[L.L. No. 5-2004]
It is the purpose of this chapter to:
(1) 
Promote the health, safety, comfort and general welfare of the community;
(2) 
Preserve the character, charm and property values of the village;
(3) 
Encourage the attractiveness of the residential and business areas which are the economic mainstay of the community;
(4) 
Encourage good qualities of exterior building design and appearance and to relate such design and appearance to the adjoining sites and surroundings;
(5) 
Foster excellence and resourcefulness in building design and appearances which are appropriate to the sites and surroundings;
(6) 
Prevent such design and appearances that are offensive to visual sensibilities or are not harmonious to the surrounding area;
(7) 
Prevent inappropriate exterior designs, landscaping and appearances of buildings and structures that adversely affect the desirability of the immediate and neighboring properties;
(8) 
Create and empower an architectural review board with certain powers in which to accomplish the above.
[L.L. No. 5-2004; L.L. No. 4-2008]
There is hereby created an architectural review board consisting of no less than five (5) members appointed by resolution of the board of trustees. There shall be no fixed term with the members serving at the board of trustee's discretion. There shall be a chairman and an acting chairman who shall be so designated by the board of trustees by resolution. At least four (4) members shall be residents of the village. The board of trustees may designate a registered architect to sit with the architectural review board and take part in its deliberation, but without vote. The board of trustees shall have the power to provide for such compensation as may be required to secure needed services and to defray other expenses of the architectural review board.
[L.L. No. 5-2004; L.L. No. 6-2005; L.L. No. 3-2008]
(a) 
Every application for a building permit for the construction, erection or alteration of a building, deck, athletic court or a swimming pool within the boundary of the village shall be referred to the architectural review board. However applications for the construction, erection or alteration of structures (such as decks, athletic courts and swimming pools located in the rear yard of a lot and/or applications for the construction, erection or alteration of accessory buildings, (such as sheds, gazebos, play houses) under one hundred (100) square feet in area and located in the rear yard of a lot, shall not require review by the architectural review board. Also, any building or structure which has been designated, by the village board, pursuant to chapter 22 of the Village Code, as an historic landmark or is included in a designated historic district shall not be referred to the architectural review board for review.
(b) 
No building permit shall be issued for any construction and or alteration requiring architectural review board review until the architectural review board has voted thereon its approval of such application or until such approval has been given through inaction on the part of the board as provided herein.
(c) 
Meetings of the board of architectural review shall be held at the call of the chairman and any two (2) members thereof and at such other times as the board may determine.
For the purpose of reviewing building permit applications such meetings shall be public hearing with legal notice of such meetings being published in the official newspaper of the village at least one (1) week before such meeting shall take place. The applicant shall cause notice of said hearing to be sent in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least twenty (20) days prior to the hearing date to all property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the subject property, as shown on the current tax rolls of the village. The applicant shall file an affidavit of mailing with the board before or at such hearing.
A hearing of the board of architectural review shall be held within forty-five (45) days of the date of receipt of a complete application by the board of architectural review. If the board shall not have met to consider the application within forty-five (45) days after such complete application shall have been received or shall not have met to consider the application within forty-five (45) days after such application shall have been received or shall not have disapproved of the application within forty-five (45) days after the hearing then the application shall be deemed to have been approved by this board. The applicant shall have the right to appear or be represented at such meeting.
(d) 
The building inspector shall not issue a certificate of occupancy, for those applications that have acquired arb approval, until the chairman or acting chairman has confirmed that the completed construction conforms with the ARB approval.
(e) 
All applications that also require approval from the zoning board of appeals and or planning board must be approved by those boards prior to the scheduling the architectural review board hearing.
(f) 
No public hearing shall be scheduled before the architectural review board until a complete application has been received by the village. A complete application shall consist of an application and those supporting documents, exhibits and plans that the architectural review board believes necessary to conduct its review of the application.
(g) 
Expedited review of minor changes to previously approved plans. The chairman of the architectural review board shall have the authority and power to approve minor changes to plans for construction and/or alteration of a building or structure, which was previously approved by the architectural review board, without the need for a public hearing before the architectural review board subject to the following:
(1) 
The chairman shall canvass the members of the architectural review board regarding the proposed changes. If two or members object to granting an expedited review the chairman shall not grant the request.
(2) 
The chairman may deny a request for an expedited review that the chairman determines, in the best interest of the village, necessitates a public hearing before the architectural review board.
(3) 
The chairman shall, after approving a minor change pursuant to this section, inform the architectural review board, at the board's next public meeting, of said action.
[L.L. No. 5-2004; L.L. No. 6-2005]
(a) 
Definitions:
DESIGN
Means the systematic graphic planning of the aesthetics of a building or structure using the disciplines of architecture and engineering to create a building or structure meeting implicit and explicit requirements on performance and resource usage.
MASS
Means the measurement of building or structure based on its dimensions (length, width and height), its three dimensional volume in relationship to existing finished grades of the site and the magnitude of the building or structure in relationship to its environment.
SCALE
Means the balance and proportion of the materials and details in relation to the overall structure and environment.
STYLE
Means the combinations of distinctive features of a building or structure based upon composition, materials, and design, which characterize an architectural era in history.
(b) 
The board of architectural review is charged with the duty of maintaining the desirable character of the village and shall approve any construction and or alteration that conforms to the following criteria:
(1) 
The proposed construction and or alteration are harmonious, compatible and balanced in relation to the site, adjoining properties and neighborhood because of:
a. 
Mass.
b. 
Style.
c. 
Design.
d. 
Scale.
e. 
Placement upon the property in relation to adjoining buildings, streetscape and open space.
f. 
Materials.
g. 
Details.
h. 
Lines and continuity of windows and doors.
i. 
Color.
j. 
Landscaping and plantings.
k. 
Lighting and sound.
(2) 
Would not result in or have a tendency to result in an impairment of property values in the immediate neighborhood the proposed location.
[L.L. No. 5-2004]
Any person aggrieved by the action of the board of architectural review in disapproving a building permit application and by the action of the building inspector in denying such permit because of such disapproval may take an appeal there from, within thirty (30) days of the filing of such disapproval with the village clerk, to the board of zoning appeals.