No decision to carry out or approve an action, other than an action listed in §
126-3A hereof or Section 617.12 of Title 6 of the New York Codes. Rules and Regulations as a Type II action, shall be made by the Town Board or by any department, board, commission, officer or employee of the town, until there has been full compliance with all requirements of this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations: provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting:
A. The conducting of contemporaneous environmental, engineering,
economic feasibility or other studies and preliminary planning and budgetary
processes necessary to the formulation of a proposal for action, which do
not commit the town to approve, commence or engage in such action.
B. The granting of any part of an application which relates
only to technical specifications and requirements, provided that no such partial
approval shall entitle or permit the applicant to commence the action until
all requirements of this chapter and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes,
Rules and Regulations have been fulfilled.
For the purpose of assisting in the determination of whether an action
may or will not have a significant effect on the environment, applicants for
permits or other approvals shall file a written statement with the Planning
Board setting forth the name of the applicant; the location of the real property
affected, if any; a description of the nature of the proposed action; the
effect it may have on the environment; and a detailed statement of the reasons
why, in their view, a proposed action may or will not have a significant effect
on the environment. Where the action involves an application, this statement
shall be completed and filed in order to have the application for the action
deemed completed. The statement provided herein shall be upon a form prescribed
by resolution by the Planning Board and shall contain such additional relevant
information as shall be required in the prescribed form. Such statement shall
be accompanied by drawings, sketches and maps, if any, together with any other
relevant explanatory material required by the Planning Board.
Upon receipt of a complete application and a statement, the Planning
Board shall cause a notice thereof to be posted on the signboard, if any,
of the town, maintained by the town, and at the applicant's expense shall
also cause such notice to be published in the official newspaper of the town
or in a newspaper having general circulation within the town, describing the
nature of the proposed action and stating that written views thereon of any
person shall be received by the Planning Board no later than a date specified
in such notice.
Every application for determination under this chapter shall be accompanied
by a fee, set forth by the Planning Board, to defray the expenses incurred
in rendering the initial determination of whether the action may or will not
have a significant effect on the environment.
If, on the basis of a draft environmental impact statement and/or a
public hearing thereon, the Planning Board determines that an action will
not have a significant effect on the environment, the proposed action may
be processed without further regard to this chapter.
[Amended 2-19-1986 by L.L. No. 2-1986; 2-21-2007
by L.L. No. 1-2007]
Except as otherwise provided herein, the Planning Board shall cause to be prepared a final environmental impact statement in accordance with the provisions of Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations; provided, further, that if the action involves an application, the Planning Board shall direct the applicant to prepare the final environmental impact statement. Such final environmental impact statement shall be prepared within 45 days after the close of any hearing or 60 days after the filing of the draft environmental impact statement, whichever last occurs; provided, however, that the Planning Board may extend this time as necessary to complete the statement adequately or where problems identified with the proposed action require material reconsideration or modification. Where the action involves an application, such final environmental impact statement shall be accompanied by the fee specified in this section to defray the expenses of the Town in preparing and/or evaluating same. The fee shall be determined as set forth in the most current resolution of the Town Board fixing the fee pursuant to §
137-1 of the Town Code.
A notice of completion of a final environmental impact statement shall be prepared, filed and sent in the same manner as provided in §
126-10 herein and shall be sent to all persons to whom the notice of completion of the draft environmental impact statement was sent. Copies of the final environmental impact statement shall be filed and made available for review in the same manner as the draft environmental impact statement.
No decision to carry out or approve an action which has been the subject
of a final environmental impact statement by the Planning Board or any other
agency shall be made until after the filing and consideration of the final
enviromental impact statement. Where the Planning Board has been the lead
agency for an action, it shall make a decision whether or not to approve the
action within 30 days of the filing of the final environmental impact statement.
When a Planning Board decides to carry out or approve an action which
may have a significant effect on the environment, it shall make the following
findings in a written determination:
A. Consistent with social, economic and other essential
considerations of state policy, to the maximum extent practicable, from among
the reasonable alternatives thereto, the action to be carried out or approved
is one which minimizes or avoids adverse environmental effects, including
the effects disclosed in the relevant environmental impact statements.
B. All practicable means will be taken in carrying out or
approving the action to minimize or avoid adverse environmental effects.
For public information purposes, a copy of the determination shall be
filed and made available as provided in Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York
Codes, Rules and Regulations.
The town shall maintain files open for public inspection of all notices
of completion, draft and final environmental impact statements and written
determinations prepared or caused to be prepared by the Planning Board.
Where more than one agency is involved in an action, the procedures
of Sections 617.4 and 617.8 of Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes,
Rules and Regulations shall be followed.
Actions undertaken or approved prior to the dates specified in Article
8 of the Environmental Conservation Law for local agencies shall be exempt
from this chapter and the provisions of Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation
Law and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations:
provided, however, that if, after such dates, a governing body or appropriate
department, board, commission, officer or employee having jurisdiction modifies
an action undertaken or approved prior to that date, and the Planning Board
determines that the modification may have a significant adverse effect on
the environment, such modification shall be an action subject to this chapter
and Part 617 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.