A. 
A Board of Appeals is hereby created. Said Board shall consist of three members. The Village Board shall appoint at least two of the members from among the members of the Planning Board and designate the Chairman of the Board of Appeals. The Board shall appoint a Secretary and shall prescribe rules for the conduct of its affairs.
B. 
Terms of office; vacancies; removal of members; Chairperson duties. Board of Appeals members' terms of office, vacancies, removal of members and Chairperson duties shall be as set forth in Village Law § 7-712.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
C. 
Alternate members.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
(1) 
From time to time the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Norwood has experienced difficulty in securing a quorum necessary for the conducting of business due either to conflict of interest, absence, illness or inability of some members to attend meetings. In order to alleviate that problem, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Norwood deems that it is necessary to appoint additional and alternate Board members to function as set forth below.
(2) 
Authorization to appoint. The Board of Trustees is hereby authorized to appoint two additional and alternate members to the Zoning Board of Appeals. When sitting as a regular member, the additional and alternate members shall have the same qualifications, authority and power as a duly and regularly appointed member of the Board.
(3) 
Powers. The additional and alternate Board members shall sit as members of the Board, exercising full power as if they were regular members, when regular members on the Board are unable to attend, so as to make up a quorum for the Board to conduct business. When such additional and alternate Board member shall sit as a full member of the Board, the Village Clerk or the Secretary of the Board shall make an entry in the minutes of the Board meeting certifying that a regular member or members of the Board were unable to attend and that the alternate and additional member or members were sitting as a full member of the Board and giving the date, time, place and purpose of such meeting. The additional and alternate members shall receive the same compensation for attendance as regular Board members, whether in an official capacity or not.
Meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be open to the public to the extent provided in Article 7 of the Public Officers Law. The Board of Appeals shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon every question or if absent or failing to vote indicating such fact and shall also keep records of its examinations and other official actions.
Every rule, regulation, every amendment or repeal thereof and every order, requirement, decision or determination of the Board of Appeals shall immediately be filed in the office of the Village Clerk and shall be a public record.
The Board shall have the authority to call upon any department, agency or employee of the Village for such assistance as shall be deemed necessary and as shall be authorized by the Village Board.
Unless otherwise provided by local law, the jurisdiction of the Board of Appeals shall be appellate only and shall be limited to hearing and deciding appeals from and reviewing any order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination made by an administrative official charged with the enforcement of any local law adopted pursuant to this article. The concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of any such administrative official or to grant a use variance or area variance. Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the Village.
Such appeal shall be taken within 60 days after the filing of any order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination of the administrative officer charged with the enforcement of such local law by filing with such administrative official and with the Board of Appeals a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof 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.
An appeal shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the administrative official charged with enforcement of such local law, 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.
A. 
The Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or other matter referred to it and give public notice thereof by the publication in a paper of general circulation in the Village of a notice of such hearing at least five days prior to the date thereof.
B. 
The cost of sending or publishing any notices relating to such appeal, or a reasonable fee relating thereto, shall be borne by the appealing party and shall be paid to the Board prior to the hearing of such appeal.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
C. 
Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person, or by agent or attorney.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
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 decision of the Board of Appeals on the appeal shall be filed in the office of the Village Clerk within five business days after the day such decision is rendered, and a copy thereof mailed to the applicant.
At least five days before such hearing, the Board of Appeals shall mail notices thereof to the parties; to the regional state park commission having jurisdiction over any state park or parkway within 500 feet of the property affected by such appeal; and to the county, metropolitan or regional planning agency, as required by § 239-m of the General Municipal Law, which notice shall be accompanied by a full statement of the matter under consideration, as defined in Subdivision 1 of § 239-m of the General Municipal Law.
The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination appealed from and shall make such order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination as in its opinion ought to have been made in the matter by the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such local law, and to that end shall have all the powers of the administrative official from whose order, requirement or decision the appeal is taken.
A. 
The Board of Appeals, on appeal from the decision or determination of the administrative official charged with the enforcement of such local law, shall have the power to grant use variances, authorizing a use of the land which otherwise would not be allowed or would be prohibited by the terms of the local law.
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:
(1) 
Under applicable zoning regulations, the applicant is deprived of all economic use or benefit from the property in question, which deprivation must be established 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 proven 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.
A. 
The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of an administrative official charged with the enforcement of such local law, to grant area variances from the area or dimensional requirements of such local law.
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:
(1) 
Whether 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) 
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant can be achieved by some method feasible for the applicant to pursue, other than an area variance.
(3) 
Whether the requested area variance is substantial.
(4) 
Whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or R Residential Districts.
(5) 
Whether 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.
The Board of Appeals shall, in the granting of both the use variances and area variances, have the authority to impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property or the period of time such variance shall be in effect. Such conditions shall be consistent with the spirit and intent of this chapter and shall be imposed for the purpose of minimizing any adverse impact such variance may have on the neighborhood or community.
A. 
Application to Supreme Court by aggrieved persons. Any person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Appeals or any officer, department, board or bureau of the Village may apply to the Supreme Court for review by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Such proceeding shall be instituted within 30 days after the filing of a decision of the Board in the office of the Village Clerk.
B. 
Costs of appeal. Costs shall not be allowed against the Board of Appeals unless it shall appear to the Court that it acted with gross negligence or in bad faith or with malice in making the decision appealed from.
C. 
Preference of appeal to Court. All issues in any proceeding under this section shall have preference over all other civil actions and proceedings.
D. 
Power of Court. If, upon the hearing at a special term of the Supreme Court, it shall appear to the Court that testimony is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter, it may take evidence or appoint a referee to take such evidence as it may direct and report the same to the Court with his or her findings of fact and conclusions of law, which shall constitute a part of the proceedings upon which the determination of the Court shall be made. The Court may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision brought up for review.