Development and redevelopment proposals and
permit applications must
be evaluated by Bureau of
Buildings and Zoning staff
in the Permit Office, located
at City Hall, 30 Church Street,
Rm. 121B. A review of
the development proposal will
provide the applicant with zoning
and building code requirements, development standards,
and any
other special approval processes
necessary to proceed with
the project.
Certificate
of Appropriateness (Peter Siegrist, 428-7238)
A Certificate of Appropriateness is required for work performed in a preservation
district and/or on historically designated properties to ensure that renovations
comply with preservation standards and protect the historic integrity of any
structure, improvement, landscape feature or cultural site.
Site Plan Review (Jason Haremza, 428-7761)
A Site
Plan Review assesses
an application’s
attention to critical
design elements.
Special
Permit (Zina Lagonegro, 428-7054)
The Special
Permit procedure provide
a means to establish those
uses
having some special impact
or uniqueness which requires
a careful review
of their location, design,
configuration and special
impact to determine,
against fixed standards,
the desirability of permitting
their establishment at
any given location.
Variance (Justus Ocholi, 428-7047)
Area Variance
An Area Variance is
authorization by the Zoning
Board of Appeals for the
use of land that is not permitted
by the Zoning Ordinance.
Examples of an
area variance are zoning
requirements related to:
a dimension, such as
size, height and setback;
physical requirements; the
expansion, structural
alteration or enlargement
of a nonconforming use; a
waiver of additional
requirements for specified
uses; any City-wide or Village
Center design
standards. An Area Variance Application must also include a completed Statement of Difficulty.
Use Variance
A Use
Variance
is authorization
by the Zoning Board of Appeals
for the
use of land for a purpose
that is otherwise not allowed
or is prohibited by
the Zoning Ordinance. A Use Variance Application must also include a completed Statement of Income and Expense, and Statement of Unnecessary Hardship.
Environmental Assessment Form (EAF)
An EAF is used by a municipality to assist in determining the environmental significance or non-significance of a proposed project at the earliest possible time. New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) requires all state and local government agencies to consider environmental impacts equally with social and economic factors during discretionary decision-making. This means these agencies must assess the environmental significance of all development/redevelopment proposals they have discretion to approve, fund or directly undertake.
An EAF must accompany applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness, Site Plan Review, Special Permit, Area Variance or Use Variance. Most proposals will require a Short EAF. Larger projects which may have an impact on transportation characteristics, air or noise quality, or topography, for example, will require a Long EAF.
