Municipal Agencies

Exam rule

Every New York city, town and village has an elected legislative body. A city may call it a city council, common council or another charter name. A town uses a town board. A village uses a board of trustees. These bodies adopt local laws and ordinances. That includes zoning laws and later zoning amendments. They adopt the municipal budget and the tax rate named in the syllabus. They may create a planning board, appoint its members and grant it powers allowed by state law. Cluster development is a good example. The governing body must authorize the planning board to use cluster review before that board may approve a cluster plat. A planning board can study and recommend a zoning change, but its recommendation does not change the law. The elected body must take the legislative action. County planning review may add regional advice to a covered local matter. The local body with legal authority still makes the final local decision. City charters and local codes can change titles, assignments and procedures. Check them before promising which office will act.

Exam rule

Planning boards and zoning boards of appeals, called ZBAs, are appointed bodies with different jobs. A planning board may help prepare or update the comprehensive plan, which the syllabus calls the master plan. The plan sets long-range goals. It is not itself a building permit or a zoning approval. Planning boards are commonly assigned subdivision and site-plan review. They may also receive special-use permit or cluster-review power when local law grants it. They advise other boards on land-use matters. A ZBA hears the zoning appeals assigned by law. An interpretation appeal claims that the zoning enforcement official read the code or map incorrectly. A variance accepts the rule but asks for relief. An area variance concerns size or placement rules such as setbacks. A use variance seeks a use the zoning law does not allow and requires harder proof. A special-use permit is not a variance. It allows a listed use after stated conditions are met. Local law may assign it to the planning board, ZBA or another body. The ZBA is not a general appeal court for planning-board decisions. Final board decisions should appear in the public record. Meetings, minutes and filed decisions matter. Judicial review of a final land-use decision is generally sought through an Article 78 proceeding.

Exam rule

Three local bodies can add focused review when local law creates them. An architectural review board checks the outside design of new construction and remodeling. It may review facades, roof lines, windows, signs, materials, colors and how a project fits its setting. Its approval does not replace zoning clearance, a building permit or inspections. A conservation advisory council studies natural resources. It may prepare inventories and maps, review environmental facts and advise local officials. A wetlands commission may advise officials or enforce local rules. Its exact role comes from local law. Local review does not erase a separate state or federal wetlands duty. A historic preservation or landmarks commission surveys historic sites. It may recommend properties for local designation. It reviews work on designated properties if local law gives it that power. State and National Register listing is not the same as local landmark control. Register listing alone does not always stop a private owner from changing a property. Local designation, government involvement or another law may require review. Read the designation record and local code before telling an owner what is allowed.

Exam rule

A department is administrative staff, not a deliberative board. The building department is the municipal gatekeeper for construction. Its code enforcement program reviews building-permit applications and construction documents. It conducts required inspections, handles complaints, keeps records and can issue stop-work orders. A building permit allows approved work to begin. It does not prove that the work was completed or that occupancy is lawful. After required work and inspections, the code office issues the required certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance. A temporary certificate covers only the stated area, conditions and time. Zoning, planning and building review remain separate. A project may need zoning clearance, a site-plan or subdivision approval, a building permit and a final certificate. Approval at one stage does not replace the others. Most local governments administer the State Uniform Code and Energy Code through a local program that meets state minimum standards. A municipality may opt out. Responsibility then passes to the county, or to the State if the county has also opted out. The codes still apply. A planning department provides professional staff support. It researches, maps, writes reports and advises boards and agencies. Staff may recommend, but the board or officer named in the law decides.

Exam rule

Four municipal functions belong to different offices. The tax assessor estimates the value of real property and records assessments on the assessment roll. The assessor also tracks granted exemptions, reviews property information and supports the assessment during grievance proceedings. The assessor does not set the municipal tax rate and does not collect the bill. A receiver of taxes or treasurer collects taxes and performs the related accounting. The elected governing body adopts the budget and tax rate named in the syllabus. A city, town or village engineer handles technical review of roads and sewer or water connections. The engineer may advise a planning board, but an engineering report does not itself approve a subdivision plat. The syllabus matches the county health department with septic-system approval and certain sewer approvals. In practice, the responsible office may be a city or county health department, another local authority or a State health district office. One important state trigger is the 5, 5, 3 rule. It generally covers a tract under common ownership or a common scheme that is divided into five or more residential lots of five acres or less within three years. Water and sewerage plans then need health review. A health approval answers the water or wastewater question only. It does not replace planning, engineering, zoning or building approval.