Certain matters herein may require a referral
by the Village Board, the Planning Board, the Board of Appeals or
other reviewing agency to others for advice or other purposes. Said
referrals may be a requirement by law or may be deemed a prudent or
necessary review step by the reviewing agency. In all matters of referral,
the reviewing agency shall ensure the initiation of such referral
and the receipt or return of such referral to the reviewing agency
so that the review procedure may continue.
Any person or corporation, whether as owner, lessee, architect, contractor, builder or the agent or employee of any of them, who or which violates or is accessory to the violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation made under the authority conferred by this chapter or who or which shall erect, construct, alter, enlarge, convert or move any building or structure or any part thereof without a building permit or in violation of any statement or plans submitted and approved under the provisions of this chapter or who or which shall use any building, structure or land in violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation made under the authority conferred by this chapter or in violation of the provisions of any building permit or certificate of occupancy or compliance or without a building permit or certificate of occupancy or compliance where one is required by this chapter and who or which fails to abate said violation within five days after written notice has been served upon him either by registered mail or personal service shall, for each and every violation and for each and every week such violation continues beyond such five-day grace period, be liable to a penalty in an amount as established by the Board of Trustees in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
II, to be recovered with costs. Each week's continued violation shall constitute a separate additional offense. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as depriving the Village or the Village Board or any official thereof of the right to apply for an injunction to prevent any violation of this chapter or of the right to employ any other available remedy.
In case any building or structure is erected,
constructed, reconditioned, altered, repaired, converted or maintained
or any building, structure or land is used in violation of this chapter,
the Village, Village Board or the Code Enforcement Officer or any
other official of the Village, through the Village Attorney, in addition
to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding
to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration,
repair, conversion, maintenance or use; to restrain, correct or abate
such violation; to prevent the occupancy of said building, structure
or land; or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in
or about such building, structure or land.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L.
No. 11-2013; 3-7-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016; 7-15-2019 by L.L. No. 6-2019]
The Board of Appeals heretofore established pursuant to the
Village Law is hereby continued with all powers and duties prescribed
by law and by this chapter. There shall be a Secretary to the Planning
Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and/or Architectural Review Boards,
pursuant to the provisions of Civil Service, who shall be assigned
by the Village administration to provide administrative and clerical
support services. Such powers and duties of the Board of Appeals are
summarized and more particularly specified as follows, provided that
none of the following provisions shall be deemed to limit any power
of the Board of Appeals conferred by general law:
A. Interpretation. On appeal from an order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official, the Board of Appeals shall have the authority to decide any question involving the interpretation of any provision of this chapter, including the determination of the exact location of any district boundary if uncertainty with respect thereto remains after exhausting the rules specified in §
305-8.
B. Variances.
(1)
Area variances.
(a)
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power,
upon an appeal from a decision or determination of an administrative
official charged with the enforcement of such local law, to grant
area variances from the area or dimensional requirements of such local
law.
(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 Board
of Appeals but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the
area variance.
(c)
The 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 Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision
or determination of the administrative officer charged with the enforcement
of such local law, shall have the power to grant use variances, authorizing
a use of the land which otherwise would not be allowed or would be
prohibited by the terms of the local law.
(b)
No such use variance shall be granted by a 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 Board of Appeals that:
[1]
Under applicable zoning regulations, the applicant
is deprived of all reasonable economic use or benefit from the property
in question, which deprivation must be established by competent financial
evidence.
[2]
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]
The requested use variance, if granted, will
not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and
[4]
The alleged hardship has not been self-created.
(c)
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of use
variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary
and adequate to address the request.
C. Action. In granting any variance, whether relating to use, height or area provisions of this chapter, the Board of Appeals shall prescribe any appropriate safeguards and conditions applying thereto that it may deem to be necessary or desirable in the public interest, and such determination shall be recorded on the building permit or certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance, as the case may be, for which the variance is granted and shall expire with such permit as provided in §
305-110B hereof.
D. Procedure.
(1)
Appeals and applications to be on forms prescribed.
All appeals and applications made to the Board of Appeals shall be
in writing on forms prescribed by the Board and shall include an application
fee and a review fee as may be established by the Board of Trustees. Each shall specify the provisions of the chapter involved
and shall set forth exactly the decision of the Building Inspector
which is appealed from, the full circumstances or conditions involved
therein, the ruling sought from the Board, the details of any variance
applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the same should
be granted. Each shall certify the ownership of the property and the
nature of the interest of the applicant, if other than the owner of
record. The applicant shall search all records, prepare and publish
all notices and file all affidavits required by this chapter. Any
application which, on its face, is deficient in form or lacking in
full particulars or which does not present a prima-facie showing which
would entitle the applicant to relief in accordance with this chapter
shall be dismissed without prejudice, and no hearing shall be scheduled
thereon.
(2) Submission
of application. An application shall be submitted to the Secretary
to the Board of Appeals at least 18 calendar days prior to the date
of the meeting of the Board of Appeals. An application not submitted
within the time frame herein established shall not be heard by the
Board of Appeals until the minimum time frame requirement has been
met. Submissions for subsequent meetings to the Board of Appeals after
the submission of the initial application shall be submitted to the
Secretary to the Board of Appeals at least 10 days prior to the meeting.
(3)
Application review fees. In the review of any
application, the Board of Appeals may refer such application to a
planner, engineer, landscape architect, environmental expert or other
professional as such Board shall deem reasonably necessary to enable
it to review such application as required by law. Fees charged by
such professionals shall be in accord with fees usually charged for
such services in the Metropolitan New York Region. All such charges
shall be paid by the Village. The applicant shall reimburse the Village
for the cost of such professional review services, other than legal
services performed by the Village Attorney, upon submission of an
invoice from the Village. The applicant must pay the invoice within
one month of mailing of the invoice by the Village. Failure to make
timely payment may result in a stop-work order issued by the Building
Inspector. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for the subject
property until all review costs have been paid to the Village. The
payment of such fees shall be required in addition to any and all
other fees required by this or any other section of this chapter or
any other local law.
(4)
Public hearing required.
(a)
All applicants, at least 10 days prior to the public hearing,
shall send written notice by certified mail to all owners within 100
feet of the property and to any other such persons as the Board may
deem necessary, all at the expense of the applicant. Property owners
entitled to notice shall be those listed as owners on the record in
the Village of Tarrytown Tax Assessor's office as of the date of mailing.
The written notice shall contain information equal to the notice published
in the newspaper, and proof of mailing receipts must be furnished
prior to the public hearing.
(b)
Any person making an application is further
required to erect a sign facing each public street on which the property
abuts, giving notice that such application has been made and that
a public hearing will be held. Such signs shall be obtained from the
Building Inspector. Signs are to be displayed for a period of not
less than 10 days immediately preceding the hearing date or any adjourned
hearing date. The sign shall not be set back more than 10 feet from
any property or street line and shall not be less than two feet or
more than six feet above the grade at the property line. Said sign
shall be affixed to a suitable frame which will assure visibility
from the street at all times.
(c)
At the commencement of the public hearing before
the Board of Appeals, the applicant is required to file an affidavit
which states that the aforementioned public notice requirements have
been complied with. The affidavit shall provide the name of the applicant
and the location of the property and must state the following:
[1]
That he/she has read and is fully familiar with the requirements of §
305-118D(4) of the Tarrytown Zoning Code and that in accordance therewith he/she has caused written notice to be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all interested parties as directed in the Code and has caused a sign which complies with requirements of the applicable section of the aforesaid Zoning Code to be prominently displayed on the subject property in the required manner, giving notice to the public of the pending application, the date, time and place of the public hearing and that the sign has been continually displayed on the property for a period of 10 days immediately preceding the public hearing date;
[2]
That he/she makes this affidavit knowing that
it shall be relied upon by the appropriate officials as proof of compliance
with the requirements of the Zoning Code of the Village of Tarrytown.
(5)
Decisions of Board of Appeals to be by resolution,
recorded in the minutes and duly filed. Every decision of the Board
of Appeals shall be by resolution, with the vote thereon recorded
in the minutes prescribed by the Board, and shall fully set forth
the circumstances of the case and the findings upon which the decision
is based and the conditions which may be established by the Board.
(6)
Records to be filed with Village Clerk. A certified
copy of each such resolution shall be filed in the office of the Village
Clerk and adopted by the Board of Appeals, together with all documents
pertaining thereto.
(7)
Review of decisions. The Board may, on its own
motion at a public hearing, reverse or modify any decision that it
has made. The motion to review will be heard on the Zoning Board of
Appeals calendar after notice by the Board to the owner of the subject
property. The Board may, at its own discretion, reverse or modify
any prior decision if it finds the terms or conditions of its prior
decision have been violated.
(8)
Time between variance request. The Board of
Appeals shall not hear an application for a variance(s) on a property
within a six-month period from hearing and denying the same variance(s).
(9)
Expiration of variance approval. All area or
use variances granted by the Board of Appeals shall lapse two years
after the date of the decision, if a final building permit has not
been requested and received by the applicant. In such cases, the applicant
may reapply for a variance to the Board of Appeals.