Dated:
February 2, 2004
Placed on desks of Town Board Members
February 2, 2004
A
LOCAL LAW RENEWING A SIX-MONTH MORATORIUM ON PLANNING APPROVALS IN THE TOWN
CENTER AREA
Be
it enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Beekman as follows:
This
Local Law shall be referred to as the Local Law Renewing a Six-Month Moratorium
on Planning Approvals in the Town Center area.
Pursuant
to the statutory powers vested in the Town of Beekman to regulate and control
land use and to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents, the
Town Board of the Town of Beekman hereby declares a six-month moratorium on
development in the Town Center area.
The
establishment and encouragement of a town center area is a centerpiece of the
Town of Beekman Master Plan. The area,
which is generally the junction of N.Y.S. Route 55 with Clove Valley Road and
Beekman Road, properly developed, has the potential to be a thriving business and
government center for the Town. The
Town Board itself has committed the Town to this concept by acquiring land in
the area for a new town library and recreation area.
Town
government will continue to review and adopt land use controls for the Town Center
area to foster sound development consistent with the Master Plan and it is
crucial to maintain the status quo during the planning period.
The
area affected by this legislation is the present C2 Commercial Zone along
Route 55 as the same is described in the present Zoning Law and depicted on
the zoning map of the Town, but limited to the area thereof west of Palmer
Circle. For purposes of this
legislation, said area shall be referred to as the Town Center.
A.
During the effective period of this Local Law:
1.
The Town of Beekman Planning Board shall not accept
any plans pertaining to the Town Center area for review or other
action unless said plan had been presented to the Planning Board prior to May
1, 2003. It is the intention of this
local law to supercede the default approval provisions of Town Law Sec. 276.
2.
The Town of Beekman Zoning Board of Appeals shall
not grant any variance or other permit pertaining to any parcel within the Town Center.
3.
The Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer of
the Town of Beekman shall not issue any permit pertaining to any parcel within
the Town
Center unless said parcel has received final subdivision or site
plan approval from the Planning Board.
B.
The Town Board of the Town of Beekman reserves the
right to direct the Town of Beekman Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer
to revoke or rescind any building permits or certificates of occupancy issued
in violation of this Local Law.
Section 5. No Consideration of New Applications
No
applications for construction affected by this Local Law or for approvals for a
site plan, subdivision, variance, special use permit or other permits within
the Town
Center shall be considered by any board officer or agency of the
Town of Beekman while the moratorium imposed by this Local Law is in effect.
The
moratorium imposed by this Local Law shall be in effect for a period of six
months from the effective date of this Local Law and may by resolution, be
extended for two three month periods if the Town Board determines that
accomplishing the purposes of this local law requires additional time.
Any
person, firm or corporation that shall establish, place, construct, enlarge or
alter any building or structure in violation of this local law or shall
otherwise violate any of the provisions of this local law shall be guilty of a
violation and be subject to the penalties for offenses under Article
VIII, Section 155-47 of the Town Code.
A.
Such penalties as may otherwise be provided by
applicable local laws, ordinances, rules, regulations of the Town of Beekman
for violations: and
B.
Injunctive relief in favor of the Town of Beekman to
cease any and all such actions which conflict with the Local Law and, if
necessary, to remove any construction that may have taken place in violation of
this law.
The
invalidity of any provision of this Local Law shall not affect the validity of
any other provision of this Local Law that can be given effect without such
invalid provision.
A. Should any owner of
property affected by this Local Law suffer any unnecessary hardship in the way
of carrying out the strict letter of this Local Law, then the owner of said
property may apply to the Town Board of the Town of Beekman in writing for a
variation from strict compliance with this Local Law upon submission of proof
of such unnecessary hardship. For the
purposes of this Local Law, unnecessary hardship shall not be the mere delay in
being permitted to make an application or waiting for a decision on the
application for a variance, special permit, site plan, subdivision or other
permit during the period of the moratorium imposed by this Local Law.
B. Procedure. Upon submission of a written application to
the Town Clerk by the property owner seeking a variation of this Local Law, the
Town Board shall, within thirty (30) days of receipt of said application,
schedule a Public Hearing on said application upon five (5) days written notice
in the official newspaper of the Town.
At said Public Hearing, the property owner and any other parties wishing
to present evidence with regard to the application shall have an opportunity to
be heard, and the Town Board shall, within fifteen (15) days of the close of
said Public Hearing, render its decision either granting or denying the
application for variation from the strict requirements of this Local Law. If the Town Board determines that a property
owner will suffer an unnecessary hardship if this Local Law is strictly applied
to a particular property, then the Town Board shall vary the application to
this Local Law to the minimum extent necessary to provide the property owner
relief from strict compliance with this Local Law.
This
Local law shall take effect the 29th day of February,. 2004 or as
provided by law.