[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Gloversville 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 06-2021. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is enacted under the authority of Subparagraphs (a)(12) of the Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii) and Municipal Home Rule Law § 22.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated
APPLICANT
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind who or which requests the Common Council, the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals to approve a land use application.
LAND USE APPLICATION
An application for subdivision approval, site plan approval, open development area site plan approval, an area variance, use variance, special use 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 City Code, as amended.
A. 
The City may hire any consultant and/or expert necessary to assist the City in reviewing a land use application, including, but not limited to, technical or engineering consultants or special legal counsel.
B. 
Except as otherwise provided in the City Code, if, prior to the completion of a review of a land use application, the City discovers the need to retain consultant and/or expert services, the applicant shall deposit with the City funds sufficient to reimburse the City for the reasonable costs of consultation and/or evaluation in connection with review of the application. The City will maintain a separate escrow account for such funds.
C. 
Upon receipt of such funds, the Commissioner of Finance shall cause the money to be placed in an account in the name of the City 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.
D. 
The City's consultants and experts shall invoice the City for services rendered in reviewing the application. The City shall furnish a copy of each invoice received to the applicant upon receipt of the invoice by the City.
E. 
The City 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 City in connection with a review of a land use application. 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 City or others for services performed in connection with the review of a project similar to that involved in the land use application. In this regard, the City may take into consideration the size and type of project involved in the land use application and any special conditions or considerations as the City may deem relevant in connection with review of the particular land use application.
F. 
Contracts for the retention of experts shall be let pursuant to the purchasing policy of the City unless the contract is one that must be competitively bid.
G. 
After payment of all outstanding invoices, any funds held by the City upon completion of a review of a land use application shall be returned to the applicant.
H. 
That the failure to remit said fee shall render the application incomplete and no action or consideration shall undertaken by the City or by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals is such a circumstance
A. 
The following developments are hereby exempt from the application of this chapter:
(1) 
Any development of land of one acre or less abutting an existing public highway.
(2) 
Any subdivision of land into four or fewer lots abutting an existing public highway.
B. 
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this chapter, an applicant or developer shall not be required to reimburse the City for any part of a fee incurred by the City for services performed in connection with matters, including but not limited to those resulting from complaints by third parties, as to which the City determines the applicant had no responsibility or were beyond the reasonable control of the applicant.
If any section, clause or provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any persons is adjudged invalid, the adjudication shall not affect other sections, clauses or provisions or the application thereof that can be sustained or given effect without the invalid section, clause or provision or application, and to this end the various sections, clauses or provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable.