Town Board to ponder ZBA fee hikes
ZBA Chairman Doug Matz wants a hike in fees.
The Town Board will continue a discussion at its work session Tuesday about raising fees charged to applicants seeking zoning variances and special permits.A proposal from the Zoning Board of Appeals was submitted to the Town Board in December suggesting increases since fees haven’t been adjusted in 10 years.
The following suggestions came from the ZBA:
• Applications for variances on projects of less than $5,000 currently costing $100 should be raised to $375 for up to two variances with projects costing up to $20,000.
• For variances on projects costing more than $5,000 at an application fee of $500, the fee should be raised to $750 for up to two variances on projects costing more than $20,000.
• Applications for special permits on projects, where 50 percent or more of a structure is being changed, the fee should go from $500 to $1,000.
• Applications that require both variances and a special permit currently incur no extra fees, but the ZBA suggests that they should carry fees for both the variances and special permit at the proposed higher costs.
• Those seeking an extension because they have been unable to complete projects within the time allowed by the ZBA should have to pay 50 percent of the original fee for consideration of an extension; currently, there’s no additional fee.
• Double the cost of fees for those who have work done without ZBA approval and building permits. They currently incur the same fees as others who did follow the rules.
During last week’s Town Board work session, there was some push back about charging less for smaller projects, based on the argument that the amount of work town officials had to devote to inspecting and reviewing those projects is the same as for larger projects and, therefore, fees should incur equal fees.
