A. 
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall consist of seven members, each of whom shall be appointed by the Mayor and each of whom shall have one vote. All members of said Board shall be residents of the City. It is recommended that every ward in the City be represented on said Board. The term of office of the successors of such members shall be three years each.
B. 
Legislative body members. No person who is a member of the Common Council shall be eligible for membership on such Board of Appeals.
C. 
Vacancy in office. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, the Mayor shall appoint the new member for the unexpired term.
D. 
Removal of members. The Mayor shall have the power to remove, after public hearing, any member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for cause. Any Zoning Board of Appeals member may be removed for noncompliance with any minimum requirements relating to meeting attendance and training as established by the legislative body by local law or by the bylaws of the Board of Appeals.
E. 
Compatibility of offices. The municipal officials or employees on such Board shall not, by reason of membership thereon, forfeit their right to exercise the powers, perform the duties or receive the compensation of the municipal office or position held by them during such membership. No municipal officer or employee shall be appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals in the event that such officer or employee cannot carry out the duties of his or her position without a conflict in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
F. 
Chairperson duties. All meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the Chairperson and at such other times as three other members of the Board may determine. Such Chairperson or, in his or her absence, the Acting Chairperson may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses.
Meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be open to the public to the extent provided in Article 7 of the Public Officers Law. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall also keep records of its examinations and other official actions.
Every rule, regulation, every amendment or repeal thereof and every order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board of Appeals shall be filed in the office of the Clerk/Chamberlain within five business days after the vote on the same and shall be a public record.
Such Board shall have the authority to call upon any department, agency or employee of the City for such assistance as shall be deemed necessary by the Board. Such department, agency or employee may be reimbursed for any expenses as a result of such assistance, as authorized by the Common Council.
Unless otherwise provided by local law or ordinance, the jurisdiction of the Board of Appeals shall be appellate only and shall be limited to hearing and deciding appeals from and reviewing any order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination made by the administrative official charged with the enforcement of any ordinance or local law, or as otherwise conferred by statute. The vote of a majority of the members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such administrative official or to grant a use variance or area variance. Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the City.
Such appeal shall be taken within 60 days after the filing of any order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law by filing with such administrative official and with the Board of Appeals a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof and the relief sought. The administrative official from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Appeals all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law, from whom the appeal is taken, certified to the Board of Appeals, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with the administrative official, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice to the administrative official from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
The Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or other matter referred to it and give public notice of such hearing by publication in a paper of general circulation in the City of at least five days' prior to the date thereof. The cost of sending or publishing any notices relating to such appeal, or a reasonable fee relating thereto, shall be borne by the appealing party and shall be paid to the Board prior to the hearing of such appeal. Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or by agent or attorney.
The Board of Appeals shall decide upon the appeal within 62 days after the conduct of said hearing. The time within which the Board of Appeals must render its decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Board.
The decision of the Board of Appeals on the appeal shall be filed in the office of the Clerk/Chamberlain and the Bureau of Code Enforcement within five business days after the day such decision is rendered, and a copy thereof shall be mailed to the applicant.
At least five days before such hearing, the Board of Appeals shall mail notice to the Oswego County Planning Board, as required by § 239-m of the General Municipal Law, which notice shall be accompanied by a full statement of the matter under consideration, as defined in Subdivision 1 of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law.
The Board of Appeals shall comply with the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations.
A motion for the Zoning Board of Appeals to hold a rehearing to review any order, decision or determination of the Board not previously reheard may be made by any member of the Board. A unanimous vote of a majority of the Board then present is required for such rehearing to occur. Such rehearing is subject to the same notice provisions as an original hearing. Upon such rehearing, the Board may reverse, modify or annul its original order, decision or determination upon the unanimous vote of all members then present, provided that the Board finds that the rights vested in persons acting in good faith in reliance upon the reviewed order, decision or determination will not be prejudiced thereby.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AREA VARIANCE
The authorization by the Zoning Board of Appeals for the use of land in a manner which is not allowed by the dimensional or physical requirements of the applicable zoning regulations.
USE VARIANCE
The authorization by the Zoning Board of Appeals for the use of land for a purpose which is otherwise not allowed or is prohibited by the applicable zoning regulations.
The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination as in its opinion ought to have been made in the matter by the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law and to that end shall have all the powers of the administrative official from whose order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination the appeal is taken.
A. 
The Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such ordinance or local law, shall have the power to grant use variances, as defined herein.
B. 
No such 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 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) 
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.
(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 unnecessary hardship proven 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.
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 such ordinance or local law, 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.
(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.
The Board of Appeals shall, in the 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. 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.
Any person or persons, jointly or severally, aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Appeals or any officer, department, board or bureau of the City may apply to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for review by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Such proceeding shall be instituted within 30 days after the filing of a decision of the Board in the office of the Clerk/Chamberlain and the Bureau of Code Enforcement.
Costs shall not be allowed against the Board of Appeals unless it shall appear to the court that it acted with gross negligence or in bad faith or with malice in making the decision appealed from.
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to preclude the Zoning Board of Appeals from adopting bylaws to govern the conduct of its meetings and its members. Any inconsistency between the content of now-existing bylaws or future bylaws and the content of this article shall be resolved in favor of this article.