The Planning Board is hereby authorized to review
and approve, approve with modification or deny applications for conditional
uses and to review and approve, approve with conditions and deny site
development plan (also referred to as "site plan") applications.
A.
The uses listed in the Use Table, Column C, are conditional
uses permitted only upon approval by the Planning Board in accordance
with the procedures and standards herein.[1] General and special standards and conditions are set forth in Article IX. Any such use, if approved by the Planning Board, shall be deemed a permitted use for that particular lot or parcel of land, subject to any conditions of approval.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Table of General Use Requirements
is located at the end of this chapter.
B.
Planning Board review and decision. On application by the property owner or designated agent, and after public notice and hearing, the Planning Board may approve the issuance by the Building Inspector of permit(s) for any of the conditional uses authorized by this chapter. Written notice of the public hearing shall be published in the official newspaper and posted at Town Hall, and sent by the applicant, at his expense, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owners of all property located within 500 feet of each boundary of the subject property at least five days before the date of the hearing. The public hearing shall be held within 62 days after the Board's first regular meeting following receipt of the application, and the Board shall make a decision within 62 days after close of the public hearing. Prior to approving any conditional use, the Planning Board shall determine that the proposed use and development conforms with the general and specific conditions and standards set forth in Article IX and the conditions and standards relating to site development plan review. Site development plan approval is required for all conditional uses.
A.
No building permit or certificate of occupancy for
any building, structure or use, other than a one- or two-family dwelling
or permitted buildings, structures or uses customarily accessory thereto,
shall be issued unless the Planning Board has first approved a site
plan pursuant to this section. Continued compliance with the approved
final site plan shall be a requirement of the continued validity of
any building permit and certificate of occupancy issued pursuant thereto.
B.
Objectives. In considering and acting upon site development
plans, the Planning Board shall take into consideration the public
health, safety and welfare and the comfort and convenience of the
public in general and of the prospective occupants of the proposed
development and of the immediate neighborhood in particular and may
prescribe such appropriate conditions and safeguards as may be required
in order to further the expressed intent of this chapter and to accomplish
the following objectives in particular:
(1)
Traffic access. All proposed traffic access will be
adequate but not excessive in number; adequate in width, grade, alignment
and visibility; not located too near street corners or other major
access points; and located on a roadway capable of adequately and
safely handling the additional traffic; and will provide for other
similar safety considerations.
(2)
Circulation and parking. Adequate off-street parking
and loading spaces are provided to prevent parking of vehicles on
public streets. The interior circulation system will be adequate to
provide safe accessibility to all required off-street parking.
(3)
Landscaping and screening. All recreation areas, parking
and service areas will be reasonably screened from the view of adjacent
residential lots and streets at all seasons of the year. The Planning
Board must approve all screening and landscaping, and the Board may
require the posting of a performance bond to assure that this screening
and landscaping plan is properly implemented.
(4)
Compatibility. Signs and lights will be compatible
and in scale with building elements and will not represent significant
impact on the environment or result in a waste of the land and other
natural resources of the Town. To the greatest possible extent, development
will be in harmony with the natural and scenic environment, and adequate
compensatory devices will be prescribed to offset potential significant
deterioration resulting from the project. Signs shall conform to size,
shape, color, materials and location as called for by the Planning
Board and/or Building Department.
(5)
Development. The site development plan elements, including
buildings, parking, drainage, circulation, signs and lighting, cannot
adversely affect the potential of adjacent properties from being put
to their highest and best use.
(6)
Tree preservation. The site development plan elements,
including buildings, parking, drainage, circulation, signs, and lighting,
should not remove more trees than necessary for the safe use of the
site.
[Added 12-27-2005 by L.L. No. 7-2005]
(7)
Solar access. To the extent reasonably possible, buildings and new
structures depicted on a site plan shall be located to take advantage
of solar access, including orientation of proposed buildings with
respect to sun angles, the shading and wind-screen potentials of existing
and proposed vegetation on and off site, and the resulting impact
to the solar access of adjacent uses and property.
[Added 8-8-2017 by L.L.
No. 7-2017]
C.
Site plan contents. Site plans shall be prepared by
a qualified professional licensed in the State of New York.
(1)
A site plan shall contain the following information:
(a)
A detailed development plan showing the applicant's
entire property, lot area, adjacent properties and owners thereof
and streets, at a convenient scale;
(b)
Location, width and purpose of all existing
and proposed easements, restrictions, covenants, reservations and
setbacks;
(c)
The proposed location, use and exterior design
of all buildings and structures, together with relevant floor areas
and elevations;
(d)
Any proposed division of buildings or structures
into units of separate occupancies;
(e)
Existing topography and proposed grade elevations,
watercourses, marshes, areas subject to flooding, designated wetlands,
wooded areas, large trees, rock outcrops and any other existing natural
site features;
(f)
For plans containing residential units, the
proposed location of land for park, playground or other recreational
purposes;
(g)
Number, location and nature of all parking and
truck loading areas with access and egress drives and curb cuts, together
with appropriate profiles;
(h)
Location of outdoor storage areas, if any;
(i)
Location of all existing and proposed site improvements,
including drains, culverts, retaining walls, fences and sidewalks;
(j)
Description of the method of sewage disposal
and water supply, location of such facilities and impact on community
sewage and water systems;
(k)
Location, size and illumination of signs;
(l)
Location and design of lighting facilities;
(m)
Landscape plan prepared by a licensed landscape architect showing
the location and proposed development of landscaping, screening and
buffer areas;
[Amended 8-8-2017 by L.L.
No. 7-2017]
(n)
Tree preservation plans to ensure that land
stripping techniques are not used to develop the site;
(o)
Erosion control plans;
(p)
If the site plan shows only a first stage of
development, a supplementary plan shall indicate ultimate development;
(r)
Any other pertinent information deemed necessary
by the Planning Board to determine conformity of the site plan with
the intentions of this chapter.
(2)
Specific requirements of this subsection may be waived
by resolution of the Planning Board. In waiving any requirement, the
Planning Board shall set forth the reason for said waiver. A copy
of said resolution shall be forwarded to the Town Board for its information.
D.
Procedure.
[Amended 8-14-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]
(1)
Technical review workshop. All prospective applicants wishing to
discuss technical issues associated with a future site plan submission
may request a technical review workshop discussion between the Planning
Board Engineer and the prospective applicant's engineer, planner,
and/or surveyor by contacting the Planning Board Clerk.
[Added 5-10-2016 by L.L.
No. 2-2016[2]]
[2]
Editor's Note: This local law also redesignated former Subsection
D(1) through (3) as Subsection D(2) through (4), respectively.
(2)
Presubmission conference. Prior to the submission of a site plan, the applicant shall meet in person with the Planning Board ("presubmission conference"). Presubmission conferences shall take place at regular meetings of the Planning Board, by appointment only. Applicants shall contact the Secretary of the Planning Board to schedule a presubmission conference. The purpose of the presubmission conference is to discuss preliminarily the applicant's proposed site development, and for the Planning Board to have the opportunity to consider any request by the applicant for a waiver pursuant to § 235-55C(2).
(3)
Any application for site plan approval shall be made
within six months following the presubmission conference directly
to the Secretary of the Planning Board, and in the form required by
the Board. Said application shall also include the site plan, environmental
assessment form and application fee, which fee shall be in accordance
with the Standard Schedule of fees for the Town.[3]
[3]
Editor's Note: The Standard Schedule of Fees
is on file in the Town offices.
(4)
No decision by the Planning Board to approve or deny
a site plan application shall be made until after a public hearing.
Written notice of said hearing shall be published in the official
newspaper and posted at Town Hall, and sent by the applicant, at his
expense, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all known
owners of property located within 500 feet of each boundary of the
subject property at least five days prior to the date of the hearing.
Such other notice as required by Article 12-B of the General Municipal
Law, Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and other applicable
laws shall also be given. The written notice of hearing shall be mailed
to the applicant at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. The public
hearing shall be held within 62 days after the Board's first regular
meeting following receipt of the application, and the Board shall
make a decision within 62 days after close of the public hearing.
E.
Other required considerations. In considering and acting upon any site plan, the Planning Board shall consider, in addition to the elements and items set forth in Subsections B and C, the site layout and overall appearance of all buildings in the proposed site to ensure a harmonious relationship with the existing or permitted development of contiguous land and adjacent neighborhoods, to ensure that the value of adjacent land and buildings will be conserved, to encourage the most appropriate use of land and to protect the public interest and the integrity of the community and this chapter.
F.
Protective plantings. The site plan for any nonresidential
building or use which abuts a residential district shall include a
protective planting strip not less than six feet wide, situated within
the required side or rear yard, designed and laid out with suitable
evergreen plant material which will attain and shall be maintained
at a height of not less than eight feet, so as to provide an effective
and natural screen between the nonresidential and residential districts
and residential districts along side and rear lot lines. Where deemed
necessary by the Planning Board, similar natural screening shall be
included along the front lot line where such screening will not adversely
affect public safety.
G.
Public improvement requirement. Prior to the granting
of site plan approval, the applicant may be required by the Planning
Board to file with the Town a letter of credit or cash bond sufficient
to cover the full cost of all public improvements and land reclamation
required by development of the site. The amount of such letter or
credit or cash bond shall be recommended by the Town Engineer and
approved by the Town.
H.
Imposition of conditions authorized. Every site plan approval granted by the Planning Board may be subject to and conditioned upon conditions and safeguards which the Board deems applicable to the particular plan. Such conditions and safeguards are deemed an integral component of the site plan approval, and any violation of such conditions or safeguards shall be deemed a violation of the site plan approval and of this chapter and is punishable under the provisions of Article XVI.
I.
Certificate of occupancy. No certificate of occupancy
shall be issued for any development which has not been constructed
in strict conformity with the approved site plan or until all necessary
easements and property interests have been granted or dedicated to
the Town.
J.
Signing and referral of plan. Upon submission of the final site development plan with modifications required by the Planning Board in its final approval and upon satisfaction of any conditions imposed by such approval, the Chairperson of the Planning Board shall sign the approved site development plan and file one copy with the Building Inspector, who may thereafter issue a building permit or certificate of occupancy in reliance thereon, in accordance with Article XVI.
K.
Expiration of site plan approval. Site plan approval
shall be valid for 180 days commencing with the date the Planning
Board adopts a resolution granting such site plan approval. The applicant
may petition the Planning Board before such approval expires for two
extension(s) of 90 days each, which extension(s) may be granted or
denied at the discretion of the Planning Board. Failure to obtain
a building permit within this three-hundred-sixty-day period shall
cause the approval to expire and be deemed null and void.
L.
Amendment of plan. An application for an amendment
of any approved site development plan for a site which has received
prior final site development plan approval shall be processed in accordance
with the preceding provisions. Fees for an amended site development
plan approval shall be in accordance with the Standard Schedule of
Fees of the Town of Blooming Grove.[4] The approved amendment of a site plan shall not toll the time period for expiration of a site plan contained in Subsection K above, unless the Planning Board expressly determines that an additional extension of time is warranted in view of all the facts and circumstances.
[4]
Editor's Note: The Standard Schedule of Fees
is on file in the Town offices.
M.
Guidelines for future solar access.
[Added 8-8-2017 by L.L.
No. 7-2017]
(1)
New structures shall be sited to take advantage of solar access insofar
as practical, including the orientation of proposed buildings with
respect to sun angles, the shading and windscreen potential of existing
and proposed vegetation on and off the site, and the impact of solar
access to adjacent uses and properties.
(2)
To permit maximum solar access to proposed lots and future buildings,
wherever reasonably feasible, consistent with other appropriate design
considerations and to the extent practicable, new streets shall be
located on an east-west axis to encourage building siting with the
maximum exposure of roof and wall area to the sun. The Planning Board
shall also consider the slope of the property and the nature and location
of existing vegetation insofar as they affect solar access.
(3)
The impact of street trees on the solar access of the surrounding
property shall be minimized to the greatest possible extent when selecting
and locating shade trees. Reasonable efforts shall be made to avoid
shading probable locations for solar energy collectors.
(4)
When the Planning Board reviews and acts upon applications for subdivision
approval or site plan approval, it shall take into consideration whether
the proposed construction would block access to sunlight between the
hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time for existing
approved solar energy collectors or for solar energy collectors for
which a permit has been issued.
(5)
The Planning Board may require subdivisions to be platted so as to
preserve or enhance solar access for either passive or active systems,
consistent with other requirements of the Town Code.
(6)
The plan for development of any site within a cluster subdivision
shall be designed and arranged in such a way as to promote solar access
for all or substantially all dwelling units. Considerations may include
the following:
(a)
To maximize solar access, place the higher-density dwelling
units on a south-facing slope and lower-density dwelling units sited
on a north-facing slope.
(b)
Subject to the Town's setback requirements, site structures
as close to the north lot line as possible to increase yard space
to the south for reduced shading of the south face of a structure.
(c)
Site a tall structure to the north of a short structure.
