Pursuant to authority delegated by § 30-a of the General City Law of the State of New York, the Ogdensburg City Council hereby authorizes the City Planning Board to review and approve site development plans. In all cases where this chapter requires site plan review by the Planning Board, no building permit shall be issued by the Zoning Enforcement Officer except upon authorization of and in conformity with the final site plan approved by the Planning Board. Site plan review by the Planning Board shall be required in all districts for the erection or enlargement of all principal buildings other than one- or two-family dwellings and their accessory uses or structures, except as otherwise described in
This section of this chapter is enacted under the authority of § 30-a of the New York State General City Law to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City. The site plan review regulates the development of structures and sites in a manner which considers the following concerns and, where necessary, requires modification of development proposals to eliminate or minimize potential problems and nuisances. The principal areas of concern are:
A. 
The balancing of landowners' rights to use their land with the corresponding rights of neighboring landowners to live without undue disturbances from nuisances in the form of noise, smoke, fumes, vibration, dust, odor, glare and stormwater runoff.
B. 
The safety and convenience of vehicular and pedestrian movement within the site, and in relation to adjacent areas or roads.
C. 
The protection of state or local designated historical or archeological sites and natural environmental resources on the site under review, and in adjacent areas.
D. 
The use shall be of such location, size and character that it will be in harmony with the appropriate and orderly development of the City and will not be detrimental to the orderly development of adjacent areas.
An optional sketch plan conference may be held between the Planning Board staff and the applicant prior to the preparation and submission of a formal site plan. The intent of such a conference is to enable the applicant to inform the Planning Board of the development proposal prior to the preparation of a preliminary site plan, and for the Planning Board to review the basic site design concept, advise the applicant as to potential problems and concerns, and to generally determine the information to be required on the site plan. In order to accomplish these objectives, the applicant should provide the following:
A. 
A statement and rough sketch showing the locations and dimensions of existing and proposed structures, wells, waste disposal systems, parking areas, access drives, signage and anticipated changes in the existing topography and natural features.
B. 
A sketch or map of the area which clearly shows the location of the site and nearby properties, land uses, street rights-of-way, easements and other pertinent features.
An application for site development plan approval or for an amendment to a previously approved site development plan shall be made in writing to the Chairperson of the Planning Board at least 15 days in advance of the Planning Board meeting at which the application is to be presented. All drawings submitted must be at a scale of not more than 50 feet to the inch. Five copies of all drawings must be submitted. The data to be submitted, the total of which constitutes a site development plan, is as follows:
A. 
Data required in all cases:
(1) 
The names of all owners of record of all adjacent property, and the lot, block and section number of the property, all as shown in the City's official tax records.
(2) 
Existing zoning and special district boundaries.
(3) 
Boundaries of the property, building or setback lines, if different from those required by this chapter, and lines of existing streets and lots as shown on the City's official Tax Maps. Reservations, easements and areas dedicated to public use, if known, shall be shown.
(4) 
A drawing showing the location of existing building and existing watercourses, marshes, rock outcrops, wooded areas, single trees with a diameter of eight inches or more, measured three feet above the base of the trunk, and other significant existing features.
(5) 
Title of development, date, North point, scale, name and address of record owner.
(6) 
The proposed uses or uses of land and buildings, proposed location of buildings and proposed architectural features.
(7) 
All means of vehicular access and egress to and from the site onto public streets.
(8) 
The location and design of any off-street parking and loading areas.
(9) 
The location of all proposed waterlines, valves and hydrants and of all sewer lines, or of any proposed alternative means of water supply and sewage disposal and treatment.
(10) 
The proposed location, direction, power and time of proposed outdoor lighting.
(11) 
All proposed screening and landscaping.
(12) 
Proposed stormwater drainage system.
(13) 
Location and screening of all trash receptacles.
B. 
Additional data which may be required in special cases. When, due to special conditions, peculiar to a particular site or to the size, nature or complexity of the proposed use or development of land or building, the Planning Board finds that all or portions of the additional data listed below are necessary for proper review of the site development plan, the Planning Board may require any or all such data to be included in the required submission of the site development plan.
(1) 
A survey of the subject property having an error of closure not in excess of one in 10,000 and indicating all lengths in feet and decimals of a foot and all angles to the nearest 10 second or closer, deemed necessary by a surveyor or professional engineer (licensed by the State of New York).
(2) 
A copy of all covenants or deed restrictions that are intended to cover all or any part of the subject property.
(3) 
Location of existing water mains, culverts and drains on the property, with pipe sizes, grades and direction of flow.
(4) 
Existing contours with intervals of five feet or less, referred to a datum satisfactory to the Planning Board.
(5) 
All proposed lots, easements and public and community areas. All proposed streets with profiles indicating grading and cross sections showing width of roadway, location and width of sidewalk, and location and size of utility lines.
(6) 
All proposed grades.
(7) 
The proposed screening and/or landscaping.
(8) 
Where the Planning Board requires the submission by an engineer, architect or surveyor licensed by the State of New York, the name and license number of such engineer, architect or surveyor. This section is in addition to submission requirements as otherwise provided by law.
A. 
The Planning Board staff shall determine the completeness of any application made for site plan review and shall notify the applicant within 10 days of the date of application submission if such application is incomplete or deficient in any way, and shall further specify the deficiencies.
B. 
The Planning Board staff shall certify on each site plan whether or not the plan meets the requirements of all zoning regulations other than those of this section regarding site plan review.
C. 
The Planning Board staff shall refer the application to the Planning Board in accordance with submission and review timelines to determine whether the application is complete and which information may be waived. Staff shall further recommend to approve, approve with modifications or deny the preliminary site plan.
The Planning Board may schedule and hold a public hearing on the site plan if considered desirable by a majority of its members. Such hearing shall be held within 45 days of the receipt of a complete application submission or completion of the SEQR review and shall be advertised in the City's official newspaper at least five days before the public hearing.
A. 
The approval of a proposed site plan constitutes a special authorization within this chapter. The application is, therefore, subject to referral by the City to the County Planning Board in accordance with the requirements of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law, prior to final action. Referral is necessary should the property of the site plan be located within 500 feet of the following:
(1) 
The boundary of any City or town.
(2) 
The boundary of any state park or other recreation area.
(3) 
The right-of-way of any county or state parkway, throughway, expressway or other controlled access highway.
(4) 
The right-of-way of any stream or drainage channel owned by the county or for which the county has established channel lines.
(5) 
The boundary of any county- or state-owned land on which a public building or institution is located.
B. 
If the County Planning Board has not acted on the referral within 30 days of receipt, the Planning Board may proceed as if the County Planning Board had approved the referral.
A. 
The Planning Board shall render its decision within 45 days following receipt of a complete application for site plan review or, if a public hearing is held, within 45 days from the time of the hearing. The Planning Board's final action, rendered in writing, shall consist of either:
(1) 
Approval of the site plan based upon a determination that the proposed plan will constitute a suitable development and is in compliance with the standards set forth in this section;
(2) 
Disapproval of the site plan based upon a determination that the proposed project does not meet the standards for review set forth in this section, and stating such deficiencies; or
(3) 
Approval of the site plan subject to any conditions, modifications and restrictions as required by the Board which will ensure the project meets the standards for review.
B. 
Notice of the Board's decision shall be given in writing to the applicant and Code Enforcement Officer.
[Amended 10-22-2007 by Ord. No. 10-2007]
(1) 
Upon approval of the site plan and payment by the applicant of any and all fees due to the City, the Planning Board shall endorse its approval by having the acting Chairperson sign the final site plan and forward copies to the applicant and Code Enforcement Officer.
(2) 
Upon disapproval of the site plan, the Planning Board shall so inform the Code Enforcement Officer, and the Code Enforcement Officer shall deny a building permit to the applicant. The Planning Board shall also notify the applicant in writing of its decision and its reasons for disapproval.
C. 
Failure of the Planning Board to take final action within the specified time period shall be deemed approval. The time within which a decision must be rendered may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Planning Board.
The Planning Board's review of the site plan shall include, as appropriate, but is not limited to, the following general considerations:
A. 
Legal. The proposal shall conform to all provisions of this chapter and applicable regulations of state agencies. All existing zoning violations on the site shall be corrected.
B. 
Traffic. The proposal shall provide safe and convenient movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic within the site and in relationship to adjoining roads, driveways and properties. Furthermore, all proposed traffic access and driveways shall be adequate but not excessive in size; adequate in width, grade, alignment and visibility; not located too near street corners; and other similar safety considerations.
C. 
Parking and loading. Adequate off-street parking and loading spaces shall be provided consistent with § 221-41, Off-street parking and loading, for the proposed use to prevent safety hazards from parking on public streets or disrupting traffic flow on adjacent roads, and that the interior vehicle circulation system is adequate to provide safe accessibility to all required off-street parking areas.
D. 
City services. The proposal shall not place unreasonable demands on City services and facilities (e.g., fire protection, public roads, road maintenance and snow plowing, recreational facilities, sewage system, water supply, etc.).
E. 
Drainage. The proposal shall provide adequately for stormwater and drainage facilities such that site runoff will not run into the sewage system, onto roads or cause nuisance conditions for neighbors or lead to ponding or excessive erosion.
F. 
Exterior lighting. The location, direction, power and time of use for any proposed lighting shall be designed to protect neighbors from undue disturbances and nuisances.
G. 
Pedestrian circulation. The proposal shall provide safe and convenient pedestrian movement both within the site and to and from the site in a manner separated from vehicular traffic.
H. 
Environmental and historic resources.
(1) 
Environmental resources and state-designated historic features on the site or adjacent to the proposal shall be adequately protected from significant adverse impacts. Soil erosion shall be minimized both during and after construction.
(2) 
Unless a permit for commercial excavation has been granted, no person, firm or corporation will strip, excavate or otherwise remove topsoil for sale or for use other than on the premises from which the topsoil is taken, except in connection with the construction or alteration of a structure on the premises and excavation or grading incidental thereto.
I. 
Nuisances. Adequate protection of neighboring properties shall be provided from any undue disturbance caused by excessive or unreasonable noise, smoke, trash, garbage, debris, vibration, fumes, dust, odors, glare or other nuisance.
J. 
Landscaping and screening. Parking and loading areas shall be adequately screened or fenced from existing residences and state-designated tourism routes. On-site materials storage, refuse, salvage materials and unlicensed nonagricultural vehicles and equipment shall be adequately screened or fenced from view from public roads and existing residences.
K. 
City character. The location, scale, height and appearance of structures shall be appropriate to their function and harmonize with the surrounding architecture, cityscape and natural landscape. Clear cutting of large areas for development shall be avoided. Where tree removal is required, special attention shall be given to planting of replacement trees.
A. 
The Planning Board may require the posting of a bond or other similar performance guaranty to ensure compliance with the plan and stated conditions of approval and to cover any City costs involved in the project. It may suspend any permit when work is not performed as required.
B. 
Inspection of improvements. The Code Enforcement Officer shall be responsible for the overall inspection of site improvements. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued until all improvements shown on the approved site plan are installed or a sufficient performance guaranty has been posted for improvements not yet completed.
[Amended 10-22-2007 by Ord. No. 10-2007]
Review of amendments to an approved site plan shall be acted in the same manner as the original site plan review application.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Planning Board may apply to the Supreme Court for review by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Such proceedings shall be instituted within 30 days after filing of a decision in the office of the City Clerk.