Village of Piermont, NY Article XVII Board of Appeals

§ 210-94 Creation, appointment and organization.

[Amended 3-17-1987 by L.L. No. 2-1987; 4-11-1995 by L.L. No. 7-1995; 7-19-2012 by L.L. No. 3-2012]

A. There shall be a Board of Appeals, consisting of five members appointed pursuant to the provisions of the Village Law.

B. The Board of Trustees may, in its discretion, appoint two alternate members to the Board of Appeals for terms of one year each.

(1) Alternate members shall serve when there is a conflict of interest precluding participation by a regular member, or when a regular member shall otherwise be unable or unavailable to review, hear and determine an application or appeal.

(2) The Chairperson of the Board of Appeals shall designate the alternate member to substitute for a regular member in accord with this section when such regular member is unable to participate because of a conflict of interest on an application or any matter before the Board, or when a regular member shall be unable or unavailable to review, hear and determine an application or appeal. When so designated, the alternate member shall possess all the powers and responsibilities of such regular member of the Board. Such designation shall be entered into the minutes of the initial Board of Appeals meeting at which the substitution is made.

(3) The Chairperson of the Board of Appeals shall, at the first meeting of the Board of Appeals in January of each calendar year, set a monthly schedule establishing the order of alternate members who may hear and determine an application or appeal under this section. Such schedule shall provide that each alternate will fill vacancies on a rotating basis for each month in the calendar year, and shall rotate which alternate member fills the first vacancy in each successive month.

(4) All provisions of this section relating to Board of Appeals member training and continuing education, attendance, conflict of interest, compensation, eligibility, vacancy in office, removal and service on other boards shall also apply to an alternate member.

§ 210-95 Powers and duties.

The Board of Appeals shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by law and as more particularly specified below:

A. Upon request by any official, board or agency of the Village, the Board of Appeals shall hold a public hearing and decide any of the following questions:

(1) To determine the meaning of any portion of the text of this chapter or of any condition or requirement specified or made under the provisions of this chapter.

(2) To determine the exact location of any district boundary shown on the Zoning Map.

(3) To determine the possible adverse effect on the surrounding area of any proposed manufacturing uses in business districts.

B. The Board of Appeals shall, upon application by any aggrieved party, hear and decide appeals from any order, requirement, decision or determination made by any administrative official.

§ 210-96 Variances.

A. The Board of Appeals may authorize, upon appeal in specific cases, such variance from the terms of this chapter as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to exceptional and extraordinary circumstances, there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of the carrying out of the strict letter of this chapter, subject to terms and conditions to be fixed by the Board under the law; provided, however, that no such variance shall be granted unless the Board finds that:

(1) There are physical conditions, fully described in the findings of the Board, applying to the land or buildings for which the variance is sought, which conditions are peculiar to such land or building and have not resulted from any act of the applicant or any predecessor in title; and

(2) For reasons fully set forth in the findings of the Board, the aforesaid circumstances or conditions are such that the strict application of the provisions of this chapter would deprive the applicant of the reasonable use of such land or building, that the granting of the variance is necessary for the reasonable use of the land or buildings and that the variance as granted by the Board is the minimum variance that will accomplish this purpose; and

(3) The granting of the variance under such conditions as the Board may deem necessary or desirable to apply thereto will be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this chapter, will not represent a radical departure therefrom, will not be injurious to the neighborhood, will not change the character thereof and will not be otherwise detrimental to the public welfare.

B. The needs or desires of a particular owner or tenant or of a particular prospective owner or tenant shall not, either alone or in conjunction with other factors, afford any basis for the granting of a variance. The fact that the improvements already existing at the time of the application are old, obsolete, outmoded or in disrepair or the fact that the property is then unimproved shall not be deemed to make the plight of the property unique or to contribute thereto.

C. Where the Board of Appeals 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, said Board may call this condition to the attention of the Board of Trustees.

D. In all cases where the Board of Appeals grants a variance from the strict application of the requirements of this chapter, it shall be the duty of such Board to attach conditions and safeguards as may be required in order that the result of its action may as nearly as possible be in accordance with the spirit and intent of this chapter.

§ 210-97 Procedure.

The powers and duties of the Board of Appeals shall be exercised in accordance with the following procedure:

A. Within 30 days after the date of the written disapproval by the Building Inspector or any other administrative official of any plan and/or application, the applicant may appeal to the Board of Appeals from such ruling by serving upon the Village Clerk, in duplicate, a written notice of appeal addressed to the Building Inspector or other disapproving administrative official and to the Board of Appeals, of the taking of such an appeal from such decision specifying the grounds of the appeal. Such service upon the Village Clerk shall be deemed proper service. The Village Clerk shall immediately forward to the Building Inspector or other disapproving administrative official and to the Chairman of the Board of Appeals said two notices of appeal.

B. The Board of Appeals shall not grant any appeal for a variance nor shall the Board of Trustees issue any special or temporary permit without first holding a public hearing, notice of which hearing and substance of which appeal or application shall be given by publication in the official newspaper of the Village at least 10 days before the date of such hearing and within 45 days after the filing of such appeal or application. In addition to such published notice, the Board of Appeals or the Board of Trustees shall cause notice to be given of the substance of every appeal for a variance, together with notice of the hearing by requiring notices to be mailed at least 10 days before the date of said hearing to the owners of all property abutting that held by the applicant and all other owners within 200 feet from the exterior boundaries of the land involved in such appeal or application. If the Board of Appeals or the Board of Trustees deems it advisable, other owners at any further distance than 200 feet may be notified. All notices required by this section shall be issued by the Village Clerk on order of the Board of Appeals or the Board of Trustees. Provided that due notice shall have been published as above provided and that there shall have been substantial compliance with the remaining provisions of this subsection, the failure to give notice in exact conformance herewith shall not be deemed to invalidate action taken by the Board of Appeals or Board of Trustees in connection with the granting of any appeal, variance or issuance of any special or temporary permits pursuant hereto.

C. If the land involved in an appeal or application lies within 500 feet of the boundary of any other municipality, the applicant shall also transmit to the Municipal Clerk of such other municipality a copy of the official notice of the public hearing thereon not later than the day such notice appears in the official newspaper of the Village.

D. At least 14 days before the date of any public hearing, the Village Clerk shall transmit to the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Commission a copy of any appeal or application, together with a copy of the notice of such hearing. The Planning Board and the Architectural Review Commission shall submit to the Board of Appeals an advisory opinion on said appeal or application at least 48 hours prior to the hearing.

[Amended 8-5-1986 by L.L. No. 6-1986]

E. Unless work is commenced and diligently prosecuted within one year of the date of the granting of a variance or special permit, such variance or special permit shall become null and void.

F. All appeals and applications to the Board of Appeals or the Board of Trustees shall be in writing, on forms prescribed by the Boards, and shall be accompanied by a fee as per the schedule adopted by the Board of Trustees. Fees filed in connection with applications under Article XIII, Special Permits, or § 210-96, Variances, shall not be returnable.

G. Appeals shall fully set forth the circumstances of the case and, where applicable, shall refer to the specific provision of the chapter involved and shall exactly set forth the interpretation that is claimed, the details of the variance that is applied for and the reason why it should be granted.

§ 210-98 Construal of provisions.

All the provisions of this chapter relating to the Board of Appeals and the Board of Trustees shall be strictly construed. The Boards shall act in full conformity with all provisions of law and of this chapter and in strict compliance with all limitations therein; provided, however, that if the procedural requirements set forth in this chapter have been substantially observed, no application or appellant shall be deprived of the right of application or appeal.

§ 210-99 Fee.

A fee as per the schedule adopted by the Board of Trustees shall accompany each such application.