The following procedures shall be followed with respect to notification
of surrounding property owners:
A. After an application has been made, the Secretary shall
obtain from the Assessor's office a list of surrounding property owners
within the radius of the property in question as fixed by the Zoning Ordinance.
B. The Secretary shall prepare a letter of notice. The applicant
shall reproduce a copy of said notice for each property owner on the list,
affix addresses and certified mail postage to each envelope without sealing
them and present stuffed envelopes, with addresses and postage affixed, to
the Secretary for sealing and mailing. The cost of stationery, duplicating,
addressing and postage shall be borne by the applicant.
C. The Secretary shall send notices by certified mail to
all property owners on the list and shall retain copies of the receipts.
D. When the Secretary receives the copies of receipts signed
by the notified property owners, such receipts shall become part of the record.
E. In accordance with Sections 451 and 452 of the Westchester
County Administrative Code, the Secretary shall notify other agencies, where
applicable, as required by § 235-57H of the Harrison Zoning Ordinance.
In accordance with the Zoning Ordinance, a public advertisement indicating
all new items which are to come before the Board at its next meeting shall
be placed by the Secretary in the official newspaper, as designated by resolution
of the Town Village Board, at least eight but not more than 15 days before
said meeting.
Adjournments of any given matter scheduled to come before the Board
may be granted to an applicant requesting such an adjournment, provided that:
A. Any approval of an adjournment, either of an initial hearing or of a previously adjourned hearing, shall be subject to the requirement that all surrounding property owners be notified of the adjournment if a public announcement has already been made with respect to such matter. The expense of so notifying surrounding property owners shall be borne by the party requesting the adjournment, be it the applicant, an objector or the Zoning Board of Appeals. Such notification shall follow the procedure stated in §
A238-5 above.
B. The adjournment shall be to the next regular meeting
of the Board.
C. With respect to the initial hearing in a given matter
for which a public advertisement appears, a request for adjournment shall
be made before the public advertisement has appeared in the newspaper.
D. Approval for such adjournment has been obtained from the Chairman of the Board. Furthermore, the Chairman or the majority of the entire Board is hereby empowered to waive, at his or its discretion, the requirements of Subsections
B and
C above, provided that special circumstances warrant such an exception.
An applicant may withdraw his or her application, provided that:
A. The applicant shall notify, at his or her expense, all surrounding property owners if they have previously been notified of a meeting with respect to such matter. Such notification shall follow the procedure stated in §
A238-5 above.
B. The fee of $25 is forfeited if such withdrawal is requested
after the public advertisement has been placed.
C. Once an application has been filed, the applicant shall
forfeit an administrative charge of $10 [to be retained by the Board from
the initial filing fee of $25], if the request to withdraw is made prior to
placement of the public advertisement.
A quorum shall be deemed present for the proper conduct of a public
meeting if four members of the Board are in attendance.
In general, the procedures of each public meeting shall be as follows:
A. The meeting shall be called to order by the Chairman
or Acting Chairman.
B. The various agenda matters shall be heard in the order
in which their calendar numbers appear on the agenda, except that the Chairman
or Acting Chairman may decide to hear a given matter out of order.
C. The applicant or the applicant's representative(s)
shall be invited to make his, her or their presentation to the Board.
D. The members of the Board shall have an opportunity to
question the applicant and/or his or her representative(s).
E. Persons attending the meeting to speak for or against
the application shall be invited to address the Board, after identifying themselves
by name and address.
F. Persons giving evidence relevant to a given matter shall
be duly sworn by the Chairman or Acting Chairman.
G. The Board shall, as necessary, recess the public meeting
for executive sessions or hold such executive sessions between public meetings
to expedite its deliberations.
H. The Board shall vote publicly at each meeting with respect
to each matter heard by it during that meeting.
I. No member of the Board shall sit in hearing or vote on
any matter in which he is personally or financially interested. Said member
shall not be counted by the Board in establishing the quorum for such matter.
J. No member shall vote on the determination of any matter
requiring public hearing unless he has attended the public hearing thereon;
however, where such member has familiarized himself with the record on such
matter, he shall be qualified to vote.
Unless otherwise provided for by the Board or the Chairman or Acting
Chairman, the official record of the Board's public meetings shall be
the tape recording made during each meeting. Nevertheless, an applicant may
request that stenographic notes be substituted for the tape as the official
record, in which case the Chairman shall have the right to grant such a request,
provided that:
A. The Board arranges for the stenographer and keeps possession
of the notes.
B. The applicant bears the full cost of the stenographic
notes.
C. The applicant bears the full cost of any transcript of
the stenographic notes provided by the Board at the applicant's request.
It shall be the policy of the Board to notify the Town Supervisor, the
Building Inspector and the Town Attorney of any apparent violations of the
Zoning Ordinance which may be brought to the Board's attention. Such
notices shall be on Zoning Board of Appeals stationery and shall be signed
by the Chairman on behalf of the Board.
It shall be the policy of the Board that no expenditure be approved
on behalf of the Board or charged to the Board without the consent of the
Chairman or, should such expenditure exceed $100, of a majority of the entire
Board.
It shall be the policy of the Board that new stationery be ordered whenever
a change in the makeup of the Board occurs. Such stationery shall list the
names of each member of the Board.
It shall be the policy of the Board that no smoking be permitted at
its public meetings.
These rules of procedure may be modified upon a motion made by any member
of the Board, duly seconded and carried by the affirmative vote of four or
more Board members.