Planning - Procedure
Prior to submitting an application to the Planning Board for review and approval, prospective applicants should schedule an appointment with the Planning Board Secretary at (914) 273-3542 for a consultation with the Town Planner and the Town Engineer. When the appointment is made, a verbal description of the proposal should be provided to the Planning Board Secretary. The Town of North Castle is providing the services of the Director of Planning and the Town Engineer for initial consultation at no cost to the applicant so that it is possible to conduct the application review as efficiently as possible for the benefit of the applicant as well as for the Planning Board.
After meeting with the Town Planner and Town Engineer, prospective applicants should prepare one complete set of application documents and plans. This set will be reviewed for completeness by the Town Planner. If determined to be incomplete, the Planning Department will submit a checklist indicating which items have not been adequately addressed. If determined to be complete, the checklist will be initialed and the applicant should submit the remainder of the required application packages.
Once the checklist has been initialed and all application packages have been submitted, the Planning Board Secretary will schedule the application for the first available opening on the Planning Board's meeting agenda. However, if the required application material packages, including the pertinent application fee are not received at the Planning Board office by 11:00 AM, Monday, 14 days prior to the date of the Planning Board meeting at which your are scheduled to appear (or otherwise scheduled by the Planning Board Secretary), your application will be automatically removed from the agenda. At the discretion of the Planning Board Chairman, your application may be rescheduled, if appropriate, for the next available Planning Board meeting or the application may be removed from future agendas altogether. Additional requirements pertinent to each type of application are provided on the individual application forms, which you should carefully review prior to submitting your application.
When an application is deemed complete and submitted for review, it will be forwarded to the Planning Board Members and its professional advisors in advance of the meeting to allow adequate time for review, preparation of written reports and site inspections as necessary. Your application may also be forwarded to other boards and staff of the Town as well as to agencies outside of the Town, if required. Compliance with State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) procedures is also required as part of the processing of all applications.
At your first appearance before the Planning Board, the applicant will describe the project and the Planning Board will discuss any preliminary issues. The Planning Board discussion may be continued at future meetings, or if the Planning Board review has progressed sufficiently, the application may be scheduled for a public hearing (if one is required) or neighbor notification. The public hearing may occur at a single Planning Board meeting, or it may be adjourned and continued at another Planning Board meeting. Because the nature and complexity of each application varies considerably, it is not possible to predict in advance the length of time needed to secure Planning Board approval. There are certain steps that you can take, however, to expedite the review process. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Make sure that your application materials are accurately prepared and contain all required information. The information that we initially request is required, so make sure that your submission is complete. If supplementary information is requested as the review process continues, make sure that it is submitted in a timely fashion so the Planning Board can continue to move your application along.
- Follow up to make sure that your application materials are being submitted on time, or deliver them to the Planning office yourself.
- Attend the Planning Board meeting at which your application will be discussed and be on time for the meeting. If you cannot appear personally, make sure that your representative will be there and is thoroughly familiar with your application.
If the application is approved by the Planning Board, a resolution of approval will be adopted by the Planning Board. It is the applicant’s responsibility to address any and all conditions of approval. Permits from the Building Department cannot be issued until all conditions have been addressed and the plans have been signed by the Planning Board Chair and the Town Engineer.
