[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Elmsford as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-17-2004 by L.L. No. 3-2004]
[Amended 11-1-2004 by L.L. No. 13-2004]
The Village of Elmsford incurs significant expenses
in the operation of the Board of Trustees, Planning Commission, Zoning
Board of Appeals, the office of the Building inspector and the Police
Department in administering the Village Code. Further, the Village
incurs costs in connection with production of documents and photocopying.
There is hereby established an article whereby the Board of Trustees
shall have the authority to impose and collect all reasonably necessary
administrative fees in connection with any application as set forth
or as may hereinafter be set forth in the laws of the Village of Elmsford
and review of said applications, including, but not limited to, fees
to be paid in connection with any application for licenses, permits,
public safety and health matters, and planning, zoning, building and
construction approval. These fees are necessary to carry out the Village
of Elmsford's regulatory measures.
The Board of Trustees shall establish, by resolution,
a Master Fee Schedule setting forth the fees to be charged to applicants
in connection with all applications made pursuant to the laws of the
Village of Elmsford, including, but not limited to, any application
for licenses, permits, public safety and health matters, and planning,
zoning, building and construction approval. The Board of Trustees
may also set forth fees in the Master Fee Schedule for reimbursement
of various administrative fees, including, but not limited to, the
cost of photocopies, preparation of birth and death certificates,
and rental of the Senior Center. The Master Fee Schedule may be amended
by resolution from time to time, as the Board of Trustees deems necessary.
[Amended 5-4-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
All administrative costs that are reasonably
necessary in carrying out the objectives of the laws of the Village
of Elmsford shall be charged to the applicant. Administrative costs
shall be set forth in the Master Fee Schedule and shall be reflected
as the actual costs of administering and reviewing such applications
by the Village. For the purpose of this chapter, administrative costs
shall include, but are not limited to, actual costs involved in processing
applications, preparation of hearing notices, publication of hearing
notices, providing notice to other governmental agencies, preparation
of affidavits of posting and publication, preparation and maintenance
of official records regarding the application, and municipal review
of the application, including, without limitation, plan review, plan
amendment review, renewal of building permits, processing of resolutions,
photocopies, preparation of birth and death certificates, rental of
the Senior Center, and other similarly related and necessary costs
in connection with administering the laws of the Village of Elmsford.
Unless otherwise specifically provided in this
article, the fees required pursuant to this article shall be paid
in advance upon submission of the application. The failure to submit
the full payment required shall render the application incomplete.
Whenever an extension is necessary to prevent
an approval from lapsing or becoming otherwise void, the first such
request for an extension shall be processed at no charge. The second
and each subsequent request for an extension shall be processed only
upon prior payment of fees established pursuant to the Master Fee
Schedule.
[Adopted 10-19-2004 by L.L. No. 12-2004]
The Village of Elmsford incurs significant expenses
in professional consultant review of applications for subdivisions,
site plans, special permits, zoning amendments, zoning variances,
rezoning, zoning interpretations, and similar or related local, county,
state or federal laws and procedures, and such professional consultant
review is necessary to carry out the purposes of the laws of the Village
of Elmsford, including SEQRA-related environmental documents submitted
to evaluate the proposed action. There is hereby established the authority
to submit any such land use application which may come before any
board in the Village to a professional consultant, such as a planner,
engineer, attorney, environmental expert, or other professional consultant,
as it may deem reasonably necessary to enable it to review such applications
as required by law.
A. The Board of Trustees, Zoning Board of Appeals or
Planning Commission may, in the review of any application which may
come before it, refer such application presented to it to such planner,
engineer, environmental expert, attorney, or other professional consultant
as the reviewing board shall deem reasonably necessary to enable it
to review such application as required by law. Fees charged by such
professionals shall be in accord with fees usually charged for such
services in the metropolitan New York region and pursuant to a contractual
agreement between the Village and such professional consultant. All
such charges shall be paid by the Village upon submission of a Village
voucher by such professional consultant.
B. The Village Clerk shall provide the applicant with copies of any Village voucher for such professional consultant review services as they are submitted to the Village. The applicant shall reimburse the Village for the cost of such professional consultant review services in accordance with the procedures described in §§
162-8C and
162-9 herein. The payment of such fees shall be a condition of any approval and shall be set forth in any resolution of approval, and shall be required in addition to any and all other fees required in connection with the review of the application as set forth in any laws of the Village of Elmsford or the Master Fee Schedule.
C. The reviewing board shall review and audit all such
vouchers and shall seek reimbursement only for those professional
consultant review services as are reasonable in amount and necessarily
incurred by the Village in connection with the review, consideration
and approval of such application. For purposes of the foregoing, a
fee or part thereof is reasonable in amount if it bears a reasonable
relationship to the average charge by such professionals to the Village
for services performed in connection with the approval of the various
application categories. In this regard the reviewing board may take
into consideration the size, type and number of buildings to be constructed,
the amount of time to complete the development, the topography of
the land on which such development is located, soil conditions, surface
water, drainage conditions, the nature and extent of highways, drainage
facilities, utilities and parks to be constructed and any special
conditions or considerations as the reviewing board may deem relevant.
A fee or part thereof is necessarily incurred if it was charged by
the professional consultant for a service which was rendered in order
to protect or promote the health, safety or other vital interests
of the residents of the Village, protect public or private property
from damages from uncontrolled surface water runoff and other factors,
assure the proper and timely construction of highways, drainage facilities,
utilities and parks and protect the legal interests of the Village,
including receipt by the Village of good and proper title to dedicated
highways and other facilities and the avoidance of claims and liability
and such other interests as the reviewing board may deem relevant.
D. Proof of payment of all professional consultant review
fees shall be obtained by the applicant from the Village of Elmsford
Clerk and presented to the reviewing board having jurisdiction over
the application. No building permit or certificate of occupancy shall
be issued nor shall any use or work be authorized under any resolution
of approval unless all professional review fees charged in connection
with the applicant's project have been reimbursed to the Village.
E. In the event that an application is required to be
reviewed by more than one reviewing board, then in such event and
to the extent applicable, each such reviewing board shall use the
same consultant who shall in such case prepare one report providing
the data, information and recommendations requested. In all instances,
duplication of consultant's reports shall be avoided wherever possible
in order to minimize the cost of such consultant's reports to the
applicant.
At the time of submission of any application
which may come before it, the reviewing board shall require the establishment
of an escrow account in an amount as set forth by the Board of Trustees
in the Master Fee Schedule, which may be amended from time to time,
from which withdrawals shall be made to reimburse the Village for
the cost of professional review services. The applicant shall then
provide funds to the Village for deposit into such account, based
on the reviewing board's evaluation of the nature and complexity of
various application categories. In no case shall an applicant make
direct payment to any of the Village's professional consultants. No
application shall be considered complete for review purposes until
said escrow account is funded in accordance therewith. When the balance
in such escrow account is reduced to 1/3 of its initial amount, the
applicant shall deposit additional funds into such account in an amount
to be determined by the reviewing board, which funds shall bring the
escrow account balance up to an amount not to exceed the initial deposit,
unless mutually agreed to by the Village and the applicant. If such
account is not replenished within 30 days after the applicant is notified,
in writing, of the requirement for such additional deposit, the reviewing
board may suspend its review of the application. Any time periods
for review of an application, such as but not limited to site plan,
special permit, subdivision, area variance, use variance and zoning
text amendment review, pursuant to state or local law shall be suspended
if the applicant fails to replenish the account as aforesaid and shall
begin to run again upon receipt of the required payment. After all
pertinent charges have been paid, the Village shall refund to the
applicant any funds remaining on deposit.
All fees required pursuant to this article shall
be collected by the Village Clerk.
This article shall supersede any inconsistent
provision of Article 7 of the Village Law, §§ 7-706,
7-712, 7-712-a, 7-725-a, 7-725-b, 7-728, 7-730 and 7-738.