[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Lansing
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-18-2020 by L.L. No. 1-2020[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law superseded former Art. I, Alternate
Members of Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, adopted 11-17-2010 by L.L. No. 3-2010.
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority and power granted to the Town of Lansing under and pursuant to §§ 267(11) and 271(15) of the Town Law, § 10 of the Statute of Local Governments, § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, and the New York State Constitution, at Article IX. This article supersedes any prior Town of Lansing policies, local laws, ordinances, or rules that are inconsistent herewith, and it expressly supersedes and replaces Local Law #3 of 2010. To the extent inconsistent therewith, Town Law §§ 271 and 267 are also superseded to the extent this article pertains to the appointment, terms, functions, and powers of such alternate members.
It is sometimes difficult to maintain a quorum on the Planning
Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals because members are ill or upon
extended vacation, or find they have a recusal concern or conflict
of interest in relation to a specific applicant or matter before such
board. In such instances, full participation by a full board is impeded
and sometimes official business cannot be conducted, thereby causing
procedural and other problems, including adherence to required timelines.
The use of alternate members in such instances is hereby authorized
pursuant to the provisions of this article, and alternate members
shall be and hereby are authorized to act whenever a regular member
of the board to which they are appointed is absent or unable to participate
on an application or matter before the respective board, whether due
to a conflict of interest, need for recusal, or other cause.
Alternate members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of
Appeals shall be appointed by the Town Board for a term of one year.
Prior to appointment, the Town Board shall refer the name of the proposed
alternate member, together with any application materials provided
by such candidate alternate member, to the Planning Board or the Zoning
Board of Appeals, respectively, for review and comment. No alternate
member may be appointed to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board
of Appeals for more than seven terms.
The Chairperson of the Planning Board or the Chairperson of
the Zoning Board of Appeals may designate an alternate member to substitute
for a member when such member is unable to participate upon an application
or matter before such board. When so designated, the alternate member
shall possess all the powers and responsibilities of such member of
the board. Such designation shall be entered into the minutes of the
meeting at which the substitution is made.
All provisions of law relating to Planning Board or Zoning Board
of Appeals member eligibility, vacancies in office, removal, compatibility
of offices and service on other boards, as well as any provisions
of any law or procedure relating to training, continuing education,
compensation, and attendance, shall also apply to alternate members.
As to all members and alternate members, the following rules apply
and the following annual training requirements shall be completed
to maintain eligibility for the holding of, and eligibility for reappointment
to, each respective office, whether as member or alternate member:
A.Â
Each
member of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, and all
alternate members, shall complete a minimum of hours of subject matter
training each year, such training to principally address land use
reviews, process, and procedures. Training received by any person
in excess of the number of required hours in any one year may be carried
over by the member into the next succeeding year in order to meet
that year's requirements, but excess training hours may not be
carried over to or on account for a second successive year. Such training
shall be approved as set forth herein, but need not be limited to
training provided by a municipality, a regional or county planning
office or commission, a state or county planning federation, state
agency, statewide municipal association, college or other similar
entity. Training may be provided in a variety of formats, including,
but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning, and
traditional classroom training.
B.Â
In
addition, each member of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals,
and all alternate members, shall complete a required number of hours
of classroom training in conducting effective public meetings and
communications and management of high-stress environments. Excess
training hours for this subject matter may not be carried over from
year-to-year, and all such training shall be at sessions scheduled
or approved by the Town Board or the Director of Planning.
C.Â
The
Town Board may periodically set the required number of hours of training
by resolution, and may amend such number from time to time. For the
purposes of this article, the initial required hours are established
as follows:
D.Â
The training required by this § 7-5 may be waived or modified by resolution of the Town Board when, in the judgment of the Town Board, it is in the best interest of the Town to do so. Waivers may not be granted upon any individualized basis but, for example, may be issued to an entire board due to having obtained the training in a manner or location that meets these requirements, but for not having been pre-approved by the Town Board or Director of Planning (e.g., dispute resolution training session at NYS Planning Federation Annual Meeting).
E.Â
No
decision of any board shall be voidable, voided, invalid, or declared
invalid because of a failure of any one or more members or alternate
members to have completed required training.
F.Â
The
following list of agencies, commissions, associations, universities,
and other organizations are approved to provide training to meet the
training requirements when the training they provide pertains to municipal
planning, zoning, community design, environmental issues, economic
development, and local government functions and practices:
(1)Â
The NYS Department of State; the Department of Agriculture and Markets;
the Office of the State Comptroller; the Department of Health; the
Department of Transportation; the Department of Environmental Conservation;
the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation; the Department
of State and the Attorney General's Office, Homes and Community
Renewal, Empire State Development, the Energy Research and Development
Agency, the Committee on Open Government, and the Hudson River Valley
Greenway.
(2)Â
The New York State Association of Towns, the New York Conference
of Mayors, the New York State Association of Counties, the New York
Planning Federation, the American Planning Association, the Upstate
New York Chapter of the American Planning Association and its sections,
and the Metro New York Chapter of the American Planning Association
and its sections, American Farmland Trust, the New York Farm Bureau,
and any county or local Soil and Water Conservation District, and
the various agencies and county-affiliated corporations comprising
the Cornell Cooperative Extension network.
(3)Â
The Capital District Regional Planning Commission, Central New York
Regional Planning and Development Board, Herkimer-Oneida Counties
Comprehensive Planning Program, Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional
Planning Board, Long Island Regional Planning Board, Southern Tier
Central Regional Planning and Development Board, Southern Tier 8 Regional
Board, Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board,
Genesee-Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council, Hudson Valley Regional
Council, Tug Hill Commission, the Adirondack Park Agency, the Lake
George Park Commission, the Tompkins County Department of Planning
and Sustainability.
(4)Â
The Albany Law School Governmental Law Center and Institute for Legal
Studies, Pace Law School, Cornell University, and on-line planning
and zoning training programs offered by the New York Municipal Insurance
Reciprocal, Pace University and Land Use Law Center, SUNY College
of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse University Environmental
Finance Center, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Use Policy.
(5)Â
Any other program, offering, or training which, in the discretion
of the Director of Planning decided upon a case-by-case basis, meets
the training purposes and requirements of law and this article, or
any program or source of training approved by resolution of the Town
Board or by formal adoption of an amendment to the list of approved
sources as set forth herein.
Consistent with Town Law § 271(13), the Planning Board
may hereafter and from time to time recommend to the Town Board proposed
procedural and allowable substantive rules and regulations relating
to matters over which the Planning Board has jurisdiction. Such rules
and regulations shall become effective upon approval thereof by the
Town Board, either as written or as amended by the Town Board, which
in all cases shall endeavor to approve, with or without modifications,
or disapprove of the same within 90 days of referral by the Planning
Board.
The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals shall hereafter
select from among their own members (but not from among any alternate
members) their own Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons. On or before
the date of the annual organizational meeting, the Planning Board
and the Zoning Board of Appeals shall notify the Town Board as to
the identity of their designated respective Chairpersons and Vice
Chairpersons. In the event the Planning Board or the Zoning Board
of Appeals fail to annually designate a Chairperson or Vice Chairperson,
the Town Board shall make such appointments.
If any part or provision of this article or the application
hereof to any person or circumstances is adjudged invalid by any court
or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such judgment or determination
shall be confined in its operation to the part or provision, parties,
and circumstances involved in the controversy in which said judgment
or determination shall have been rendered, and such determination
or holding shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder
of this article or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances.
The Town Board declares that it would have adopted this article, or
the remainder thereof, had such invalid application or invalid provision
been apparent.
