Bldg & Code Enforcement

Gerald Wood
585-490-4152
[email protected]

PLANNING…………..May be simply defined as thinking about the future, thinking about what we want the future to be, and thinking about what we need to do now to achieve it. Put another way, planning concerns linking present actions to future conditions.
The Town has a number of laws and regulations that my effect a project on a parcel. This is a brief overview of several important segments of our local laws.

The Town is divided into 9 Zoning districts which are delineated on the official Zoning map. Locating your parcel and zoning district will then allow you to look at the Zoning Schedule A, a chart in the Zoning Law, and get minimum requirements that may effect your project. The Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO) should always be consulted for each specific project and land use.

If you are interested in cutting off a parcel of land from a larger parcel, the Subdivision Law may apply. This Law deals with new land parcels that are being separated from larger parcels for a building project or for sale. The Planning Board has an application and procedures list that will assist you that is available at the Town Clerk’s Office. I am available to answer most questions and get your application on the agenda for the Board to review and act on. The ZEO will need the paperwork a minimum of 10 days prior to the meeting. The meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall on Hunter Street.

More involved projects or uses may require a Special Use Permit and/or Site Plan review by the Planning Board or if a Variance [Use and/or Area] is necessary, a review by the Board of Appeals. Both of these processes do take a few meetings for approvals. So plan early by calling me to review what, if any, permits are required.

After any of the approvals have been obtained the Zoning Law and/or NYS Building Codes may also apply to your project. A Zoning/Building permit is necessary for almost any structure, large or small, permanent or stationary, non-farming or farming. These include but are not limited to setbacks from property lines-based on the use and size of the project, whether professional or private use, home occupation’s, animal stables, storage shed’s, decks, addition’s, solid fuel heating appliance’s or an accessory building, to name only a few. Yes all building/structures need a Zoning Permit. The N.Y.S. Building Code regulates the construction of the building or structure for the applied for use. The project should be reviewed by the ZEO so that I may be better able to advise you of what documents will be required prior to being able to issue the proper permits. In most cases it just takes a simple meeting at the project site and a permit can be issued for the construction of the project and specific use that was applied for and approved by the Town of Bergen. Building Permits may not be necessary for some structures/uses. Only after permits have been issued may the project get started.

There are regulations for pools in the Zoning/Building Code. They deal with requirements for setbacks, pool alarms, and fencing. These rules apply to both in or above ground, hard and the soft-sided pools, too. Yes, even those pools require permits’, a pool alarm and proper and safe electric hook-ups and fencing. Putting any pool up without a permit is illegal and a late fee will be assessed

The application that gets you started may be picked up at the Town Clerk’s Office on Hunter St. Take the application home and after filling it out, please call the ZEO to schedule an appointment, at the project site.

Call with any questions about whether or not your project requires a Permit. It’s easier to ask ahead of time then to have your project started, without a permit. Late fees’ are added to the regular permit fees’, when your project is identified as starting without a proper permits.

The complete Zoning Law, Subdivision law, maps and forms can all be picked up at the Town Hall at 10 Hunter Street.

Other laws that may affect your project may be the Genesee County Health Department regulations and/or S.E.Q.R. (State Environmental Quality Review Act) to name a few.

Please feel free to call, if I am not available leave a message and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

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