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 shall comply with the provisions
of the State Environmental Quality Review Act under Article 8 of the
Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations as
codified in Title 6, Part 617, of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.
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.