The Village Board of Trustees shall appoint a Board of Appeals pursuant to § 7-712 of the Village Law. Said Board shall consist of five members to serve for overlapping five-year terms. The Chairman of the Board shall be one of the five members and shall be designated as such by the Village Board of Trustees. The Board or Appeals shall elect a Vice Chairman from its membership, shall appoint a Secretary and shall establish rules for the conduct of its officers.
The Board of Appeals shall have all the powers, duties, rights and functions prescribed by § 7-712-b of the Village Law of the State of New York, as amended, and by this chapter, which are more particularly specified as follows:
A. 
Interpretation: on appeal from an order, requirement, decision or determination made by the Code Enforcement Officer, to decide any question involving the interpretation of any provision of this chapter or of the following questions:
(1) 
Meaning: determination of the exact meaning of any position of the text of this chapter or of any condition or requirement specified or made under the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
Location: determination of the exact location of any district boundary shown on the Zoning Map. The Board may request assistance from the Village Engineer or County Planning Department or other professional person in making this determination.
B. 
Variances.
(1) 
Use variances.
(a) 
The Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision or determination of the administrative officer charged with the enforcement of this chapter, shall have the power to grant use variances, as defined herein.
(b) 
No such use variance shall be granted by the Board of Appeals without a showing by the applicant that applicable zoning regulations and restrictions have caused unnecessary hardship. In order to prove such unnecessary hardship, the applicant shall demonstrate to the Board of Appeals that, for each and every permitted use under the zoning regulations for the particular district where the property is located:
[1] 
The applicant cannot realize a reasonable return, provided that lack of return is substantial as demonstrated by competent financial evidence.
[2] 
The alleged hardship relating to the property in question is unique and does not apply to a substantial portion of the district or neighborhood.
[3] 
The requested use variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
[4] 
The alleged hardship has not been self-created.
(c) 
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of use variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate to address the unnecessary hardship proved by the applicant and, at the same time, preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
(2) 
Area variances.
(a) 
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter, to grant area variances as defined herein.
(b) 
In making its determination, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take into consideration the benefit to the applicant if the variance is granted, as weighed against the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood or community by such grant. In making such determination, the Board shall also consider whether:
[1] 
An undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance.
[2] 
The benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method, feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance.
[3] 
The requested area variance is substantial.
[4] 
The proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district.
[5] 
The alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Board of Appeals but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.
(c) 
The Board of Appeals, in the granting of area variances, shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate and, at the same time, preserve and protect the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community.
(3) 
Conditions and safeguards. In all cases where the Board of Appeals grants a variance from the strict application of the requirements of this chapter, the Board of Appeals shall prescribe conditions and safeguards that it deems to be necessary or desirable in preserving the spirit and intent of this chapter. These conditions and safeguards may include, but are not limited to, points of entry and exit, landscaping, lighting, buffer areas, screening, fencing, drainage and other conditions it may deem reasonable and proper to ensure that the spirit and intent of this chapter is preserved. Where special circumstances exist, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the authority to establish time limitations upon the granting of a variance.
(4) 
Needs and desires of the applicant. The needs or desires, economic, social or otherwise, of a particular owner or tenant shall not, either alone or in conjunction with other factors, such as existing improvements at the time of the application which are old, obsolete, outmoded or in disrepair, afford any basis for the granting of a variance.
C. 
Recommendation for rezoning. Where the Board finds the zoning classification of a particular property to be conducive to the deprivation of the reasonable use of the land or building by the owner thereof, and where the Board deems the same condition to apply generally to other land or buildings in the same neighborhood or district, the Board shall call this condition to the attention of the Planning Board for consideration of rezoning and report to the Village Board of Trustees.
A. 
Rules and regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall act in strict accordance with the procedure specified by state laws and this chapter and amendments thereto. All appeals and applications made to the Board shall be in writing on forms prescribed by the Board and shall include all required information.
B. 
Substantiation. Each appeal or application shall fully set forth the circumstances of the case. Every appeal or application shall refer to the specific provision of the law involved and shall exactly set forth, as the case may be, the interpretation that is claimed, the details of the variance that is applied for and the grounds on which it is claimed that the same should be granted.
C. 
Public hearing.
(1) 
At the next regular meeting after receiving the completed appeals or application form, the Board shall fix a date for the hearing within a reasonable time, not exceeding 30 days, or 60 days when the appeal or application must be referred to the Cortland County Planning Board pursuant to General Municipal Law § 239-m.
(2) 
Notice of hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village at least five calendar days prior to the date of the hearing and shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing and the name of the appellant and the substance of the appeal.
(3) 
The Secretary of the Board of Appeals, at least five days prior to the date of the hearing, shall mail a notice to the owners of all property abutting that held by the applicant in the immediate area and all other owners within 200 feet. Such notice shall be sent by mail to the owners of record on the current assessment roll. The applicant shall provide the list of such owners along with an envelope for each owner, with the necessary postage for mailing.
D. 
Review by Cortland County Planning Board. At least five days before such hearing, the Board of Appeals shall submit the application therefor to the Cortland County Planning Board for review, if required by § 239-m of the General Municipal Law.
E. 
Notification of Village Planning Board. The Board of Appeals shall request from the Village Planning Board advice or opinions on any appeal or application before the Board of Appeals.
Unless major structural construction has commenced within 12 months from the date of the granting of a variance and is completed within two years of start of construction, such variance shall become null and void. If circumstances beyond the control of the applicant preclude the commencement of major structural construction within two years, as determined by the Zoning Board of Appeals, then the applicant has a right to reapply without penalties or fees assessed thereon.
A. 
Every decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals shall be recorded in accordance with standard forms adopted by the Board and shall fully set forth the circumstances of the case and shall contain a full record of the findings on which the decision is based. Every decision of the Board shall be by resolution, and each such resolution shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk within five business days, together with all documents pertaining thereto, and a copy thereof shall be mailed to the applicant.
B. 
The Board of Appeals shall decide upon the appeal within 62 days after the conduct of said hearing. The time within which the Board of Appeals must render its decision may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant and the Board. The Board of Appeals shall comply with the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations.
C. 
Time of appeal. Appeals shall be taken within 60 days after the filing of any order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter by filing with such administrative official and with the Board of Appeals a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds therefor and the relief sought. The administrative official from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board of Appeals all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
D. 
Stay upon appeal. An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the administrative official charged with the enforcement of this chapter, from whom the appeal is taken, certifies to the Board of Appeals, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with the administrative official, that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order, which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice to the administrative official from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
[Added 9-4-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
A. 
The Village of McGraw Planning Board as currently constituted and comprised is hereby abolished and is consolidated into the Village of McGraw Zoning Board of Appeals. All powers of the Village of McGraw Planning Board are hereby conferred to the Village of McGraw Zoning Board of Appeals.
B. 
Wherever the terms "Zoning Board," "Planning Commission," "Planning Board," or "Village Planning Board" other than references to the Cortland County Planning Board, appear in the Code of the Village of McGraw, said terms shall hereafter mean and refer to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
C. 
To the extent any parts of this chapter or any other chapter of the Code of the Village of McGraw are inconsistent with or conflict with any of the provisions of this section, the terms of this section shall control.