[Adopted 6-5-2002 by L.L. No. 4-2002]
The Putnam Valley Town Board hereby finds that
inappropriateness or poor quality of design in the exterior appearance
of buildings or land developments adversely affects the desirability
of the immediate area and neighboring areas and by so doing impairs
the benefits of occupancy of existing property in such areas, impairs
the stability and value of both improved and unimproved real property
in such areas, retards the most appropriate development of such areas,
produces degeneration of property in such areas with attendant deterioration
of conditions affecting the health, safety, morals and general welfare
of the inhabitants thereof, and creates an improper relationship between
the taxable value of real property in such areas and the cost of municipal
services provided therefor. It is the purpose of this article to prevent
these and other harmful effects of such exterior appearance of buildings
and land developments and thus to promote and protect the health,
safety, morals and general welfare of the community. It is also a
purpose of this article to control the recent trend of tearing down
existing houses and replacing them with larger houses or building
large additions to existing houses, which threatens the appearance
and impact upon the health, safety, welfare and quality of life in
Putnam Valley.
There is hereby created an Advisory Board on
Architecture and Community Appearance (ABACA), which shall consist
of five members who shall serve without compensation. All members
of the Board shall be residents of the Town and shall be specially
qualified by reason of training or experience in architecture, land
development, city planning, real estate, landscape architecture or
other relevant business or profession, or by reason of civic interest
and sound judgment, to judge the effects of a proposed building or
land development upon the desirability, property values and development
of surrounding areas, and at least one member of the Board shall be
a registered architect in the State of New York. The members of the
ABACA shall be appointed by the Town Board. The Chairman shall be
designated by the Town Board annually and shall serve at the pleasure
of the Town Board. The Secretary of the ABACA shall be designated
by the members of the Board annually. The term of office of each member
shall be three years, except that the initial appointments of one
member shall be for one year, of two members for two years and of
two members for three years. The Town Board shall have the power to
remove any member for cause. Vacancies shall be filled by the Town
Board for the unexpired term of any member whose place becomes vacant.
[Amended 6-22-2022 by L.L. No. 1-2022]
A.
Meetings;
referrals. All requests for advisory input from the Town Board, Planning
Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and the Building Inspector ("referring
agents") shall be conveyed by a formal referral form. The referral
form shall contain the following information:
B.
Meetings; procedures. Regularly scheduled meetings of the Advisory Board on Architecture and Community Appearance shall be held monthly or at such other times as the Chairman shall designate. A majority of said Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The ABACA shall keep minutes of its proceedings. Any report or recommendation made by the ABACA must have the approval of the majority of the Board present and shall be officially filed with the referring board or department (hereinafter cited as the "referring agent") within 30 days as of the date of the referral letter described in § 8-39A, except that failure to report within 30 days, unless otherwise directed by the referral agent, shall be deemed to be approval thereof. Where changes or modifications on any submission are recommended, there shall be set forth the specific changes and the reason(s) for same.
[Amended 6-22-2022 by L.L. No. 1-2022]
A.
The following matters may be referred to the ABACA:
(1)
Application for the site development or subdivision
of land into five or more lots.
(2)
Application for the development or subdivision of
land located within the Hillside Management Overlay District.
(3)
Application for a variance under § 165-44A(2) of the Code of the Town of Putnam Valley.
B.
Referrals.
(1)
Any such application for a building permit filed with
the Code Enforcement Officer may be referred to the ABACA within seven
days after the submission of the application, provided that it conforms
in all respects to all other applicable laws and ordinances.
(2)
Any such application for a variance filed with the
Zoning Board of Appeals may be referred to the ABACA within seven
days after the submission of the application, provided that it conforms
in all respects to all other applicable laws and ordinances.
(3)
Any such application for site plan approval filed
with the Planning Board may be referred to the ABACA within seven
days after sketch approval has been granted.
(4)
Any such application for subdivision filed with the
Planning Board may be referred to the ABACA within seven days after
the sketch approval has been granted.
The ABACA shall base its recommendations on the following criteria: No building or structure or land development shall be so detrimental to the desirability, property values or development of the surrounding area as to provoke one or more of the harmful effects set forth in § 8-37 by reason of:
A.
The repeated and adjacent use of identical or near
identical facades or structures arranged without respect to natural
features of terrain or other existing structures.
B.
Inappropriateness of a structure or land development
in relation to any other structure or land development existing within
500 feet of the proposed structure or land development, or for which
a permit has been issued and to be located within such five-hundred-foot
distance, or to any other structure or land development included in
the same application with respect to one or more of the following
features:
(2)
Gross floor area.
(3)
Height of building or height of roof.
(4)
Scale. Out-of-scale:
(a)
With regard to a building or any part thereof, the
condition of being or appearing to be disproportionately large, bulky,
or massive relative to the other buildings in the surrounding neighborhood
and/or relative to the size of the lot upon which the building is
situated.
(b)
With regard to any part of a building, the condition
of appearing to be disproportionately large, bulky, or massive relative
to any other part of the same building.
(c)
With regard to an addition to a preexisting building,
the condition of appearing to be disproportionately large, bulky,
or massive relative to the preexisting building.
(d)
With regard to an accessory structure, the condition
of being disproportionately large, bulky, or massive relative to the
principal structures, the other buildings in the surrounding neighborhood,
and/or the size of the lot upon which the accessory structure is situated.
(5)
Other significant design features, such as material quality of architectural design, roof structures, chimneys, exposed mechanical equipment and service and storage enclosures, signs, landscaping retaining walls, parking areas, service and load docks, dividing walls, fences, lighting posts and standards, provided that a finding of inappropriateness shall state not only that such inappropriateness exists but, further, that it is of such a nature that by a fair preponderance of the credible evidence it has been proven that its allowance results in one or more of the harmful effects set forth in § 8-37.
If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause
or provision of these rules, regulations and ordinances shall be adjudged
invalid, such judgment shall apply only to such section, paragraph,
subdivision, clause or provision so adjudged and shall not affect,
impair or invalidate any other part or portion of these rules, regulations
and ordinances.
