion of the review of an application or upon the
withdrawal of an application, and after all fees already incurred
by the Village have been paid and deducted from the escrow account,
any balance remaining in the escrow account shall be refunded within
60 days after the applicant's request.
B. Application fees. The Board of Trustees shall adopt by resolution
a schedule of fees and escrow deposits for applications submitted
pursuant to this chapter.
Following the adoption of these land use regulations, including
the Vision Plan, Guidelines, and Official Village Map, misspellings, incorrect grammar, typos and similar mistakes
may be corrected by the Village, subject to review by the Village
Attorney, without a review, approval procedure, or public hearing,
provided that the substance, standards and intent of the documents
remain unchanged.