Woodsburgh Bumps Up Zoning Appeal Fee

The Village of Woodsburgh Board of Trustees voted yesterday to raise the fee for a resident to file a zoning appeal, saying that the lower charge caused village taxpayers undue costs, Mayor Susan Schlaff said.

The board agreed to increase to $2,000 the $1,250 fee residents pay to make a case before the independent Board of Zoning Appeals, which can revisit rulings on building permit decisions. The costs are spread between legal and clerical fees, as well as publicizing the meetings in the newspaper and sending out mailings.

"Without raising the fees, it would put an unnecessary burden on the residents, when it should be on the applicant," Trustee Barry Sporer said. "People will complain about it, but it is fiscally responsible."

The trustees also voted to pay General Code almost $1,000 to put the village codebook online and about half that every year following to maintain it. The move will help save time and labor costs, board members said.

Correction: The first sentence of this story was changed because it incorrectly used the word "exorbitant."