ARTICLE VII, Procedure

Text relating to property maintenance has been copied from the pdf provided by the Village and pasted here. This was done to make the text searchable.

Part 2, Plat Approval [Adopted 1-26-1971 as Article II of Chapter 6 of the 1971 Municipal Code]

ARTICLE VII, Procedure

§ 205-31. Filing of certificates by Clerk.

The Village Clerk shall immediately file a certificate with the Clerk of Herkimer County showing that the Planning Board has been authorized to approve plats in the village and shall also file a certificate of failure to take action wherever required in this Part 2.

§ 205-32. Planning Board to approve.

No plan, plot or description showing the layout of any highway or street upon private property or of building lots in connection with or in relation to such highways or streets within the limits of this village shall be received for filing or recording in the office of the Clerk of this county until a copy shall have been filed with said Planning Board and it has been certified with relation to its approval or its refusal to approve.

§ 205-33. Public hearing and offers of cessation required.

Before such approval shall be given, formal offers of cession of all streets, highways and parks not marked by notation on the plot as being retained under private ownership shall be filed with the Board and after a public hearing by the Planning Board.

§ 205-34. Action by Planning Board.

A) The Planning Board may thereupon approve, modify and approve or disapprove of such plot.

B) The approval required or refusal to approve shall take place within forty-five (45) days from and after the time of submission of the plot to the Board for approval; otherwise, such plot shall be deemed to have been approved, and the certificate of the village as to the date of submission of the plot for approval and the failure of the Board to take action within such time shall be issued by the Village Clerk on demand and shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required.

C) The ground of refusal shall be stated in the records of the Board.

D) The approval by the Planning Board or the certificate of the village as to the date of submission of the plot and the failure of the Planning Board to take action thereon within forty-five (45) days shall expire ninety (90) days from the date of such approval or of such certificate, unless within such ninety-day period such plot shall have been duly filed or recorded by the owner in the office of the County Clerk.

§ 205-35. Requirements.

A) Before the approval by the Planning Board of a plot, such plot shall show, in proper cases and when required by the Planning Board, a park or parks suitably located for playground or other recreational purposes.

B) In approving such plots, the Planning Board shall required that:

1. The streets and highways shall be of sufficient width and suitable grade and shall be suitably located to:

a) Accommodate the prospective traffic.

b) Afford adequate light and air.

c) Facilitate fire protection.

d) Provide access of fire-fighting equipment to buildings.

e) Be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system conforming to the Master Plan.

2. The land shown on the plots shall be of such a character that it can be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace.

3. Suitable monuments have been placed at such block corners and other necessary points as may be required by the Board, and the location thereof is shown on the map of such plot.

4. The parks shall be of reasonable size for neighborhood playgrounds or other recreational uses.

5. All streets or other public places shown on such plots shall be suitably graded and paved.

6. Sidewalks, streetlighting standards, curbs, gutters, street trees, water mains, sanitary sewers and storm drains or combined sewers shall be installed in accordance with standards, specifications and procedure acceptable to the appropriate village departments.

C) Alternatively, a performance bond sufficient to cover the full cost of the same as estimated by the Planning Board or other appropriate village department designated by the Planning Board shall be furnished to the village by the owner; provided, however, that the Planning Board may waive, subject to appropriate conditions and guaranties for such period as it may determine, the provision of any or all such improvements as, in its judgment of the special circumstances of a particular plot or plots, are not requisite in the interests of the public health, safety and general welfare.

§ 205-36. Performance bond.

A) Approval. Such performance bond shall be issued by a bonding or surety company approved by the Board of Trustees or by the owner with security acceptable to the Board of Trustees and shall also be approved by the Board of Trustees as to form, sufficiency and manner of execution.

B) Term. Such performance bond shall run for a term to be fixed by the Planning Board but in no case for a longer term than three (3) years; provided, however, that the term of the performance bond may be extended by the Planning Board with consent of the parties thereto.

C) Reduction. If the Planning Board shall decide at any time during the term of the performance bond that the extent of building development that has taken place in the subdivision is not sufficient to warrant all the improvements covered by such performance bond or that required improvements have been installed as provided in this section and by the Planning Board in sufficient amount to warrant reduction in the face amount of such bond, the Planning Board, after due notice and public hearing, may modify its requirements for any or all such improvements, and the face value of such performance bond shall thereupon be reduced by an appropriate amount so that the new face value will cover the cost, in full, of the amended list of improvements required by the Planning Board, and any security deposited with the bond may be reduced proportionately.

D) Default.

1. In the event that any required improvements have not been installed within the term of the performance bond, the Board of Trustees may thereupon declare the performance bond in default and collect the sum remaining payable thereunder, and, upon receipt of the proceeds thereof, the village shall install such improvements as are covered by such performance bond and are commensurate with the building development that has taken place in the subdivision but not exceeding in cost the amount of such proceeds.

2. In making such determination regarding streets, highways, parks and required improvements, the Planning Board shall take into consideration the prospective character of the development, whether dense residence, open residence, business or industrial.

§ 205-37. Authority of Planning Board over zoning regulations.

The Planning Board is authorized and empowered, simultaneously with approval of a plot as provided in this Part 2, to confirm the zoning regulations of the land so plotted as shown on the Official Zoning Maps of the village or to make such reasonable change therein as may be necessary or proper to improve or protect the interests of the village in its public health, safety and general welfare.