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City of Albany Board of Zoning Appeals Rules of Procedure Article 1 - Authority 1.1 These policies may be cited as the Rules of Procedure for the City of Albany Board of Zoning Appeals. 1.2 The policies may be adopted or amended from time to time by a majority of the members of the Board, signed by the Chair of the Board, and shall then be filed with the office of the City Clerk. 1.3 These policies, and any subsequent amendments, will be subject to review and comment by the City of Albany Common Council. 1.4 These policies may be amended in the same way as the initial adoption. Article 2- Membership 2.1 Selection and membership shall be as stipulated in §375-11 and §375-12 of the City Code and § 301(e) of the City Charter. 2.2 The Chairperson shall be appointed by the Mayor. 2.3 A Vice-Chairperson may be selected by a majority vote of the Board and shall preside over meetings in the absence of the Chairperson. Article 3- Member Training 3.1 In accordance with NY General Municipal Law, Board of Zoning Appeals members are required to obtain four hours of suitable training per year. The training provider(s) shall be certified by the Director of Planning and Development, or any credits received shall not be applicable to the training requirement. (ii) Proof of training credits shall be filed with the City Clerk before the end of the calendar year in which it is sought to be applied. (iii) If a member completes in excess of four hours in one year, the excess training may be counted towards the next year’s requirement. After the elapse of the succeeding ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 2 of 7 calendar year to the one in which excess credit was accrued, such excess credits will lapse and no longer be applicable to a subsequent year’s requirement. Article 4- Agenda Preparation and Delivery, Duties of Department of Planning and Development 4.1 The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall, upon receipt, assess applications for completeness in accordance with §375-15 and §375-18 of the City Code, and applicable sections of the General City Law of New York State including, but not limited to, article 5-A. The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall make a reasonable effort to determine the completeness of all such submissions within ten (10) business days of receipt. (ii) If an application is deemed to be insufficient or incomplete, the Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall notify the applicant of the application deficiencies and procedures for resubmittal. 4.2 For all meetings, The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall prepare an agenda setting forth the time and place of the meeting and a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting. Items to be included on the agenda must be submitted to the Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall no later than the date established by the Department. (ii) Documentary or testimonial evidence may be submitted by any person aggrieved, or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the city. (iii) Documentary evidence submitted less than forty-eight (48) hours before a meeting shall not be added to the record of such meeting, but may be admitted into evidence in a subsequent hearing if such is held by the Board. 4.3 The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall distribute the agenda to the designated representatives of each neighborhood association, members of the Common Council, City staff, and any interested member of the public that requests in writing that they be added to the distribution list. The agenda shall be organized as follows: A listing of cases slated for discussion that have been carried over from previous agendas or public hearings. (ii) A listing of all public hearings scheduled for new applications. (iii) A listing of any other business that the Board intends to consider and vote upon. The agenda shall be distributed no less than two weeks prior to the ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 3 of 7 meeting and posted on the City website, at the Department of Development Planning, and in the City Hall Rotunda. 4.4 The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall provide each Board member with an agenda, and a staff report containing pertinent facts and information, as well as exhibits and any other pertinent material, for each item on the agenda. Applications shall be available for public review at the Department of Development and Planning Office during normal business hours, and on the City of Albany website where feasible. 4.5 The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall be responsible for the maintenance of Board minutes and records as provided for by article 7 of the New York State Public Officers Law (the Open Meetings Law). 4.6 Minutes shall be made available to the public for a fee, if a fee is incurred in the transcription of said minutes. A digital recording of the meeting proceedings may be provided for the cost of reproduction of the digital medium. Article 5- Duties of Members 5.1 The Chairperson shall preside over meetings and shall be responsible for conduct and decorum of the meeting. The Chairperson shall have the responsibility to ensure that all parties receive a full and fair hearing before the Board. 5.2 Members of the Board shall be responsible for reviewing agendas in advance of meetings and for being conversant with the issues presented. Members shall advise the Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall when they expect to be late or unable to attend, or when they expect to recuse themselves from voting or participating on an agenda item. (ii) Members shall be responsible for attending meetings, and for notifying the Chairperson where an absence is unavoidable. (iii) Members that miss more than six, or one-quarter, whichever is less, of a calendar year’s meetings, shall be subject to removal from the Board. 5.3 A Member shall be disqualified to act on a matter before the BZA when required by law and shall record the reason for disqualification on the record at a meeting, or in writing to the Office of the Corporation Counsel A Member may disqualify themself, or be disqualified under any circumstance, which in the opinion of the member, would create an appearance of impropriety or unfairness. A Member shall state on the record a decision to be disqualified, but need not state the reason for disqualification. ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 4 of 7 (ii) Any disqualification should be announced on the record prior to a case being heard or as soon as a basis for disqualification is discovered. Article 6- Meeting Conduct, Voting, Decision, Rehearing, Reapplication 6.1 Unless modified by vote, the Board shall follow the following Order of Business: a) Call to order/Roll call b) Consideration of pending carryover items c) Consideration of current agenda items d) Discussion items e) Adjournment 6.2 For each current agenda item to be considered, the following procedure shall be followed: The applicant shall be recognized for attendance (ii) The applicant may make a presentation (iii) The Board may ask questions (iv) The Public may provide input on the matter(s) before the Board The applicant may make a brief rebuttal (vi) Board staff, Corporation Counsel, or other municipal employees staff may provide comments or ask questions of the applicant (vii) The Board may engage in further questioning of the applicant, Board staff, Corporation Counsel or other municipal employees. 6.3 All voting shall be by roll-call vote; Rehearing; Reapplication. Upon being called by the Chairperson, each Member of the Board who is present and qualified to vote shall state either “aye,” “no, “or “abstain.” (ii) Each response of “aye,” “no,” or “abstain” shall be entered into the record of the meeting by The Director of Planning and Development or his/her designated staff shall staff. 6.4 No motion shall be carried by less than four affirmative votes of the Board. Any vote receiving less than four affirmative votes shall be deemed to have failed and result in denial of the appeal. 6.5 Rehearing. A motion for the Board of Appeals to hold a rehearing to review any order, decision or determination of the Board of Appeals not previously reviewed may be made by any member of the Board of Appeals. A unanimous vote of all members of the Board of Appeals then present is required for such rehearing to occur. Such rehearing is subject to the same notice provisions as an original hearing. Upon such ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 5 of 7 rehearing the Board of Appeals may reverse, modify or annul its original order, decision or determination upon the unanimous vote of all members present, provided that the Board of Appeals finds that the rights vested in persons acting in good faith in reliance upon the reviewed order, decision or determination will not be prejudiced thereby. 6.6 Reapplication. After an application has been decided, no matter presented to the Board of Appeals shall again be presented to or entertained by said Board within a period of three years from the date of such decision or determination or, if renewed by the courts, within the same period after the final adjudication thereof, except upon a showing by the applicant, to the satisfaction of the Board of Appeals, as evidenced by a majority vote, that there has been a material change in the circumstances under consideration in the original proceeding, or a change of applicable law. 6.7 Administrative Repose. No appeal which has been dismissed with prejudice or denied shall be considered again within three years of the filing of the Board's decision without material alteration or revision or substantial change in circumstances as determined by the Board except pursuant to court order or by motion to reconsider made by a member voting with the majority. A motion to reconsider shall require the affirmative vote of the majority of voting members. The expiration of three years time from the date of the filing of the Board's decision shall be considered sufficient to warrant a new hearing of an appeal previously heard. Such appeal shall be subject to the same requirements as an original appeal and be accompanied by the required filing fee. Article 7- Meetings Open to Public, Information from the Public 7.1 All Board of Zoning Appeals meetings shall be open to the public and held in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Open Meetings Law. Legal Notice shall be published and distributed as stipulated in §375-19. 7.2 The Board may prescribe procedures for registration of speakers Each member of the public that wishes to provide input on a matter before the Board shall come forth and state the following information for the record: name address, and person or organization he/she represents 7.3 The presiding Board member may announce reasonable time limitations and registration requirements for speakers so that all may have an opportunity to be heard. ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 6 of 7 Except where a speaker’s allotted time must be shortened so that all may have an opportunity to be heard, speakers shall be allotted the following: Applicants may have ten (10) minutes to present their case Members of the public may have three minutes to present their remarks Council Members may have six minutes to present their remarks Applicants may have five minutes for rebuttal (ii) Any speakers’ allotted time may be extended by majority vote of the Board members in attendance. Article 8- Meeting, Special Meeting, Place; Hours 8.1 The Board shall adopt an annual meeting schedule for each calendar year. 8.2 Special meetings of the Board may be held at the call of the Chairperson or by a majority of Board members upon vote. Special meetings shall conform to all the requirements stipulated herein for regular meetings. 8.3 Meetings may be recessed to a time and place certain as a continuation of said meeting without further notice. 8.4 All meetings shall be held in the Common Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall unless the Board shall vote to meet at some different place for a particular meeting, provided however that all public hearings shall commence no earlier than 5:30 p.m. 8.5 At its discretion, the Board may meet to discuss any new or old business at a publicly announced time and location. All such proceedings shall be open and accessible to the public. Article 9- Attendance by Applicant(s); Standards 9.1 Attendance. Failure of an Applicant, or the Representative of an Applicant to attend the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting where the Applicant’s case is a current matter scheduled for a hearing will render the Applicant subject to the tabling of such appeal, or denial of such appeal. Article 10- Standards of Conduct 10.1 Members shall be subject to the ethical and financial disclosure standards provided for by Article 18 of the General Municipal Law of the State of New York (GML), ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 7 of 7 provided further however that sections 811 and 812 of the GML, and Chapter 54 of the City Code, shall not apply to Members of the Board. These procedural rules were last updated on January 13, 2016.