2006 New York Code - Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Funds.

 
    § 64-e. Peconic Bay region community preservation funds. 1. As used in
  this  section,  the  following  words and terms shall have the following
  meanings:
    (a) "Peconic Bay region" means the towns of East  Hampton,  Riverhead,
  Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold.
    (b)  "Community  preservation"  shall  mean  and  include  any  of the
  purposes outlined in subdivision four of this section.
    (c) "Board" means the advisory board required pursuant to  subdivision
  five of this section.
    (d)  "Fund"  means the community preservation fund created pursuant to
  subdivision two of this section.
    2. The town board of any town in the Peconic Bay region is  authorized
  to  establish by local law a community preservation fund pursuant to the
  provisions of this section. Deposits into the fund may include  revenues
  of  the  local  government  from whatever source and shall include, at a
  minimum, all revenues from a tax  imposed  upon  the  transfer  of  real
  property  interests in such town pursuant to article thirty-one-D of the
  tax law.  The fund shall also be authorized to accept gifts of any  such
  interests in land or of funds. Interest accrued by monies deposited into
  the  fund  shall  be  credited  to  the  fund.  In no event shall monies
  deposited in the fund be  transferred  to  any  other  account.  Nothing
  contained in this section shall be construed to prevent the financing in
  whole  or in part, pursuant to the local finance law, of any acquisition
  authorized pursuant to  this  section.  Monies  from  the  fund  may  be
  utilized  to  repay any indebtedness or obligations incurred pursuant to
  the local finance law consistent with effectuating the purposes of  this
  section.   A town in the Peconic Bay region may only adopt the local law
  authorized by this subdivision if it has incurred or  authorized  bonded
  indebtedness since nineteen hundred eighty for open space purposes equal
  to  or greater than two hundred dollars per town resident. The number of
  residents shall be determined by the 1990 U.S. Census.  Said  local  law
  shall  make  a  finding that the town has complied with the per resident
  financial commitment requirement of this subdivision.
    3. The purposes of the fund shall be exclusively, (a) to  implement  a
  plan  for  the  preservation  of community character as required by this
  section, (b) to acquire interests or rights in  real  property  for  the
  preservation  of  community character within the town including villages
  therein in accordance with such plan and  in  cooperation  with  willing
  sellers,  (c)  to establish a bank pursuant to a transfer of development
  rights program consistent with section two hundred sixty-one-a  of  this
  chapter,  (d)  to  provide a management and stewardship program for such
  interests and rights consistent with subdivision nine  of  this  section
  and  in  accordance  with  such  plan  designed  to  preserve  community
  character; provided that not more than ten percent of the fund shall  be
  utilized  for  the  management  and stewardship program, and (e) to make
  payments to school, fire, fire protection  and  ambulance  districts  in
  connection  with  lands  owned by the state or any municipal corporation
  within the central pine barrens area as defined in  subdivision  ten  of
  section 57-0107 of the environmental conservation law. Such payments may
  only  be  made  to  districts where more than twenty-five percent of the
  assessed value of such district is  wholly  exempt  from  real  property
  taxation  pursuant  to  the real property tax law because it is owned by
  the state or a municipal corporation. Not more than ten percent  of  the
  fund  may  be  used for said purpose in any calendar year. Such payments
  from the fund shall not exceed the actual tax liability that would  have
  been  due  if  such lands of the state or of a municipal corporation had
  been subject to real property taxation. Where more than one district  is
  eligible  for  such  a payment under this provision, and such payment is
  less than the actual tax liability that would  have  been  due  if  such
  lands  of  the state or a municipal corporation had been subject to real
  property taxation, the town shall apportion such annual payment  on  the
  basis  of  the total tax levied by each district within the town for the
  year such payment is made. Such payment made by the town shall  be  used
  solely  to  reduce the property tax liability of the remaining taxpayers
  of the district within said town. If the implementation of the community
  preservation project plan, adopted by  a  town  board,  as  provided  in
  subdivision  six  of  this section, has been completed, and funds are no
  longer needed for the purposes outlined in this  subdivision,  then  any
  remaining  monies  in  the  fund  shall  be applied to reduce any bonded
  indebtedness or obligations incurred to effectuate the purposes of  this
  section.
    4.  Preservation  of  community character shall involve one or more of
  the  following:  (a)  establishment  of  parks,  nature  preserves,   or
  recreation areas; (b) preservation of open space, including agricultural
  lands;  (c)  preservation  of  lands  of  exceptional  scenic value; (d)
  preservation of fresh and  saltwater  marshes  or  other  wetlands;  (e)
  preservation  of aquifer recharge areas; (f) preservation of undeveloped
  beachlands or shoreline; (g) establishment of wildlife refuges  for  the
  purpose  of  maintaining  native animal species diversity, including the
  protection of habitat essential to the recovery of rare,  threatened  or
  endangered  species; (h) preservation of pine barrens consisting of such
  biota as pitch pine, and  scrub  oak;  (i)  preservation  of  unique  or
  threatened  ecological areas; (j) preservation of rivers and river areas
  in a natural, free-flowing condition; (k) preservation of forested land;
  (l) preservation of public access to  lands  for  public  use  including
  stream  rights  and  waterways;  (m) preservation of historic places and
  properties listed on the New York  state  register  of  historic  places
  and/or  protected  under  a municipal historic preservation ordinance or
  law; and (n) undertaking any of the aforementioned in furtherance of the
  establishment of a greenbelt.
    5. The town board of any town in the  Peconic  Bay  region  which  has
  established a community preservation fund shall create an advisory board
  to review and make recommendations on proposed acquisitions of interests
  in real property using monies from the fund. Such board shall consist of
  five  or  seven  legal  residents  of  the  municipality who shall serve
  without compensation. No member of  the  local  legislative  body  shall
  serve  on  the  board. A majority of the members of the board shall have
  demonstrated  experience  with   conservation   or   land   preservation
  activities.  The  board  shall  act  in an advisory capacity to the town
  board. At least one member of the board shall be an active farmer.
    6. The town board of any town in the  Peconic  Bay  region  which  has
  established  a  community preservation fund shall, by local law, adopt a
  community preservation project plan. This plan shall list every  project
  which the town plans to undertake pursuant to the community preservation
  fund. It shall include every parcel which is necessary to be acquired in
  the  town  in  order  to  protect community character.   Such plan shall
  provide for a detailed evaluation of all available land use alternatives
  to protect community character, including but not limited  to:  (a)  fee
  simple   acquisition,   (b)   zoning   regulations,   including  density
  reductions, cluster development, and site plan and design  requirements,
  (c)  transfer  of  development  rights,  (d) the purchase of development
  rights, and (e) scenic and conservation easements. Said evaluation shall
  be as specific as practicable as to each parcel selected  for  inclusion
  in  the plan.  The plan shall establish the priorities for preservation,
  and shall include the preservation of farmland as its highest  priority.
  Funds  from  the  community  preservation  fund may only be expended for
  projects which have been included in  said  plan.  Said  plan  shall  be
  updated  not  less  than once every five years, but in no event until at
  least three years after the adoption of the original plan. A copy of the
  plan shall be filed with the commissioner of environmental conservation,
  the  commissioner of agriculture and markets and the commissioner of the
  office of parks, recreation and historic preservation.  Said plan  shall
  be  completed at least sixty days before the submission of the mandatory
  referendum required by section one thousand four  hundred  forty-nine-bb
  of the tax law.
    7.  The  town  board  of  any town in the Peconic Bay region which has
  established a community preservation fund pursuant to this section shall
  study and consider establishing a transfer of development rights program
  to protect community character as provided for by  section  two  hundred
  sixty-one-a  of this chapter. All provisions of such section two hundred
  sixty-one-a shall be complied with. If at any time during  the  life  of
  the community preservation fund a transfer of development rights program
  is   established,  the  town  may  utilize  monies  from  the  community
  preservation fund in order to create and fund  a  central  bank  of  the
  transfer  of development rights program.  If at any time during the life
  of the community preservation fund, a  transfer  of  development  rights
  program  is repealed by the town, all monies from the central bank shall
  be returned to the community preservation fund.
    8. No interests or rights in real property shall be acquired  pursuant
  to  this  section  until a public hearing is held as required by section
  two hundred forty-seven of the general municipal law; provided, however,
  that nothing herein shall prevent the town board from  entering  into  a
  conditional  purchase  agreement  before  a public hearing is held.  Any
  resolution of a town board approving an acquisition of land pursuant  to
  this  section,  shall find that acquisition was the best alternative for
  the protection of community character of all the reasonable alternatives
  available to the town.
    9. Lands acquired pursuant to this section shall be  administered  and
  managed  in  a  manner  which  (a)  allows public use and enjoyment in a
  manner compatible with the natural,  scenic,  historic  and  open  space
  character  of  such lands; (b) preserves the native biological diversity
  of such lands; (c) with regard to open spaces,  limits  improvements  to
  enhancing  access  for  passive use of such lands such as nature trails,
  boardwalks, bicycle paths, and peripheral parking  areas  provided  that
  such  improvements  do  not  degrade the ecological value of the land or
  threaten essential wildlife habitat; and (d) preserves cultural property
  consistent  with  accepted  standards  for  historic  preservation.   In
  furthering  the  purposes  of  this  section,  the  town  may enter into
  agreements  with  corporations  organized   under   the   not-for-profit
  corporation  law  and  engage  in  land trust activities to manage lands
  including less than fee interests acquired pursuant to the provisions of
  this section, provided that any such agreement shall contain a provision
  that such corporation shall keep the  lands  accessible  to  the  public
  unless  such  corporation  shall  demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
  town that public accessibility would be detrimental to the lands or  any
  natural resources associated therewith.
    10.    Rights  or interests in real property acquired with monies from
  such fund shall not be sold, leased, exchanged,  donated,  or  otherwise
  disposed  of  or  used  for  other  than  the purposes permitted by this
  section without the express authority of  an  act  of  the  legislature,
  which  shall  provide  for  the  substitution  of  other  lands of equal
  environmental value and fair  market  value  and  reasonably  equivalent
  usefulness  and  location  to those to be discontinued, sold or disposed
  of, and such other requirements as shall be approved by the legislature.
  Nothing in this section shall  preclude  a  town,  by  local  law,  from
  establishing additional restrictions to the alienation of lands acquired
  pursuant  to  this section. This subdivision shall not apply to the sale
  of development rights by a town acquired pursuant to this section, where
  said  sale  is  made  by a central bank created by a town, pursuant to a
  transfer of development rights program established by a town pursuant to
  section two hundred sixty-one-a of this chapter, provided,  however  (a)
  that  the  lands  from which said development rights were acquired shall
  remain preserved in perpetuity by a permanent conservation  easement  or
  other  instrument  that  similarly  preserves  the  community  character
  referenced in subdivision four of this section,  and  (b)  the  proceeds
  from such sale shall be deposited in the community preservation fund.