[Amended 3-12-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
A. The Mayor, with the approval of the Board of Trustees,
shall appoint a Zoning Board of Appeals consisting of five members,
each of whom shall be a resident of the Incorporated Village of Sea
Cliff and each of whom shall serve for a term of five years in the
position to which he shall be appointed. Every member of said Board
of Zoning Appeals shall be considered a public officer, shall take
and sign a constitutional oath of office prior to assuming his duties
and commencing his term of office and shall be subject to all of the
provisions of law applicable to public officers. The Chairman of said
Board shall be appointed from among the five members by the Mayor,
with the approval of the Board of Trustees. No member of the Board
of Trustees shall be eligible for membership on said Zoning Board
of Appeals during his term of office as Trustee. Any member of the
Zoning Board of Appeals may be removed by the Mayor for cause after
a public hearing.
B. The terms of the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals
shall be so fixed that one member's term shall expire at the end of
each official Village year. At the expiration of the term of each
current member's appointment, the replacement member shall be appointed
by the Board of Trustees for a term which shall be equal in years
to the number of members of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
[Added 3-12-2007 by L.L. No. 1-2007]
A. The Board of Trustees finds that it is in the best
interests of the Village residents to create two positions of alternate
member of the Zoning Board of Appeals to sit on applications and other
matters for such members as are unable to participate because of a
conflict of interest or because of an inability to attend a meeting,
in order to help assure that a quorum is readily available to hear
applications and other matters in a timely manner. Since Paragraph
11 of § 7-712 of the Village Law provides for the establishment
of such positions only when members are unable to participate because
of a conflict of interest, the Board of Trustees seeks to both implement
the provisions of said section and simultaneously to supersede the
limitations of said section, to the extent necessary, if at all, to
provide that such alternate members may also act when regular members
are unwilling, unavailable or for any other reason do not attend a
meeting or participate on an application.
B. In addition to regular members appointed and serving pursuant to §
138-1301 of this chapter, the Mayor is hereby authorized to appoint, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, two alternate members to the Zoning Board of Appeals to serve as provided herein. No alternate member shall also serve as a member or alternate member of the Planning Board.
C. Each alternate member shall serve for a term of two
years expiring at the end of the Village official year, except that
in the first year of the application of this section, to stagger the
terms, one alternate member shall be appointed for one year and one
for two years. Their successors shall be appointed for a term of two
years after the expiration of the terms of their predecessors in office.
If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, it
shall be filled by the Mayor for the unexpired term, subject to the
approval of the Village Board of Trustees. The Village Board of Trustees
shall have the power to remove any alternate member of the Zoning
Board of Appeals for cause, after a public hearing if one is requested.
D. The Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals may designate
an alternate member to substitute for a regular member when such member
is unable to participate because of a conflict of interest on an application
or other matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals, or when a regular
member is unwilling, unavailable or for any other reason does not
attend a meeting or participate on an application. The alternate member
shall be designated prior to the initial meeting on each application
where a regular member is unable to participate, when practical, and
attend, deliberate, and vote in every meeting and action taken by
the Zoning Board of Appeals thereafter during the review of the application
in place of the member being substituted. Once designated to serve
on a particular matter before the Board, the alternate member shall
have the same powers, duties, and responsibilities as a regular member
of the Board until that matter is concluded. When so designated, such
designation shall be entered into the minutes of the initial Zoning
Board of Appeals meeting at which the substitution is made. Any determination
by the Board consisting of alternate members shall have the same weight
and be entitled to the same authority as the act or deed of the regular
Zoning Board of Appeals, and all laws, statutes and regulations shall
apply and be applied with equal force and effect.
E. If the Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals is
unable to participate because of a conflict of interest on an application
or other matter before the Zoning Board of Appeals, or is unwilling,
unavailable or for any other reason does not attend a meeting or participate
on an application, the acting Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals
may designate an alternate member to substitute for the Chairman and
an alternate member to substitute for any other regular member of
the Board who is unable to participate pursuant to this section.
F. Although alternate members of the Zoning Board of
Appeals may attend all meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals, they
shall have no power to participate in any actions of the Zoning Board
of Appeals except as provided herein.
G. All provisions of state law, as well as any provisions
of any local law, relating to Zoning Board of Appeals member training
and continuing education, attendance, conflict of interest, compensation,
eligibility, vacancy in office, removal, compatibility of office and
service on other boards shall apply to alternate Zoning Board of Appeals
members.
[Added 6-3-2003 by L.L. No. 3-2003]
A. The Zoning Board of Appeals may render its decision
on any appeal, application, or other matter in a short-form format,
setting forth the Board's determination and conditions, if any, without
enumerating the findings which formed the basis for its determination.
Any appellant, applicant, or other person or persons jointly or severally
aggrieved by a decision of the Board may, within 30 days after the
filing of the short-form decision in the office of the Village Clerk,
file a written demand with the Village Clerk requesting that the Zoning
Board of Appeals render its decision in a long-form format containing
findings which formed the basis for the Board's determination. The
Village Clerk shall promptly deliver this written demand to the Chairman
of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Village Attorney. The chairman
shall then cause the long form decision to be prepared and, upon its
approval by the Board, file it with the Village Clerk.
B. In cases where the Zoning Board of Appeals renders
a short-form decision, and no written demand requesting a long-form
decision is filed within the required thirty-day period, the date
of filing of the short-form decision with the Village Clerk shall
be deemed the date of the filing of the Board's decision for all purposes.
In cases where the Board renders or is required to render a long-form
decision, the date of filing of the long-form decision with the Village
Clerk shall be deemed the date of filing of the Board's decision for
all purposes.
The Zoning Board of Appeals is hereby authorized
to adopt, promulgate, amend and repeal rules and regulations governing
its procedure and the transaction of its business and for the purpose
of fully implementing the provisions of this chapter. Such rules and
regulations, and any amendment thereto, shall be subject to approval
by the Board of Trustees and, once approved, shall be made a part
of this Code with the same force and effect as all other laws of the
Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff.
[Added 9-10-2007 by L.L. No. 8-2007]
A. Expiration, lapse, extension and reinstatement of
variances. Any variance granted pursuant to this chapter shall automatically
expire and be of no further force and effect 180 days after the granting
thereof unless, within such one-hundred-eighty-day period, substantial
construction shall have been commenced. Such construction must be
completed within one year of the date of commencement of substantial
construction. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall be authorized, upon
application and without hearing, to grant extensions of the variance
for periods not to exceed 180 days in duration or to reinstate a lapsed
variance for good cause shown. Any variance issued prior to the effective
date of this section shall be deemed to have been issued on such effective
date.
B. Extinguishment of variance. Whenever a use established
pursuant to a variance shall have been abandoned for a term of 180
days, or whenever the location of such a use is substantially destroyed,
the land, building or structure in which said use shall have existed
shall not thereafter be used for the previously established use. Such
one-hundred-eighty-day period of abandonment may be discontinued only
by 30 or more consecutive business days of operation. A use shall
be "substantially destroyed" if the cost to repair and replace the
structure in which it is located exceeds 50% of the current structural
replacement value thereof.
C. Revocation of variance. Any variance granted pursuant to this chapter shall be revocable on the order of the Zoning Board of Appeals at any time upon the failure of the owner or operator of the use or structure covered by the variance to observe all requirements of this chapter with respect to the maintenance and conduct of the use or structure or upon failure to observe all conditions in connection with such variance which were designated by the Zoning Board of Appeals issuing the same. Prior to revoking any such variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall give the holder of the variance at least 10 days' written notice of violation. If within such 10 days the variance holder so requests, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold a hearing on the revocation of such variance and shall give the applicant for the hearing at least 10 days' written notice thereof either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service. The foregoing provisions shall not be deemed to preclude the use of any other remedy by the Zoning Board of Appeals or by any enforcement agent of the Village to compel compliance with any conditions of the variance. The violation of any condition imposed by the Zoning Board of Appeals as part of a variance shall constitute a violation of this chapter and shall subject such violator to the penalties set forth in §
2-4B(2) of this Code.