A Zoning Board of Appeals of five members is hereby established. The Mayor shall appoint the Zoning Board of Appeals and Chairperson thereof, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. The first appointments shall be for terms so fixed that the term of one member shall be for one year, the term of one member shall be for two years, the term of one member shall be for three years, the term of one member shall be for four years and the term of one member shall be for five years. Each term shall expire on the first day of the Village's official year. Their successors shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Village Law for terms of five years.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by statute and by this chapter, which are more particularly specified as follows, provided that none of the following provisions shall be deemed to limit any power of the Board that is conferred by law.
A. 
Appeals. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Building Inspector or such other official charged with the enforcement of this chapter. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not hear any appeal from nor review any order, determination, requirement, decision or revocation of the Building Inspector where such order, determination, requirement, decision or revocation has been directed by the Village Board. In addition, the Zoning Board of Appeals may not waive the requirement for site development plan review as required in any part of this chapter.
B. 
Interpretation. On an appeal from any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official or by the Building Inspector or upon referral of the Planning Board to decide any of the following questions:
(1) 
Determination of the meaning of any portion of the text of this chapter or of any condition or requirement specified or made under the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
Determination of the exact location of any district boundary shown on the Zoning Map.
C. 
Variances. On appeal from an order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Building Inspector, or on referral of an applicant to the Board by an approving agency acting pursuant to this chapter, the Zoning Board of Appeals is authorized to vary or modify the strict letter of this chapter where its literal interpretation would cause practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships, as defined in this section, in such manner as to observe the spirit of this chapter, secure public safety and welfare and do substantial justice. Where required, variance applications shall be referred to the Rockland County Department of Planning (see Article XVII, § 210-169).
(1) 
Area variances.
(a) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter, to grant area variances as defined herein.
(b) 
In making its determination, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted, as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant. In making such determination the Board shall also consider:
[1] 
Whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance;
[2] 
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method, feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance;
[3] 
Whether the requested area variance is substantial;
[4] 
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district; and
[5] 
Whether the alleged difficulty was self-created; which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals, but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.
(c) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals, in the granting of area variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
(2) 
Use variances.
(a) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision or determination of the administrative officer charged with the enforcement of this chapter, shall have the power to grant use variances, as defined herein.
(b) 
No such use variance shall be granted by a Zoning Board of Appeals without a showing by the applicant that applicable zoning regulations and restrictions have caused unnecessary hardship. In order to prove such unnecessary hardship the applicant shall demonstrate to the Zoning Board of Appeals that for each and every permitted use under the zoning regulations for the particular district where the property is located:
[1] 
The applicant cannot realize a reasonable return, provided that lack of return is substantial as demonstrated by competent financial evidence;
[2] 
That the alleged hardship relating to the property in question is unique, and does not apply to a substantial portion of the district or neighborhood;
[3] 
That the requested use variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and
[4] 
That the alleged hardship has not been self-created.
(c) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals, in the granting of use variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate to address the unnecessary hardship proved by the applicant, and at the same time preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
D. 
Extensions across district boundaries. In appropriate cases where a lot lies within two districts, the Zoning Board of Appeals may permit the extension of existing or proposed permitted accessory off-street parking space across a district boundary, under such conditions as will safeguard the character of the district into which such use is extended. However, no such extension shall exceed 75 feet, measured at right angles to such district boundary. The power under this subsection shall not permit the moving of the zoning district line but only the extension of the accessory off-street parking space.
E. 
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall, in granting of both use variances and area variances, have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property, and/or the period of time such variance shall be in effect. Such conditions shall be consistent with the spirit and intent of this chapter and shall be imposed for the purpose of minimizing any adverse impact such variance may have on the neighborhood or community.
F. 
The Zoning Board of Appeals, after a public hearing, shall have the power to direct the Building Inspector to issue a building permit, certificate of occupancy or certificate of use, as the case may be, subject to other applicable laws, codes, rules and regulations.
A. 
The Zoning Board of Appeals may adopt rules and regulations with respect to procedure before it and with respect to any subject matter over which it has jurisdiction, subject to approval of the Village Board. Such regulations shall include provisions for conduct of meetings, notification of parties, form of applications and filing of decisions.
B. 
Every decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be recorded in accordance with a standard format adopted by the Board, shall fully set forth the circumstances of the case and shall contain a record of the findings on which the decision is based. Every decision of said Board shall be by resolution, and each such resolution shall be filed in the offices of the Village Clerk and Building Inspector by case number.
C. 
All appeals and applications made to the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by a fee as determined in the Standard Schedule of Fees, as may be adopted from time to time by resolution of the Village Board.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals hereunder may, within 30 days of the filing of the decision with the office of the Village Clerk, appeal pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Laws and Rules.
A. 
Any variance granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals will lapse and no longer be effective if construction is not commenced within one year of the date when the Zoning Board of Appeals approves said variance. The Zoning Board of Appeals may, upon timely and proper application made prior to the expiration of the variance and for good cause shown, grant the applicant such additional six-month extension(s) of said variance as the Board deems reasonable and necessary. In no event shall any of said extensions exceed one year from the termination date of the original granted variance. The Zoning Board of Appeals may place any reasonable conditions on such extension(s) as it deems necessary to secure commencement of construction as promptly as possible.
B. 
In the event that the applicant is required to obtain approval from the Village of Airmont Planning Board, the applicant's time in which construction must be commenced shall be tolled; however, said tolling shall not exceed one year from the date the said variance was originally granted. In the event that the applicant has diligently pursued Planning Board approval and has not obtained the said approval within one year of the issuance of the variance, the applicant may apply to the Zoning Board for a one-year extension of said variance. For good cause shown, the applicant may be granted said extension. The said one-year extension shall continue the tolling of the time to commence construction until the applicant receives Planning Board approval. The said extension to obtain final Planning Board approval, however, shall not exceed the one-year extension period granted by the Zoning Board.
C. 
Upon application for any extension of a variance, the applicant shall pay 25% of the fee required for the original application. In the event that the Zoning Board of Appeals requires any professional services, the applicant shall incur those costs as charged.
D. 
Failure to commence construction within the time set forth herein for said variance and any extension thereof shall require that the applicant file a new application for a variance.
E. 
No variance may continue in existence or be effective after the expiration of the applicant's building permit unless the applicant has obtained a certificate of occupancy.