Additional Information

A. Operational Considerations
  1. Establishment. Pursuant to the provisions of § 81 of Article 5-A of the General City Law, a Board of Appeals is hereby established in and for the City of Auburn.
  2. Appointment. The Board of Appeals shall consist of seven members of which no more than four shall be of the same political party. The members of the Board of Appeals shall be appointed by the Mayor. The terms of the initial appointees shall be for one, two and three years and thereafter for three years each. Appointments upon the retirement of the initial terms shall be for three years each.
  3. Appointment to fill vacancies. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term of the member or members whose term or terms become vacant. Such appointments to fill such vacancies shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment.
  4. General grant of power. The Board of Appeals shall perform all the duties and have all the powers prescribed by the laws of the State of New York and as herein provided.
  5. Rules of procedure. The Board of Appeals shall perform and adopt rules in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and any others not inconsistent herewith or with the laws of the State of New York.
  6. Votes necessary for a decision. The concurring votes of four members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Code Enforcement Officer or to decide in favor of the appellant any matter upon which the Board of Appeals is required to pass under the terms of this chapter or to effect variation in this chapter. If four members of the Board of Appeals are present this shall constitute a legal quorum.
B. Jurisdiction and Authority

The Board of Appeals shall be responsible for the interpretation of this chapter and shall adopt and make available to the public rules for the exercise of its functions. The duties and powers of the Board of Appeals shall be to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged that an error has been made in the enforcement of this chapter and to hear and decide requests for variances. The Board of Appeals shall perform such other duties as may be provided or made necessary by this chapter, including the interpretation of boundaries, the holding of public hearings, the referral of any pertinent matter to the Planning Board for review and recommendations, and the maintenance of records on all decisions and findings.

C. Procedures and Requirements for Hearing Appeals from Alleged Error in Enforcement
  1. Any person, firm or corporation who or which deems himself or itself aggrieved by any order, requirement, decision or determination of the Code Enforcement Officer shall have the right to file a written appeal to the Board of Appeals within 20 days of the issuance of such order, requirement, decision or determination. The Board of Appeals shall decide each appeal within 60 days after the final hearing and shall give notice to all parties in interest. The decision of the Board of Appeals shall be immediately filed in its office and be a public record.
  2. The Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof to all parties and, not less than 10 days prior to the hearing date, shall publish such notice at least once in the local newspaper designated for such purpose by the City Council. See Subsection C(7).
  3. Unless otherwise specified by the Board of Appeals, decision on any appeal shall expire if the applicant fails to obtain any necessary building permit or comply with the conditions of such permit within six months from the date of authorization thereof.
  4. Every decision of the Board of Appeals shall be subject to review as provided in Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the City.
  5. Stay of proceedings. A variance request shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action unless the Code Enforcement Officer certifies to the Board of Appeals, after the notice of the variance shall have been filed with him or her, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his or her opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property, in which case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Appeals or by the Supreme Court on application, on notice to the Code Enforcement Officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
  6. Information required on appeals to the Board of Appeals. All appeals from a decision of the enforcement officer to the Board of Appeals shall be in writing on forms prescribed by the Board of Appeals. Every appeal shall include the following:
    1. The name and address of appellant.
    2. The name and address of the owner of the district lot to be affected by such appeal.
    3. A brief description and location of the district lot to be affected by such appeal.
    4. A statement of the present zoning classification of the district lot in question, the improvements thereon and the present use thereof.
    5. A statement of the section or part thereof of this chapter under which the appeal is made and the reasons why it should be granted or a statement of the section or part thereof of this chapter governing the situation in which the alleged erroneous ruling is being appealed and the reasons for this appeal.
    6. A reasonably accurate description of the present improvements and the additions or changes intended to be made under this application, indicating the size of such proposed improvements, material, and general construction thereof. In addition, there shall be attached a plot plan of the real property to be affected indicating the location and size of the lot and size of improvements thereon and proposed to be erected thereon.
  7. Public hearings regarding appeal. Upon filing with the Board of Appeals of an appeal as required by the terms of this chapter, the Board of Appeals shall fix a time and place for a public hearing thereof as follows:
    1. Public notice: By publishing a notice at least once, of not less than 10 days in advance of such hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation of the City.
    2. Notice to appellant: By mailing a notice thereof by registered or certified mail to the appellant.
    3. Notice to local officials: By delivering a notice to the Mayor, to members of the City Council, to the Planning Board, and to the City Manager.
    4. Notice to interested parties: By mailing a notice thereof to every association of residents of the City and any other interested party who or which shall have registered their names and addresses for this purpose with the Board of Appeals. Notice shall also be mailed to the owners of record of properties sharing a common boundary with the subject property and properties across a street and within 400 feet of the center line of the subject property's boundary line with said street when the application is for a use variance and within 100 feet of the center line of the subject property's boundary line with said street when the application is for an area variance in a residential zone.
    5. Nature of notice and posting. The notice required shall be posted upon instructions from the Board of Appeals and shall state the location of the building or lot in question and the general nature of the question involved Upon filing an appeal a fee as established by the City Manager in the fee schedule shall be paid.

Appeals on the decisions of the Code Enforcement Officer and/or requests for use and area variance procedures and requirements may be obtained by contacting the City of Auburn Code Enforcement Office at (315) 255-4111.