[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Niagara 4-12-1988 by L.L. No. 4-1988. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Subdivision of land — See Ch.
216.
Zoning — See Ch. 245.
A.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
"Engineering Cost Recovery Law."
B.
The Town Board of the Town of Niagara, under the Authority
of §§ 10 and 11 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the
State of New York, hereby enacts this chapter.
C.
This chapter shall apply within the jurisdiction of
the Town of Niagara.
The Town Board makes the following findings:
A.
The Town of Niagara Master Plan, and local laws and
ordinances previously adopted by the Board, require an engineering
review by the Town's Engineer or consulting engineers prior to approval
of certain permits and authorizations.
B.
The Town has further established, through local legislation,
a process of approval for site plan review, the creation of subdivisions,
the dedication of roads, easements and procedure for drainage, water
and sewerage facilities, the rezoning of property for the benefit
of applicants for such improvements.
C.
Existing revenue sources are not sufficient to fund
engineering costs for new development and improvements, and such new
development should contribute its fair share of the costs attributable
to the specific improvement, project, site or plan being proposed.
D.
The Town Board projects and is experiencing unprecedented
multifamily, commercial and industrial growth.
E.
The engineering cost recovery fee shall be set at
a rate which is fair and just to the applicant and does not represent
a means to correct deficiencies in the Town's current budget for planning.
F.
The engineering cost recovery fee shall pay the costs
of engineering to the Town and SEQR review, as allowed by the cost
recovery purposes of the SEQR regulations.
[Amended 3-14-1989 by L.L. No. 3-1989; 5-19-1998 by L.L. No.
3-1998]
G.
The Town of Niagara imposes no general Town tax on
a consistent basis and imposes special district and improvement area
assessments which spread the actual cost of operation of Town government
to property owners, on a annual basis, for Town services, and it is
unfair to Town taxpayers to pay for specialized engineering services
for the benefit of a particular improvement.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Town Board and any duly constituted board authorized
by the Town Law of the State of New York.
A duly licensed firm, under contract with the Town of Niagara,
to perform engineering and/or land surveying.
The practice or profession of a licensed professional engineer
in performing the following: consultation, investigation, evaluation,
planning, design or supervision of construction or operation in connection
with any utilities, structures, sites, buildings, machines, equipment,
processes, works or projects wherein the safeguarding of life, health
and property is concerned, when such work requires the application
of engineering principles and data.
The alteration of land, the construction of a structure or utility, either public or private, the laying out of a subdivision, plat or parcel as defined by Town local law, the construction of a road, curb, sewer line, water line, drainage facility, landfill, sidewalk or other activity authorized by Town local laws or Chapter 245, Zoning.
The branch of the engineering profession and applied mathematics
which includes the measuring and plotting of the dimensions and areas
of any portion of the earth, currently licensed by the State of New
York.
An individual, a corporation, a partnership or firm.
The implementing regulations of the State Environmental Quality
Review Act (New York State Environmental Conservation Law § 8-0111)
as set forth under Title 6 of the New York Compilation of Rules and
Regulations (6 NYCRR 617) which provide for incorporating environmental
review within the decisionmaking of any agency of any governmental
unit in the State of New York.
[Added 5-19-1998 by L.L. No. 3-1998]
Refers to gross square feet, the sum of enclosed areas on
all floors of a building or structure, including areas used for storage
or access above or below grade, including lobbies, stairways, porches,
balconies and garages.
The Town Board of the Town of Niagara.
Whenever the terms "engineer," "engineering," "Town's Engineer"
or "consulting engineers" are used in this chapter or amendments,
those terms shall be defined as including the Town Public Works Engineer,
whose hourly reimbursement for cost recovery shall be established
from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.
[Added 1-8-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991]
[Amended 3-14-1989 by L.L. No. 3-1989]
A.
Any person who applies to the Town of Niagara or its
duly constituted boards for the issuance of any permit, recommendation,
rezoning, approval and review shall be required to pay a fee in the
manner as set forth in this chapter for each improvement proposed.
B.
No approval, permit, recommendation or review shall
be processed until the required deposit is paid to the Department
of Zoning, Planning and Inspections.
C.
Such fee shall be in addition to all other fees required
by law.
[Amended 3-14-1989 by L.L. No. 3-1989]
|
Type of Zoning Class
|
Fee Required if:
|
Engineering Reimbursement Fee Deposit
|
|---|---|---|
|
Business (B-1, B-2) (single structure)
|
All cases
|
$2,000
|
|
Residential (R-1 - R-4) (subdivisions only)
|
All cases
|
$500, plus $50 per lot or living unit
|
|
Light Industrial (LI)
|
All cases
|
$2,000
|
|
Planned Industrial District
|
All cases
|
$2,000 per structure
|
|
Heavy Industrial
|
All cases
|
$5,000 per structure
|
|
All cases
|
$25,000 or $5,000 per acre, whichever is greater
|
A.
In addition to the engineering deposit and fee schedule of § 139-5 of this chapter, where the Town incurs additional engineering, administrative and legal costs pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Town shall recover the actual costs for preparing or reviewing an EIS or DEIS, including costs for scopings, when the Town is the lead agency and requires a DEIS or EIS.
B.
The fee for residential projects shall not exceed
2% of the total project cost, as estimated by the developer and verified
by the Town. The total project cost shall be the cost of the land,
plus the cost of all site improvements required, not including the
cost of buildings and structures.
C.
The fee for nonresidential construction projects shall
not exceed 1/2% of the total project cost. The total project costs
shall be the cost of supplying utility service to the project, the
cost of site preparation and the cost of labor and material as determined
with reference to a current cost data publication in common usage,
such as building construction cost data by means. All costs shall
include any legal expenses, engineering and administrative costs according
to contracts that are incurred by the Town.
A.
The fee paid hereunder shall be deposited in a trust
account in the name of the Town of Niagara.
B.
The applicant or person paying the fee shall be entitled
to the same rate of interest on the excess fees that are paid and
returned hereunder, if any, as is earned by the Town on the trust
account.
C.
Procedure upon completion.
[Amended 3-14-1989 by L.L. No. 3-1989]
(1)
Within 120 days of final action by the Town or board(s)
or the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever is later,
on an application for the improvement or SEQR review, the Supervisor
shall report to the Town Board the actual cost to the Town for engineering.
(2)
The Town Board shall determine whether the Town's
costs exceed the total engineering fee charged. If the fee paid by
the Town to its consulting engineers exceeds the fee paid by the applicant,
the moneys deposited shall become the property of the Town of Niagara.
(3)
In the event that the deposit paid by the developer
is more than the actual amount paid by the Town to its consulting
engineers or its attorney, then the excess shall be returned with
interest, as provided above. SEQR review fees shall be billed to the
applicant and paid prior to approval.
In no event shall the Town charge against or
utilize a fee paid hereunder for deficiencies in Town-owned improvements,
routine maintenance or matters not directly related to the engineering
cost for the specific improvement proposed.
[Added 12-11-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
In addition to any other fees required by law, any person undertaking a construction activity regulated by Article XIV of Chapter 245, Zoning, of the Town Code shall, upon submission of a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) to the Town, pay the following fees for review of the SWPPP, review of any subsequent revisions thereto, and for related inspections authorized by Article XIV of Chapter 245, Zoning, of the Town Code. Such fees may be amended by the Town Board from time to time.
A.
Fees for land development activities. Any applicant
or developer submitting a SWPPP to the Town for a project to be completed
in a single phase shall pay the Town a fee based on the acreage of
the entire development, in accordance with the following fee schedule.
Any applicant or developer submitting a SWPPP to the Town for a project
to be completed in multiple phases shall pay the Town a fee based
on the acreage of the entire development, including the acreage of
subsequent phases that are part of a common scheme of development
or sale, in accordance with the following fee schedule, and shall
also submit the fees required under § 139-8B below.
|
Acreage of Entire Development
|
SWPPP Review and Inspection Fee
|
|---|---|
|
0 to 5 acres
|
$500
|
|
5 to 10 acres
|
$850
|
|
Over 10 acres
|
$850 + $300 for every 5 acres above 10 acres
|
B.
Fees for subsequent phases. For all land development
activities to be completed in multiple phases over time, the applicant
or developer, in addition to the fee provided for in § 139-8A
above, shall pay the Town an additional $500 for each subsequent phase
after the first phase of the project, to be paid at the beginning
of each such subsequent phase.
