A.
Submittal. Applications required under this chapter must be submitted
in a form and in such numbers as outlined. Application forms and checklists
of required submittal information may be available in the Village
Office. The Village Clerk may provide checklists of application submittal
requirements and make those checklists available to the public.
B.
Board review. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms "reviewing
board" or "review board" shall refer to the Village board or commission
charged with review and/or approval authority as enacted under this
chapter. For example, special use permit applications shall fall under
the purview of the Village Board, while variance applications are
subject to Zoning Board of Appeals review and approval.
C.
Sketch plan meeting.
(1)
Prior to submitting a formal application, it is recommended
that applicant request a sketch plan meeting with the reviewing board
to discuss the project and determine the procedure for moving forward
with an application.
(2)
The purpose of the sketch plan meeting is to provide the applicant
with the opportunity to seek nonbinding, advisory direction from the
Village to better prepare the applicant and application for the review
process.
(3)
A sketch plan meeting may occur at any scheduled meeting of
the reviewing board. Any comment provided by the reviewing board shall
not be construed as a formal decision or be legally binding in any
way.
(4)
Materials presented as part of a sketch plan may be incomplete
and/or conceptual in design. A formal application is required for
official review and approval of the project.
D.
Acceptance of application.
(1)
Applications where required by this chapter shall be submitted
to the CEO. The property or building owner, their agent, or lessee,
purchaser or tenant, with legally binding and written permission of
the owner, may file applications.
(2)
All materials and maps shall be provided by the applicant in
the number and form required by the reviewing board, unless otherwise
waived by the reviewing board.
(3)
Applications must be submitted to the CEO at least two weeks
prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting to be considered at
such meeting.
(4)
The CEO shall indicate that an application is considered accepted
and ready for processing only if it is submitted in the required number
and form, includes all required materials, and is accompanied by the
required filing fee.
(5)
The acceptance of an application by the CEO shall in no way
be interpreted to include a determination of the completeness, adequacy,
or accuracy of application materials, but rather serve as an acknowledgement
to the receipt of all initially required application materials. The
CEO may consult with other Village departments or divisions, officials,
or review boards in making such a determination.
(6)
If an application is determined to be unacceptable, the CEO
must provide paper or electronic written notice to the applicant along
with an explanation of all known deficiencies in the application that
will prevent competent review. No further processing of the application
will occur until the deficiencies are corrected. If the deficiencies
are not corrected by the applicant within 30 days, the application
will be considered withdrawn. No further processing of unacceptable
applications will occur; any incomplete applications will be pulled
from the processing cycle. When the deficiencies are corrected, the
application will be placed in the next available processing cycle.
(7)
Prior to issuing a decision on an accepted application, the
reviewing board shall make a formal determination that the application
is complete.
A.
Public hearings.
(1)
A public hearing shall be required for all special use permit
applications. The reviewing board shall schedule and conduct a public
hearing for site plan review or other permit applications.
(2)
The reviewing board may review special use permit and site plan
applications for a single property or use concurrently and may conduct
concurrent public hearings if desired.
(3)
Within 62 days from the receipt of a complete application, the
reviewing board must convene a public hearing on the application in
question.
B.
Public notice required.
(1)
Per New York State Village Law, public notice shall be made
for all public hearings held by the Village of East Aurora. Public
notice shall be made in the form of a mailed notice, media notice,
and posted notice, where applicable.
(2)
All public notices shall be made at least five days prior to
the date of the scheduled public hearing.
C.
Mailed notices.
(1)
The Village Clerk shall notify by mail the owners of all real
property as shown on the current tax map, located within 500 feet
of the property that is the subject of the hearing.
(2)
The Village Clerk shall give public notice by mail or electronic
transmission to the clerks of adjoining municipalities whose boundaries
are located within 500 feet of the property that is the subject of
the hearing.
(3)
The Village Clerk shall give public notice by mail or electronic
transmission to the County Planning Department when the hearing concerns
property adjacent to an existing county road or proposed road shown
on the official county map, adjoining other county land or situated
within 500 feet of a municipal boundary.
(4)
The applicant shall be required to pay an additional fee as
set by the Village Board for the mailing and publishing of a public
notice. If said fee is not received within 30 days of the request,
the application shall be considered withdrawn or any such decision
rendered shall be considered null and void.
D.
Media notices. The Village Clerk shall give public notice of a public
hearing by causing publication of a notice in the Village's official
newspaper or with local media and on the Village's official website.
E.
Posted notices.
(1)
A public hearing notice shall be posted in a location plainly
visible within the Village Hall of East Aurora.
(2)
Where a specific property is subject to a public hearing, at
least one sign of public notice shall be posted on the property in
a location that is plainly visible to passers-by. It shall be the
responsibility of the applicant to obtain such sign(s) of public notice
from the Village and erect it in accordance with the time and place
requirements defined herein.
F.
Public notice content. The content of public notices should be in
conformance with New York State Village Law and:
(1)
Indicate the date, time, and place of the public hearing or
date of action that is the subject of the notice;
(2)
Describe any property involved in the application by street
address or by general description;
(3)
Describe the general nature, scope, and purpose of the application
or proposal; and
(4)
Indicate where additional information on the matter can be obtained.
A.
Within 62 days following the close of the public hearing, the reviewing
board shall issue a decision by majority vote to approve, approve
with conditions or modifications, or deny the proposed application.
B.
Applications shall be reviewed based on all applicable criteria within
this chapter as well as additional local, county, state, or federal
laws and regulations.
C.
Decisions shall contain written findings explaining the rationale
for the decisions considering the standards contained in this chapter.
A copy of the decision shall be immediately filed in the Village Clerk's
Office and mailed to the applicant.
D.
In all cases, the burden is on the applicant to show that an application
complies with all applicable review or approval criteria. Applications
must address relevant review and decision-making criteria.
A.
The reviewing board may request additional information from any Village
department or division to assist in the review of an application.
B.
The reviewing board may seek the opinion of any legal, engineering,
design, or other professional to aid in the review of an application.
Any such costs incurred as a result of seeking professional aid shall
be reimbursed by the applicant.
C.
The Village shall refer all materials to the Erie County Planning
Department pursuant to New York State General Municipal Law, as amended.
This shall include, but is not limited to, any application affecting
the following:
(1)
Real property within 500 feet of the boundary of an adjacent
municipality;
(2)
The boundary of any existing or proposed county or state park
or other recreational area;
(3)
The boundary of any existing or proposed county or state roadway;
(4)
The boundary of any existing or proposed right-of-way for a
stream or drainage channel owned by the county for which the county
has established channel lines;
(5)
The boundary of any existing or proposed county- or state-owned
land; or
(6)
The boundary of a farm operation within an agricultural district
as defined in Article 25AA of the New York State Agriculture and Markets
Law.
D.
No action shall be taken on applications referred to the County Planning
Department until its recommendation has been received, or until 30
days have elapsed after the county's receipt of the application, unless
the county and Village agree to an extension beyond the thirty-day
requirement.
E.
A majority plus one vote of the review board, otherwise known as
a super majority, shall be required to grant any application approval
that receives a recommendation of disapproval from the county. A resolution
must also be filed setting forth the reasons for such contrary action.
A.
The approval of an application shall expire if one of any of the
following occur:
(1)
The approved use or uses cease operation for more than six consecutive
months for any reason;
(2)
The applicant fails to obtain necessary building permit(s) or
certificate of occupancy within six months of the approval date;
(3)
The applicant fails to comply with the conditions of the application's
approval within six months of the date of issuance or completion of
construction, where applicable;
(4)
The applicant fails to initiate construction within 12 months
of the approval date and no written request for extension has been
approved by the Village Board;
(5)
The applicant fails to complete construction within two years
of the approval date and no written request for extension has been
approved by the Village Board; or
(6)
A permit's time limit expires without renewal.
B.
The reviewing board may revoke approval if the applicant violates
the conditions of the approval or engages in any construction or alteration
not authorized by the approval. Any violation of the conditions of
an approval shall be deemed a violation of this chapter, and shall
be subject to enforcement action as provided herein.
C.
The Village reserves the right to revoke any permit or approval that
is not validly issued or is not in conformance with this chapter.
A.
All applications, where required by New York State Law, shall fulfill
the New York State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) requirement.
B.
SEQR is a New York statute that became law on August 1, 1975. The
text of SEQR is found in Article 8 of the New York Environmental Conservation
Law. The SEQR regulations provide a guideline for local officials
to ensure compliance with SEQR. The regulations are found in Part
617 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations (6 NYCRR Part 617).
Where requirements of this section may come in conflict with SEQRA
law, the state regulations shall supersede.
C.
The lead agency, often the Village Board, shall make a determination
of the SEQRA classification for all applications. These determinations
may fall under the following:
(1)
Type I Actions. Type I actions (listed under 6 NYCRR Part 617.4)
meet or exceed thresholds listed in the statewide or agency SEQR regulations.
Type I actions require the completion of a full environmental assessment
form (EAF). Type I actions include, but are not limited to:
(2)
Type II Actions. Type II actions (listed under 6 NYCRR Part
617.5) are determined not to have a significant adverse impact on
the environment; therefore, Type II actions do not require further
review. Some examples include:
(a)
Rebuilding or replacement of facilities, in kind, on the same
site.
(b)
Minor structures, such as garages, barns or home swimming pools,
routine permit and license renewals with no substantial change in
permitted activities.
(c)
Construction or expansion of either primary or accessory nonresidential
structures with less than 4,000 square feet of gross floor space.
(d)
Constructing or expanding a single-, two- or three-family residence
on an approved lot.
(e)
Routine activities of educational institutions, including expansions
of existing facilities by less than 10,000 square feet.
(f)
Maintenance and repair activities.
(g)
Emergency actions.
(3)
Unlisted actions. Unlisted actions do not meet the Type I thresholds,
but still require the completion of either a full or short form EAF.
Some examples include:
(a)
Nonresidential projects physically altering less than 10 acres
of land.
(b)
Parking for less than 1,000 cars.
(c)
Sale, purchase, lease or other transfer of fewer than 100 acres
of land by government entity.
(d)
Adoption of regulations, ordinances, local laws and resolutions
that may affect the environment.
(e)
Other activities not specifically listed in either 6 NYCRR Parts
617.4 or 617.5.
D.
If the lead agency, through the completion of an EAF, determines
an action not to have a significant adverse environmental impact,
a negative declaration is prepared. If an action is determined to
potentially have significant adverse environmental impacts, a draft
and final environmental impact statement (EIS) is required.
E.
Applicants may be responsible for preparing the required draft and
final EIS at the request of the reviewing board. Should the applicant
defer to the Village for the preparation of a draft and/or final EIS,
a written agreement for reimbursement to the Village for such expense
shall be required.
F.
When actions consist of several steps or sets of activities, the
entire set must be considered the action, even if several separate
agencies are involved. Therefore, in the case of an application requiring
both special use permit and site plan review approval, the SEQR documentation
shall list the special use permit and site plan as a joint action.
G.
The Village Board may request the completion of a full EAF by the
applicant if it is deemed more appropriate for proper review of the
application.
