HomeMy WebLinkAboutSite Plan Review BrochureTown of Ithaca Site Plan Review Process The purpose of the Site Plan Review Process is to review plans for speciϐic types of development to ensure com-pliance with all appropriate land devel-opment regulations and consistency with the Town of Ithaca Comprehen-sive Plan. This brochure is intended to explain the information required to apply for Planning Board approval of a site plan, and to describe, in general terms, the review process conducted by the Town's planning and engineering staff and the Planning Board. If you or your agent have any questions regarding the site plan approval pro-cess, please feel free to call a member of the Town planning staff at (607) 273-1747. In this brochure... What is Site Plan Review? What are the steps involved ? How long does the process take? What type of plans are required? The Town of Ithaca Planning Board meets the first and third Tuesdays of every month in the Town Board Room, 215 North Tioga Street Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 273‐1747 (607)273‐1704 fax www.town.ithaca.ny.us Town of IthacaTown of Ithaca Typically, the site plan review process takes approximately 8 weeks. This can vary depending on the complexity of the project (particularly if the project also requires Zoning Board or Town Board approvals in addition to Planning Board), the completeness of submittals, Planning Board agenda availability, and an appli-cant’s timeliness. How long does it take? Notiϐication As required by NYS Town Law, the Town publishes a notice of Public Hearing in the legal section of the local newspaper. This must be done at least 5 days before a Pub-lic Hearing. The applicant is required to post a sign on the project site that is clearly visible from the public road way. The sign must be posted at least 14 days before the Public Hearing. As a courtesy to the public, the Town also notiϐies properties within a 500-foot radi-us of any proposal scheduled for a Plan-ning Board appearance. Expiration of approval The site plan approval becomes void after 18 months following the date of approval or 12 months after a building permit is issued, unless construction has materially commenced on the project.
Requirements for Submission In order for a site plan approval request to be placed on a Planning Board agenda, the Planning Department must ϐirst receive a complete set of application materials from the applicant. We recommend scheduling a pre-application meeting with one of the planning staff members prior to submission of any materials. A completed application, containing the items in bold below, should be submitted at least 30 days prior to the Planning Board meeting at which the project is to be consid-ered. Most of the application forms below can be found in Town Hall or on our website at: www.town.ithaca.ny.us/forms Cover sheet/narrative—including the name of the owner/developer, a description of the project, the current zoning and acre-age of the property involved, etc. Completed Development Review Appli-cation Completed Environmental Assessment Form, Part 1 Site, grading, topographic, utility, land-scaping, erosion and sedimentation con-trol plans showing the items noted on the Site Plan Checklists Owners Certiϐication Letter Payment of required review fees– the Planning Department will determine the proper fee amount at a pre-application meeting. Steps in the Process Set up a pre-application meeting with the Planning Department (273-1747). Submit application materials and fees for re-view by planning staff. Staff will review materials for consistency with codes, policies, and plans and make suggestions for additional submissions or modiϐications. Once any additional items are submitted, the project will go before the Planning Board for consideration of approval (the timeline for Board appearance is 30 days after a complete application is submitted). Depending on the complexity of the pro-posal, the project could involve several stag-es of review (determined at the pre-application meeting with staff) For complex projects, the applicant should appear for a Sketch Plan review, where the applicant may informally present initial drawings of the proposal and get the sense of the Board, prior to preparing and pre-senting more formal plans. (Simple projects can go straight to Preliminary Site Plan re-view. Sometimes Preliminary and Final ap-provals are given at the same meeting.) The Prelminary Site Plan Review—the stage where the Board formally reviews plans and votes to approve (sometimes w/conditions) or deny the project. This stage also involves the Environmental Review* of any environmental impacts associated with the project. The Final Site Plan Review—the stage where the Board votes on ϐinal plans and considers any remaining issues. If any variances or re-zonings are neces-sary, the site plan will go before the Town Board or Zoning Board of Appeals before Final Site Plan Review. *Regarding the Environmental Review: Planning staff, on behalf of the Planning Board, completes Parts 2 and 3 of the environmental review form to identify any potential impacts of a proposal. More detailed environmental information and analysis, in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), may be required if impacts are determined to be signiϐicant by the Planning Board. This is pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) and the Town’s Environmental Law. Basic SEQR in-formation can be found on the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation website at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6433.html For more information, please contact the Planning Department at (607) 273-1747