[Amended 8-25-1987; 3-29-2007; 6-24-2010]

A. The Town Board shall appoint a Board of Appeals consisting of five members, shall designate its Chairperson and may provide for compensation to be paid to experts, clerks and a secretary and provide for such other expenses as shall be necessary and proper not exceeding the appropriation made by the Town Board for such purpose.

B. The Board of Appeals shall have the following powers:

(1) To grant or deny use variances;

(2) To grant or deny area variances;

(3) To interpret on appeal the meaning of provisions of this ordinance;

(4) To interpret on appeal the location of boundaries of districts depicted on the Building Zone Map;

(5) To decide on applications for special exception uses as indicated in the Table of Use Regulations;

(6) To decide on applications for certificates of existing use;

(7) To vary the requirements of the County Commissioner of Public Works regarding the approval of building permits, curb cuts, and subdivision plats pursuant to § 239-k of the General Municipal Law;

(8) To reverse, affirm or modify the decision of the administrative officer having charge of the issue of permits for buildings pursuant to § 280-a of the Town Law;

(9) To call upon any department, agency or employee of the Town for such assistance as shall be deemed necessary and as shall be authorized by the Town Board; and

(10) To impose such reasonable conditions and restrictions in the granting of applications as are directly related to and incidental to the proposed use of the property.

C. The Board of Appeals shall adopt such rules of procedure, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Town Law and local ordinances, as it may deem necessary to the proper performance of its duties and the proper exercise of its powers.

[Amended 10-20-1964; 2-23-1965; 2-25-1969; 3-4-1975; 4-22-1975; 6-8-1976; 9-8-1981; 12-22-1981; 4-20-1982; 1-25-1983; 6-25-1985;10-21-1986; 8-25-1987; 1-3-1989; 7-9-1991; 7o-6-1992; 3-8-1994; 9-13-1994; 2-22-1999; 5-8-2007; 6-24-2010]

A. Applications for appeals or special exception uses shall be submitted in the form required by the Board and filed in the office of the Board.

(1) There shall be submitted with the application an affidavit to be executed by all owners of record, contract vendees, lessors, lessees, sublessors, sublessees, contract lessors, contract lessees, contract sublessors, contract sublessees, holders of beneficial interest, contract holders of beneficial interest, holders of encumbrances and contract holders of encumbrances. Lending institutions licensed or franchised by the State of New York, public corporations and lessees, contract lessees, sublessees and contract sublessees or less than a whole interest in the land are excluded from the provisions of this subsection.

(2) If the affiant is an individual, he/she shall set forth his/her name and street address.

(3) If the affiant is a partnership, it shall set forth the name, street address and the nature of interest of each partner.

(4) If the affiant is a corporation, it shall set forth the name and street address of each office, director and stockholder. It shall also set forth the name and street address of all persons to whom corporate stock has been pledged or with whom any agreement has been made to pledge said stock.

(5) All affiants shall set forth the name and address of all persons, individuals, partnerships and/or corporations who are the holders of any instruments creating an encumbrance upon the property which is the subject of the application and shall also state the nature of the encumbrance.

(6) All affiants shall state that, to the best of their knowledge, no person mentioned in their affidavit is a Town officer or employee or is related to a Town officer or employee, or if such is not the case, the affiant shall state the exceptions in full detail.

(7) In the event that there is any change in any matter set forth in any affidavit submitted hereunder prior to the time a certificate of occupancy is granted to the subject premises, the affiant affected by such change shall file a supplemental affidavit within 48 hours after such change has occurred, giving the full details thereof. The other party affected by the change, if any, shall, within 48 hours after such change has occurred, also file an affidavit in compliance with the requirements of this subsection and shall thereafter be subject to all requirements set forth in this subsection.

(8) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any applicant who is an individual or a tenant by the entirety seeking an area variance or an interpretation of any provision of this chapter with respect to residential property. Anything to the contrary notwithstanding, the Board of Zoning Appeals shall have the power to require full compliance with this subsection in any case wherein the required disclosure would be appropriate.

B. The Board of Appeals shall fix a time and place for a public hearing thereon and shall provide for the giving of notice thereof as follows:

(1) By publishing a notice in a paper of general circulation in the Town in accordance with the provisions of Town Law.

(2) By requiring the applicant to erect a white-with-red-lettering sign or signs, measuring not less than 30 inches high and 40 inches wide, which shall be prominently displayed on the premises, facing each public street on which the property abuts, giving notice that an application for an appeal or special exception use is pending and the date, time and place where the public hearing will be held. The sign shall not be set back more than 10 feet from the property line and shall not be less than two nor more than six feet above the grade at the property line. The sign shall be made of fourteen-ply pressed board or other durable material. It shall be displayed for a period of not less than five days immediately preceding the public hearing date or any adjourned date. The filing of an affidavit, by the applicant, that this requirement has been complied with shall be deemed sufficient proof of compliance therewith.

(3) By requiring the applicant to mail notices by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owners of all properties within 200 feet of the exterior limits of the subject property, as shown on the latest assessment roll. Proof of receipt shall be submitted to the Board at the time of the hearing. Such notice shall be given not less than 14 days prior to the date of the hearing.

(4) By mailing notices to the Long Island State Park Commission if any state park or parkway is within 500 feet of the property affected.

(5) By mailing notices to the Suffolk County Planning Commission if within 500 feet of the subject property there is a state park or parkway; the boundary of a village or Town; the boundary of any existing or proposed county, state or federal park; the right-of-way of any existing or proposed county or state parkway, thruway, expressway, road or highway; the existing or proposed right-of-way of any stream or drainage channel owned by the county or for which the county has established channel lines; the existing or proposed boundary of any other county, state or federally owned land; or the Long Island Sound or any estuary of the Sound, in accordance with §§ A14-14 through A14-23 of the Suffolk County Administrative Code.

(6) If the application is a use variance or a special exception, by mailing notices to the Clerk of the adjacent municipality if any such municipality is within 500 feet of the site. Such notice shall be given not less than 10 days prior to the hearing.

C. The Director of Planning shall prepare an advisory report on the proposed use unless he makes a determination that no planning issue is involved. The report shall be part of the record. The report may evaluate the application with respect to the needs and growth pattern of the Town, the Comprehensive Plan and the adequacy of the site area and plan. It may also include recommendations on the arrangement of buildings, parking areas, and other pertinent features of the site plan.

D. The Board shall not consider an application to review an earlier decision concerning the same property, except as a rehearing pursuant to § 267-a of the Town Law, unless there has been a significant change in the proposal or applicable laws.

E. For applications to legalize an existing use or structure, the premises shall be brought into compliance with the decision rendered by the Board and Town Code within 30 days of the decision. For applications for a proposed use or structure, the applicant shall apply for the appropriate permits within 12 months of the decision and obtain a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance or be in compliance with the decision and Town Code within 12 months of the issuance of the permit. At the time of decision, the Board may modify these time limits when the Board finds that such modification does not hinder the purposes of this ordinance. After the decision, the Board may extend these limits upon written request if the Board finds that such extension will not hinder the purposes of this ordinance.

F. Unless modifications are required by the Building Director or the Board of Site Plan Review, the site shall be developed and maintained in accordance with the plans submitted with the application to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

G. The fee for application to the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be the sum of the applicable fees listed as follows:

H. No fee shall be required for any government entity.