[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Babylon as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 89.
Unsafe buildings — See Ch. 92.
Electrical standards — See Ch. 112.
Environmental quality review — See Ch. 114.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 123.
Flood damage control — See Ch. 125.
Multiple dwellings — See Ch. 153.
Plumbing — See Ch. 170.
Sewers — See Ch. 181.
Site plan review — See Ch. 186.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 191.
Zoning — See Ch. 213.
[Adopted 4-7-1976 by L.L. No. 15-1976]
A. 
Whenever used in this article, words used in the singular include the plural and vice versa.
B. 
The following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of Planning and Development and chief executive officer of the Department.
DEPARTMENT
The Town of Babylon Department of Planning and Development, which performs a major function of Town government.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
A Deputy Commissioner of the Department, who shall act generally for and in the place of the Commissioner.
There shall be in the Town of Babylon a Department of Planning and Development. The principal executive officer and administrative head of such Department shall be the Commissioner of Planning and Development, who shall be appointed by the Town Board for the term fixed by law at such salary as may from time to time be fixed by the said Town Board. The Commissioner shall be appointed on the basis of his administrative experience and qualifications for the duties of such office and such additional standards as may be required by the Town Board, and he shall be the executive secretary of any advisory board or commission assigned to his jurisdiction by the Town Board. The Commissioner shall be the head of the Department, with power and authority to appoint and remove officers and employees under his jurisdiction in accordance with Civil Service Law and other applicable laws.
The Commissioner is empowered herein to appoint an Executive Assistant and to appoint two Deputy Commissioners, who shall generally act for and in the place of the Commissioner and who shall perform such duties as are vested in and imposed upon that office by the provisions of this article, by statute or by other lawful authority.
Until such time as the same may be either amended or modified, the Department shall be divided into the following Divisions:
A. 
Administration of Board of Appeals.
B. 
Building.
C. 
Industrial Development.
D. 
Planning.
E. 
Fire Marshals.[1]
[Amended 11-19-1996 by L.L. No. 21-1996]
[1]
Editor's Note: Subsection E was changed to read Fire Marshals pursuant to L.L. No. 3-2006. For the Division of Public Safety, see now § 65-9.
F. 
Traffic Safety.
G. 
Engineering.
The powers and duties of such Divisions therein shall be under the administration, direction and control of the Commissioner, and each of the said Divisions shall be supervised by a division head who shall be designated a Division Supervisor.
The Commissioner may, with the approval of the Town Board, establish, consolidate or abolish any divisions now existing or hereafter created in the Department and establish, consolidate or abolish any subdivision of any such division now existing or hereafter created.
The Division of Administration of Board of Appeals shall administer, supervise, manage, implement, initiate and direct all matters related with the Office of the Board of Appeals as delegated to it under the law and especially by § 267 of the Town Law of the State of New York.
[Amended 12-16-1986 by L.L. No. 2-1987; 11-19-1996 by L.L. No. 21-1996]
A. 
The Division of Building shall administer, supervise, manage, coordinate and enforce the zoning laws and applicable local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of the Town of Babylon and the applicable building codes, state and/or local, and applicable laws of the State of New York as legally required throughout the properties of the Town of Babylon in order to review, evaluate, judge and advise on applications related thereto.
B. 
Zoning inspectors. The zoning inspectors shall be responsible for administering, supervising, managing and enforcing the zoning laws and all applicable local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of the Town of Babylon relating to land use and land and building development or modifications. The zoning inspectors shall be under the administration, direction and control of the Commissioner.
The Division of Industrial Development shall administer, develop, manage, implement and promote industrial and business programs serving the interests and welfare of the people of the Town of Babylon and develop, coordinate and maintain statistics and information related to employment and trends thereon.
[Amended 8-16-1994 by L.L. No. 14-1994]
The Division of Planning shall prepare and update the Town of Babylon Comprehensive Plan and carry out any plans and programs, including capital programming, and initiate developmental policy recommendations for the Town Board. In addition, the Division will perform all the duties, studies and supervision as delegated by the Town Board in order to provide for the orderly growth of the Town and to achieve the highest and most efficient available levels of services for its residents.
[Amended 5-7-1985 by L.L. No. 1-1985; 4-18-2000 by L.L. No. 8-2000]
A. 
The Commissioner, acting by and through any of the said existing or hereafter named Divisions, shall be empowered to perform such other duties and functions that are prescribed to be performed by him in any law, ordinance or resolution of the Town Board or lawful directive of the Town Supervisor; however, the Commissioner may delegate any of his powers to or direct any of his duties to be performed to a division director or the Administrative Assistant.
B. 
The Commissioner shall have the power to administratively close all applications for building permits, all applications to the Board of Appeals, all applications to the Town Board under Chapter 213 of this Code, all applications to the Planning Board, all applications to the Accessory Apartment Review Board, all applications for rental permits and all applications to the Board of Review, where such application is incomplete and has had no activity by or on behalf of the applicant for more than one year. Any applicant who wants to reopen such application shall pay a fee equal to 50% of the application fee in effect at the time of the application to reopen.
Furthermore, the Commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered, subject to the prior approval of the Town Board, except that such prior approval will not be required in cases of emergency, to retain and employ private engineers, architects and consultants or firms practicing such profession for the purposes of:
A. 
Preparing designs, plans and estimates of structures or projects of any type and character.
B. 
Rendering assistance and advice in connection with any project, whether defined or proposed, and under the supervision of the Department of Planning and Development.
C. 
Performing such other and necessary services as the Commissioner may deem necessary in the administration of the Department.
The Division of Traffic Safety shall provide the installation, construction and maintenance of all traffic control signals on Town or county highways in the Town of Babylon or those erected at the direction of the Town Board and, when authorized, to let contracts for the same. The Division shall also be responsible to advise the Town Board regarding traffic surveys submitted by responsible agencies of government and to conduct such surveys as directed by the Town Board.
The Division of Engineering shall administer, coordinate and provide staff assistance and professional service to consultant engineers from time to time employed by the Town of Babylon pursuant to the provisions of § 20, Subdivision 2(b), of the Town Law of the State of New York; or in the alternative, to provide such services to the Town Engineer duly appointed pursuant to Subdivision 2(a) of such section of such law.
All costs and expenses incurred by the Department or its officers or employees on behalf of a special improvement district or special Town project shall be charged against such district or project and paid from the funds duly appropriated for the purpose of such district or project.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to delegate or transfer any power of the Town Supervisor contained in §§ 29, 52 and 125 of the Town Law of the State of New York or any other powers which may be lawfully exercised by said Supervisor.
The Commissioner may establish a schedule of fees to be collected by him for:
A. 
The filing in his office or Department of any map or written instrument required to be so filed.
B. 
The preparation of any copy of a map or written instrument filed in his office or Department.
C. 
Certifying any such map or written instrument.
D. 
Any other service rendered in connection with the work of his Department and for which he deems it necessary to charge and to collect a fee.
[Adopted 9-13-2011 by L.L. No. 16-2011]
A. 
A schedule of planning, zoning and building application fees shall be established by resolution of the Town Board from time to time. All such fees in effect at the time of adoption of this article shall remain in effect until such time as those application fees are modified by resolution of the Town Board.
B. 
Application fees shall be deemed to be the minimum fee to be charged and any additional costs and expenses actually incurred by the Town for professional consultants or inspections (as well as all other non-ministerial expenses) shall be paid by the applicant in accordance with this article and other laws, resolutions, provisions, regulations and codes of the Town.
C. 
All reimbursement payments required by this article shall be in addition to any application, inspection or other fees as may be required by any other laws, resolutions, provisions, regulations or codes of the Town and shall not be used to offset the Town's general expenses of engineering, legal and planning services for the several boards of the Town nor offset the Town's general expenses.
D. 
Any fee established elsewhere in this Code which is not inconsistent with a fee established pursuant to this article shall remain effective.
E. 
This article and the schedule of application and other fees shall be filed with the Town Clerk. The failure to file any fee schedule revision with the Town Clerk shall not affect the obligation to pay such fee.
A. 
The applicant for approval of any land use or land development proposal shall reimburse the Town for the reasonable and necessary engineering, legal and planning fees and expenses incurred by the Town in connection with the review and/or approval of the application. Said fees and expenses are referred to herein as escrow fees or deposits. Reimbursement of the Town's consultant expenses shall be made in accordance with this article. For the purposes of this article, the term "land use or development" shall include, but not be limited to, designation as an open development area, a subdivision, lot line change, site plan, special permit, wetlands permit, variance, interpretation, appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals, change of zone classification, or any modification or amendment of any of the foregoing.
B. 
Initial planning and zoning review escrow deposits shall be delivered to the Building Department as part of the original application submission.
C. 
No review shall be undertaken by the consultants on any matter scheduled before the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals until the initial fee and escrow deposit as set forth herein is paid.
D. 
If the escrow account falls below 50% of the initial deposit, the applicant shall pay additional funds into the escrow account to maintain that account at 50% of the initial deposit. In the event that an applicant shall withdraw his application at any stage of the proceedings or when the application review and approval process has been completed, the balance of funds in the applicant's account shall be either remitted to the applicant when reimbursement has been completed and within 60 days of final action by the Planning Board, Town Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, or, if so directed by the applicant, shall remain on deposit as the applicant's initial payment toward post approval inspection requirements, not including the customary and usual site plan or building permit fees.
E. 
The applicant shall remain responsible to reimburse the Town its costs and expenses in reviewing the applicant's land use application notwithstanding that the escrow account may be insufficient to cover such costs and expenses.
F. 
In the event that the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, in the course of reviewing an application, determines that the proposed action requires a positive declaration under SEQRA, all costs incurred by the Town for the review of any environmental impact statements, whether of a professional or clerical nature, shall be borne by the applicant pursuant to 6 NYCRR 617.8(a) . Such costs shall be covered by an escrow account to be established pursuant to this section within 15 days of issuance of said positive declaration, or such period as the respective Board shall otherwise establish, in an amount to be set by the Planning or Zoning Board.
G. 
All applicants with matters pending before the Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals as of the effective date of this article shall be required to comply with the new fees and escrow account maintenance provisions contained herein.
H. 
In cases when the complexity of an application (or lack thereof) or unusual circumstances surrounding the matter require that the initial fee or the percentage of that initial fee to be maintained in escrow be modified, the Planning Board, Town Board or Zoning Board of Appeals is authorized to grant such modification within the following guidelines:
(1) 
The amount of any initial fee modification shall be reasonably related to the costs attendant to the Town's review of the application.
(2) 
The amount of any escrow maintenance percentage shall be reasonably related to the complexity of the project as well as the stage to which the project has progressed as of the time of modification.
I. 
Each of the Town's consultants who render services pertaining to a land use or development application shall submit monthly itemized vouchers to the Town (through the Commissioner of Planning and Development to the Planning Board and/or Zoning Board) reasonably setting forth the services performed and amounts charged for such services.
J. 
Copies of said itemized vouchers shall be transmitted by certified mail to the applicant simultaneously with their delivery to the Commissioner of Planning and Development, together with a statement notifying the applicant that the failure to object to payment of the amount of the charges contained in said itemized voucher out of escrow funds within 15 days of the receipt of said notice shall constitute an agreement by the applicant as to the reasonableness of the charges.
K. 
The Planning Board and/or the Zoning Board of Appeals (as appropriate) shall review vouchers for services rendered to each and shall communicate its approval of same to the Commissioner of Planning and Development. The Commissioner of Planning and Development shall review and audit all such vouchers and shall determine, in its discretion, the engineering, legal and planning fees which are reasonable in amount and necessarily incurred by the Town in connection with the review and/or approval of the land use or development application.
L. 
A fee or expense or part thereof is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable relationship to the customary fee charged by engineers, architects, economists, attorneys or planners or other relevant professionals within the region for services performed on behalf of applicants or reviewing boards in connection with applications for land use or development. The Commissioner may also take into account any special conditions for considerations as the Commissioner may deem relevant. A fee and expense or part thereof is necessarily incurred if it was charged by any of the abovementioned professionals for a service which was rendered on the written order of the Commissioner in connection with application review.
M. 
After review and audit of such voucher by the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall authorize payment of same and shall provide to the applicant a copy of the voucher as audited. The Commissioner shall also be responsible for auditing the vouchers submitted to it by the Town consultants for land use approvals which it must approve, including but not limited to open development area approvals under the Town Law. The provisions of Subsection K of this section shall apply to professional and consulting reviews undertaken on behalf of the Town relating to any approval to be considered by the Town.
N. 
The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals are hereby authorized, at the time of action on any project, to make payment of any amount then overdue or, per written estimate, likely to be later incurred, a condition of approval. No plat or plans will be signed and no building permit or other permit shall be issued until such time as all reimbursement of costs and expenses, determined by the respective Board to be due, have been fully paid.
O. 
Amounts paid pursuant to this article shall be placed in an escrow account to fund expenses incurred by the Town in processing the application as provided for in Subsection A, above. The Town shall keep a record of the name of the applicant and project and of all such monies deposited and withdrawn. Monthly vouchers submitted by any of the Town's professional review contractors shall be examined and audited by the Commissioner and provided to the applicant, and the applicant may appeal said audit amount as provided herein.
P. 
All fee and expense reimbursement payments are due and payable within 15 days after delivery of a copy of an itemized voucher to the applicant as provided for in Subsection K, above. Interest shall accrue on any unpaid itemized voucher at the rate of 9% per annum. The pursuance of an appeal hereunder shall not affect the obligation to pay interest on any unpaid balance ultimately determined to be due.
An applicant may appeal, in writing, to the Town Board for a reduction in the required reimbursement amount. An appeal must be filed with the Town Board no later than 15 days after certified mail delivery or other recorded delivery to the applicant of the contested voucher. Upon such appeal, the Town Board, in its discretion, may determine that an applicant is not required to reimburse the Town for that part of an engineering, legal or planning fee incurred by the Town for services performed in connection with an application matter for which the Town Board determines the applicant bears no responsibility and which was beyond the reasonable control of the applicant. The Town Board's determination shall be in writing and shall be made no later than 60 days after receipt of the applicant's appeal.