A Guide for Town and Village Officials
6470 Route 20A,
Phone (585) 237- 4110
Section 239-l of the New York State General Municipal Law requires that certain municipal zoning and planning actions be referred to the county planning board for review prior to final local action.
The purpose of this law is to encourage local decision makers to consider the intermunicipal and county-wide impacts of local land use decisions. Also, towns and villages can be made aware of the impact of developments on neighboring municipalities.
The town or village body that is responsible for taking final action on the application or proposal is responsible for referring it to the County Planning & Development Department that acts as staff for the Wyoming County Planning Board.
It is suggested that each municipal board and zoning board of appeals designate an individual who will determine that an application is complete and be responsible for the referral of the proposed action to the county planning board. If a local planning board has final approval authority over site plans or special permits, this board’s procedures should also assign this responsibility.
The Wyoming County Planning Board (WCPB) will consider all complete referrals of proposed actions that are received in the office (6470 Route 20A, Suite 4, Perry) by 5:00 PM on the Monday prior to their next regularly scheduled board meeting.
The WCPB meets regularly on the first Monday of each month
at
A “Zoning and Planning Action Referral Form” is available from the Wyoming County Planning & Development Department. This form should be photocopied and used as a cover sheet for these referrals. This form is also used to report the WCPB’s recommendation to the local official making the referral.
A referral to the county is considered complete when the referral includes a “full statement of such proposed action.” Section 239-m defines such a statement as “all materials required by and submitted to the referring body as an application on a proposed action, including a completed environmental assessment form [EAF] and all other materials required by such referring body in order to make its determination of significance pursuant to the state environmental quality review [SEQR] act
The town or village referring body that has jurisdiction
over a proposed action may take final action on planning and zoning actions
subject to review by the Wyoming County Planning Board only after considering
the WCPB’s report or 30 days after referral to the WCPB. If the county’s planning board‘s report
includes a recommendation of modification or disapproval, the referring body
may not act contrary to such a recommendation except by a vote of a majority
plus one of all the members appointed to that board.
Failure to refer a zoning or planning matter to the county planning board is considered a procedural error and grounds for a challenge pursuant to Article 78. Any local action will be void if subjected to a successful legal challenge.
Within thirty (30) days after its final action on a referred action, the local referring body files a report of the final action it has taken with the county. If the referring body has acted contrary to a recommendation of modification or disapproval of such action, this report includes the reasons for its contrary action.
Actions within 500 feet of certain boundaries are subject to referral & review:
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Adoption or amendment of a local law, zoning ordinance,
zoning map, or comprehensive plan.
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The issuance of special use permits.
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Approval of site
plans.
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Granting of use
or area variances.
¨
Moratoria or other authorizations which a referring body may
issue under the provisions of a zoning ordinance or local law.
Any of the bulleted actions listed above must be referred to the county if the proposed action applies to a property within 500 feet of the boundary of:
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the boundary of a village or town,
¨
an existing or proposed county or state park or other
recreation area,
¨
the right-of-way of any existing or proposed state or county road or highway,
¨
the boundary of existing or proposed county or state owned land on which a public building or
institution is located,
¨
farm operation
land within a Wyoming County Agricultural District (does not apply to area
variances).
However, many communities
have signed an AGREEMENT EXEMPTING
CERTAIN MINOR LAND USE ACTIONS (such as an area variance from a side yard
setback requirement for a residential use) from
The county planning board
reviews proposed actions referred to them for inter-community or county-wide
considerations and as an aid in coordinating such zoning and planning actions
among municipalities.
These considerations
include: compatibility of various land uses with one another; traffic
generating characteristics of various land uses in relation to the effect of
such traffic on other land uses and the adequacy of existing and proposed
thoroughfare facilities; impact of proposed land uses on existing and proposed
county or state institutional or other uses; protection of community character
as regards to predominant land uses; population density; the relation between
residential and non-residential areas; drainage; community appearance;
community facilities; official municipal and county development policies; and
other matters that relate to the achieving and maintaining of a satisfactory
community environment.
Based on their review, the
Wyoming County Planning Board recommends approval, modification, or
disapproval, or may make no recommendation and report that the proposed action
has no significant county-wide or inter-community impact. Comments are often included for local
consideration.