[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Manlius 5-28-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2014. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Town of Manlius Town Board hereby finds and determines that in
order to protect and safeguard the Town, its residents and their property,
with respect to land, and improvements within the Town, the development
and construction thereon and the uses, operations, businesses, trades,
professions and industries conducted thereon, all should be designed
and constructed in a competent and workmanlike manner and developed,
constructed and utilized in conformity with all applicable governmental
laws, codes, rules and regulations, and where applicable to development,
dedicated and conveyed to the Town in a legally sufficient manner.
In order to ensure the foregoing, it is essential that the Town have
available to it all necessary professional expertise to assist with
inspections of the foregoing, any required legal opinion(s) or actions,
including relative to violations and enforcement of such applicable
law, codes, rules and regulations, the review of legal documents and
instruments, plans, designs, applications, and to make recommendations
to the Code Enforcement Officer, Town Board, Planning Board, Zoning
Board of Appeals, Attorney for the Town and Building Inspector. The
Town takes great pride in the skill and professionalism of its land
use and zoning boards, Code enforcement and administrative staff;
however, from time to time, such boards and staff are called upon
to review and evaluate matters and to consider and take actions outside
the range of their training and/or expertise and/or requiring legal
assistance and expertise. These situations may require the Town to
seek out skills not possessed by such Town boards and Town officials
but which are not required frequently enough to justify the full or
part-time hiring of such specialized staff. At the same time, the
cost of retaining such expertise should not be borne by the taxpayers
of the Town, but rather by those who seek to benefit or profit from
the decisions of the Town, its boards, administrative staff and/or
those who are legally responsible relative to efforts, actions and
proceedings addressing violations and enforcement of such governmental
laws, codes, rules and regulations. Therefore, it is the intent of
this chapter to establish a mechanism whereby the Town may utilize
necessary expertise for such matters without imposing the cost on
its taxpayers.
B.
This chapter is enacted under the authority of Municipal Home Rule Law § 10, Subdivisions 1(ii)a(12) and d(3), and the Municipal Home Rule Law § 22. To the extent that Town Law §§ 274-a, 276 and 277 do not authorize the Town Board, Town Planning Board and/or Town Zoning Board of Appeals to require the reimbursement to the Town of legal, engineering and other professional consulting fees, expenses and costs incurred by the Town in connection with the review and consideration of applications for site plan review, subdivision approval, for the approval, amendment or extension of a district and for the review and consideration of applications for variances, and special permit uses under the Code of the Town of Manlius, Chapter 155, Zoning, it is the expressed intent of the Town Board to change and supersede such statutes. More particularly, to the extent that such statutes authorize the deferral or withholding of such approvals in the event that such fees, expenses and costs are not paid to the Town, it is the expressed intent of the Town Board to change and supersede Town Law §§ 274-a, 276 and 277 to empower the Town to require such payments as a condition to such approvals.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind who or which requests the Code
Enforcement Officer, Zoning Officer, or other issuer of building permits,
certificates of completion, occupancy and compliance, or the Town
Board, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals to approve
a municipal application.
The Code of the Town of Manlius.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind who or which:
Constructs or proposes to construct one or more highways, drainage
facilities, utilities or parks within or in conjunction with a development
with the intent to convey or dedicate the same to the Town.
Requests the Town to create a district.
Requests the Town to approve an application for subdivision
or site plan review.
Requests the Town to approve an application for a variance or
special permit use.
Includes, but is not limited to, a subdivision or a district.
Any special district under the Town Law.
All surface water drainage facilities, including but not
limited to detention and retention basins, storm sewers and their
appurtenances, drainage swales and ditches and any easements through
or over which such facilities may be constructed or installed within
or in conjunction with a development.
Any efforts, actions or proceedings pursuant to, and intending
to address the enforcement or violations of any federal, New York
State, or Onondaga County law or the Town of Manlius Code commenced
or initiated by, at the request of or under policies established by
the Town of Manlius Town Board.
Includes, but is not limited to, a street, avenue, road,
square, place, alley, lane, boulevard, concourse, parkway, driveway,
overpass or underpass and also includes all items appurtenant thereto,
including but not limited to bridges, culverts, ditches, shoulders
and sidewalks within or in conjunction with a development.
An application or request, formal, informal, or otherwise
relative to proposed development, construction, renovation, related
and/or similar within the Town, including without limitation, application
or requests for subdivision approval, site plan approval, area variance,
use variance, special permit, zone change(s), utility availability,
capacity or connection, storm drainage or erosion and sedimentation
control, building permit, certificate of compliance, occupancy or
completion (or similar permit) and any additional review for those
as needed to comply with the New York State Environmental Quality
Review Act, Environmental Conservation Law, Article 8, and regulations
adopted pursuant thereto, and the Town Code, as amended. The foregoing
notwithstanding, professional fees incurred or to be incurred for
routine applications for utility connections or building permits specifically
covered under the Town Code shall not be considered municipal applications
unless the same involve special, unusual or extraordinary conditions
or circumstances as solely determined initially by the Town Supervisor,
or Code Enforcement Officer, and affirmed by the Town Board.
An area of land located within a development which is open
to the public and devoted to active or passive recreation.
The Planning Board of the Town of Manlius
A division of land as defined in § 127-5 of the Code of the Town of Manlius.
The Town of Manlius
The Town Board of the Town of Manlius
All water, sanitary sewer, gas, electric, telephone and cable
television facilities and any easements through or over which said
facilities may be constructed or installed within or in conjunction
with a development.
The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Manlius.
A.
The Town may hire any consultant and/or expert necessary to assist
the Town in reviewing or otherwise a municipal application or conducting
enforcement/violation efforts, including, but not limited to, scientific,
technical, architectural or engineering consultants or legal counsel.
B.
Except as may otherwise be expressly provided in the Town Code, if,
prior to the completion of a review of a municipal application, the
Town discovers the need to retain consultant and/or expert services,
the applicant shall deposit with the Town funds sufficient to reimburse
the Town for the reasonable costs of consultation and/or evaluation
in connection with review of the application.
C.
The amount of the initial deposit for a municipal application covered
by this chapter shall be as determined by resolution of the Town Board.
The schedule shall remain in effect and shall apply to all applicants
and Developers until amended or revised by subsequent resolution of
the Town Board.
D.
Upon receipt of such funds, the Town Clerk shall cause the money
to be placed in an account in the name of the Town and shall keep
a separate record of all money so deposited and the name of the applicant
and the project for which the sums were deposited.
E.
The Town's consultants and experts shall invoice the Town for
services rendered in reviewing the application. The Town shall furnish
a copy of each invoice received to the applicant upon receipt of the
invoice by the Town.
F.
The Town shall review and audit all invoices received and shall approve
payment only of such fees as are reasonable in amount and necessarily
incurred by the Town in connection with a review of a municipal application
or conduct of enforcement/violation efforts. For purposes of this
chapter, a fee is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable relationship
to the average charge by such an expert to the Town or others for
services performed in connection with the review of a project similar
to that involved in the municipal application or the conduct of enforcement
proceedings or actions similar to those intended in the enforcement/violation
efforts. In this regard, the Town may take into consideration size
and type of property use(s) or project involved and any special conditions
or considerations as the Town may deem relevant in connection with
the particular municipal application or enforcement/violation effort.
G.
Contracts for the retention of experts shall be let pursuant to any
applicable policy of the Town (if any) unless the contract is one
that must be competitively bid or the service is performed by a retained
Attorney or Engineer of the Town or other retained expert under a
general fee for service or hourly charge retainer agreement with the
Town.
H.
If at any time during or after the processing of the municipal application
there shall be insufficient monies on hand to the credit of such applicant
or Developer to pay the approved vouchers in full, or if it shall
reasonably appear to the Town Board that such monies will be insufficient
to meet vouchers yet to be submitted, the Town Board shall cause the
applicant or developer to deposit additional sums as the Town Board
deems reasonably necessary or advisable in order to meet such fees,
expenses and costs or anticipated fees, expenses and costs. In the
event that the applicant or Developer fails to deposit such funds
or such additional funds, the Town Clerk shall notify, as applicable,
the Chair of the Planning Board, the Chair of the Zoning Board of
Appeals, the Town Board and/or the Town Supervisor of such failure,
and a review, approval, building permit or certificate of occupancy
shall be withheld by the appropriate board, officer or employee of
the Town until such monies are deposited.
I.
After payment of all outstanding invoices, any funds held by the
Town upon completion of a review of a municipal application shall
be returned to the applicant.
J.
The Town shall be entitled to recover reasonable expenses, attorney's
fees, costs and disbursements incurred or in the enforcement of any
rights hereunder, including without limitation, the collection of
professional fees owing to the Town.
Upon resolution duly adopted by the Town Board following a prior written notice of not less than 30 days (addressed to the applicant, individual(s) or entities subject of a municipal application or against whom enforcement/violation efforts have been conducted and the owner of the property subject of a municipal application or enforcement/violation efforts) advising such persons or entities of amounts owing to the Town for professional fees incurred hereunder, and providing such person(s) an opportunity to be heard at the Town Board meeting whereat such resolution is adopted, the Town may consider and make the determination(s) required at § 96-3F hereof (if not previously made) and assess the property subject thereof with such costs in the same manner as with respect to property taxes, such that same may be collected and the lien of same enforced, in the same manner as liens for such taxes and charges.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this chapter
in relation to a municipal application, an applicant or developer
shall not be required to reimburse the Town for any part of a fee
incurred by the Town for services performed in connection with matters,
including but not limited to those resulting from complaints by third
parties, as to which the Town Board determined the applicant had no
responsibility or were beyond the reasonable control of the applicant,
such determination to be solely within the Town Board's discretion.
The deposit required by this chapter shall be in addition to any other fee as may be required by other laws, rules, regulations or ordinances of the Town, the County of Onondaga, the State of New York or of any other body having jurisdiction with respect to municipal applications and shall not be used to defray either the Town's general expenses for legal, engineering or professional consulting fees for the several boards of the Town or its general administration expense. Any such other provisions shall in addition be deemed to have incorporated therein by reference, subject to § 96-4 hereof, the provisions of § 96-4 hereof providing for the assessment of such charges on the property subject of the municipal application or enforcement/violation efforts.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or
part of this chapter or the application thereof to any person, individual,
corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstances is adjudged
invalid, illegal or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction,
such order or judgment shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this chapter
or in its application directly involved in the controversy in which
such judgment shall have been rendered and shall not affect or impair
the validity of the remainder of this chapter or the application thereof
to other persons or circumstances. Further, in adjudging such invalid,
illegal or unconstitutional provision, the court shall attempt to
modify same to a provision which is not invalid, illegal or unconstitutional
and which best achieves the intent of the invalid provision.
