Southold Town plans to double ZBA fees for as-built structures

The Southold Town Board plans to double the fees charged by the Zoning Board of Appeals for as-built structures. 

ZBA chairperson Leslie Weisman said at a Tuesday work session that, according to her research, the practice is standard among most municipalities.

“Basically for as-built construction, right now if you apply for a building permit, we double the fees. The idea is to make that consistent with the ZBA. A lot of those building permits require going to the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval,” Supervisor Scott Russell said. “The idea is, you know, people that go to the ZBA for the first time and go through the process probably shouldn’t be paying the same as people who are coming through for something they’ve already done, particularly when you factor in property taxes and all the things that they probably would have paid had they come in and applied originally.”

Ms. Weisman said a resolution to double as-built fees was put on for March 11, 2020 — around the time New York began pandemic lockdowns — but wasn’t voted on. As-built variances would have brought in nearly $85,000 in 2020 if the fees had been doubled at the time, she said.