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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRural Incentive District 2005DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING COUNTY OF SUFFOLK STEVE LEVY SUFFOLK COUN[Y EXECUTIVE May 9, 2005 RECEIVED I,/AY I 9 gouthdd To~n Clerk THOMAS ISLES, AICP DIRECTOR OF PLANNING Nls. Elizabeth Neville, Town Clerk Towo of Southold 53095 Main Road - P.O. Box 1179 Southold, NY 1197l Applicant: Town of Southold Zoning Action: Amendment to Section 100-170 ti-wu 100- 179 "A local law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" Public ltearing Date: 4/12/05 SCPC File No.: SD-05-05 Dear Ms. Neville: Pursuant to the requirements of Sections A 14-14 to 23 of the Suffolk County Administrative Code, the above referenced application, which has been submitted, to the Sul'folk County Platming Commission is considered to be a matter for local detem~ination as there is no apparent significant county-wide or inter-community impact(s). A decision of local detemfination should not be construed as either an approval or disapproval. Vel2,.' truly yours, Thomas Isles, AICP Direct~a- of Plmming Principa~anner APF:cc LOCA[ION MAILING ADDRESS H. LEE DENNISON BLDG.- 4TH FLOOR P.O. BOX 6100 1631) 853-5190 100 VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788 0099 TELEC ()PIER (6311 853 4044 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING Apfil12,2005 8:00 P.M. HEARING ON "A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO RURAL INCENTIVE DISTRICTS." Present: Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton Justice Louisa P. Evans Councilman John M. Romanelli Councilman Thomas P. Wickham Councilman Daniel C. Ross Councilman William P. Edwards Town Clerk Elizabeth A. Neville Town Attorney Patricia A. Finnegan COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, on the 15th day of March, 2005 a Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that the Town Board of the Town of Sonthold will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid Local Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, Nexv York, on the 12tb of April, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at which time all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard. The proposed Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" reads as follows: LOCAL LAW NO. 2005 A Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows: I. Legislative Intent. Open space and farmland constitute key components of the Town of Southold's rural character. These areas provide the cornerstone of the land use environment valued by year-round residents as well as visitors. Numerous planning documents and studies in the Town's comprehensive planning over the past 20 years have recognized this value and have recommended strategies to preserve these resources. In recent years, the Toxvn has engaged in an aggressive effort to preserve open space and farmland through the use of a variety of conservation tools, including purchase of development rights, outright fee title purchase, and cluster development. The Toxvn has joined with other governmental agencies at the Federal, State and Count), levels, and with conservation groups such as the Peconic Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy, to further its efforts. In addition, the Town has made use of various long- and short-term funding options to purchase interests in open space and farmland, such as the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) transfer tax, voter-approved bonds and grants. The Town Board recognizes that preservation efforts must continue in accordance with the Town's comprehensive planning efforts and initiatives. Additional funds will April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 2 be required, and if possible, levemged, to enable the Town to continue to purchase interests in open space axed farmland and retain the Town's rural character. The Town Board determines that its land preservation efrbrts can best be accomplished through a number of legislative initiatives. This local law creates a new incentive district, or floating zone classification. Known as the Rural Incentive District (RID), the RID is intended to encourage the preservation and conservation of open space and farmland, while preserving land equity. It is intended to provide incentive to Landowners dedicated to the preservation and conservation of open space and farmland, ~vhile providing the To~xt with a means to prioritize lands at risk ofdevelop~nent. New York State Town Law Section 261-b provides the framework to accomplish these goals. II. Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Sonthold is hereby amended to create a new Article XVII~ as follows: Sec. 100-170. Purpose. In order to provide for the safety, health and welfare of the public, it is necessal3r and appropriate to provide incentives for the preservation of lands in agricultural production and open space throughout the Town of Southold. This Local Law would do so by creating a Rural Incentive District by which identified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a minimum term easement with restrictions on development, and providing a mechanism for the negotiated purchase of fee title or development rights to such parcels upon their end of the minimum easement term. The Local Law would also provide incentives to the landowner to remain in the RID, and protections to ensure good faith bargaining. 100-171. Definitions. The terms and words used in this Article shall be given the meaning and uses as defined in this Article, or if not defined herein, those defined or generally attributable to them in other sections of this Chapter. INCENTIVE ZONING DISTRICT -- A zoning district created pursuant to Town Law Section 261-b, wherein specific incentives or bonuses are granted on the condition that specific physical, social or cultural benefits or amenities would inure to the community. 100-172. Classification. A. The Rural Incentive District (RID) is established as an Incentive Zoning District pursuant to Town Law Section 261-b. B. The RID classification may be considered on a floating zone basis. Upon rezoning to the RID classification, all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern the lands subject to the RID classification. All other restrictions and controls in the tmderlying zoning district shall remain applicable. 100-173. Requirements for Eligibility. All properties meeting the standards and criteria set forth in this Article shall be deemed eligible for rezoning as a RID. In order to be considered for rezoning within the RID, lands in the Town of Southold must meet the following criteria: A. The lands must consist of a sub-dividable parcel meeting the Town's preservation goals and included in the Community Preservation Project Plan (CPPP), which may consist of a lot designated as a separate tax map number, or of two or more contiguous lots with separate tax ~nap numbers. A landow~aer may also apply for the rezoning of additional land contiguous to property already in the RID classification. B. A parcel must be land in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the To~qa Code of the Town of Southold, or open space, as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town ot~ Southold. C. The Town Board must find that the parcel provides an em'ironmental, physical. April 12, 2005 3 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District economic, aesthetic, social or cultural benefit to the Town. 100-174. Zoning Approval~ Application and review procedure. The Town Board may rezone lands from that of their underlying zoning district to the RID classification upon written application of the landowner pursuant to this Article. A. Application. An applicant shall submit two (2) copies of the following to the Town Board: I. Form of Application approved by the Town Board, including the name of the owner and/or applicant, description of current use of the property, and disclosure affidavit; 2. Deed(s) covering all lands for which application is made; 3. Survey(s) or map(s) showing all lands proposed to be included within the RID, and any improvements on those lands. B. Environmental Review. The Town Board shall comply with SEQRA in acting upon any application for the rezoning of any lands to the RID classification. Furthermore, pursuant to Toxvn Law Section 26 l-b, the Town Board shall prepare a generic environmental impact statement pursuant to 6 NYC RR 617.5 for any zoning district in which the granting of incentives of bonuses have a significant effect on the environment before any such district is designated, and such statement shall be supplemented from time to time by the Town Board if there are material changes in circumstances that may result in significant adverse impacts. The applicant for RID classification shall pay a proportionate share of the cost of preparing such environmental impact statement. C. Referral. After receipt of a complete application and the conduct of all required environmental review, the Town Board shall refer the application to the Planning Board and to the Land Preservation Committee and, as applicable, to the Agricultural Advisory Committee, for review and recommendation. The Planning Board and other committees shall provide a report within thirty (30) days of the date of the meeting at which the referral is received. No action shall be taken by the Town Board until receipt of the Planning Board report and other Committee reports, as applicable, or the expiration of its 30-day review period, whichever comes first. The review period may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant, the Town Board, the Planning Board, and, as applicable, the Land Preservation Comraittee and/or the Agricultural Advisory Committee. D. Planning Board Report. The Planning Board may reconunend approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the proposed rezoning. In preparing its report, the Planning Board shall take into account the recommendations of the Southold Town Farm and Farmland Protection Strategy, adopted as policy by Town Board resolution of January 18, 2000 and supporting documents, the studies contained in the Town's comprehensive planning efforts and initiatives, the existing characteristics of the property and the surrounding properties, the environmental, social, physical, aesthetic, economic and cultural aspects of the property and its surroundings, and such other factors as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Article and this Chapter. The Planning Board shall further evaluate the effects of the incentives provided by virtue of the provision of the community benefit, i.e., the preservation of agricultural lands or open space, and whether the subject parcel will contain adequate resources, environmental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, ~vater supply, waste disposal and fire protection. The Planning Board's report shall provide detailed reasons for its recommendation. E. Public Hearing. Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the Planning Board report, or the expiration of the Planning Board review period, whichever occurs first, the Town Board shall hold a public hearing on the application, with the same notice prescribed for zoning amendments. April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 4 F. Town Board Action. Within thirty (30) days of the date of the closing of the public hearing, the Town Board shall either approve or disapprove the rezoning and file its decision with the Tow~ Clerk, with notice to the applicant. In approving such rezoning, the Town board shall determine, after considering the Planning Board's recommendation, and evaluating the effects of any potential incentives which are possible by virtue of the provision of community amenities, that the subject parcel contains adequate resources, enviromnental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection, and that there will be no significam environmentally damaging consequences and that such incentives or bonuses are compatible with the development otherwise permitted. If approved, the Town Board shall amend the zoning map of the Toxx'n in accordance with the approval and tbrward a copy of the resolution containing the decision to the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Committee, the Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the applicant. Any such approval shall be subject to the Conditions of Approval as set forth below in 100- 175 of this Chapter. 100-175. Conditions of Approval. A. Easement. 1. Following a public heating and approval of the rezoning pursuant to Chapter 100 of the Town Code and Chapter 247 of the General Municipal Law, the Landowner shall enter a Preservation Easement (the "Easement") with the Town, in the form provided by the Town, which shall include the following: a. An agreement that the property will remain as open space as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, or in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, for a minimum of eight (8) years, except as provided in Section 100-177. Subdivision and/or 100-179. Hardship Exit of this Article. b. Restrictions regarding permitted principal and accessory uses on the property as set forth in Section 100-175.B. c. Restrictions for the construction of principal and accessory structures on the property as set forth in Section 100-175.B. d. Procedures limiting any subdivision of the property to a Conservation Subdivision or Open Development Area. e. Termination procedures as set thrth in Section 100-176. Exit t?om the RID and/or 100- 179. Hardship Exit of this Article. f. An agreement to compensate the Landowner for the Easement term in the event of a sale to the Town of fee title or development rights, as provided in Section 100-178. g. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 100-175.B., land included within a New York Agricultural District pursuant to Article 25AA of the Agricultural District Law shall retain the benefits of such inclusion. 2. The easement shall be in a form acceptable to the Landowner, the 'fown Attorney's office and consistent with the Town's fbrm of Preservation Easement. 3. The casement shall be recorded in the Office of the Suflblk County Clerk. B. Permitted Uses and Structures During the Easement Period. 1. Open Space as defined in Chapter 59 of the To~5'n Code of the Town of Southold. Open space lands may be converted to, and fallow fields may be returned to. Agrictdtural Production without penalty. April 12, 2005 5 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 2. Agricultural Production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold. Improvements to existing structures and the construction of new structures on agricultural lands shall remain subject to all applicable restrictions, standards and protections as would govern agricultural lands in the applicable zoning district(s). § 100-176. Exit from the RID. A. The Rural Incentive District (RID) enrollment shall have a minimum term of eight (8) years. The Landowner may elect to continue enrollment beyond the initial eight-year term indefinitely. The Landowner may exit enrollment in the RID prior to the expiration of the minimum term only by completing a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter Al06 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, Subdivision of Land, or pursuant to Section 100-179 Hardship Exit, as provided herein. Upon completion of the minimum term, the Landowner may exit enrollment by following the procedures provided herein. The Town Board shall approve such exit from the RID and amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance with such exit and provide notification of such approval and amendment to the Town Clerk, the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Committee and the Landowner. B. At any time during the easement period the Town may offer to purchase or the Landowner may offer to sell the development rights or fee title of all or of part of the parcel. This offer may be initiated at the discretion of either the Town or the Landowner, by written notice to the other. Should the Town not have made an offer to and reached an agreement with the Landowner to purchase development rights or fee title of the subject property after the first seven (7) years of the minimum term RID Easement, the Landowner may exit the RID by providing the Town with a minimum of one (1) year's written notice of the Landowner's intention to withdraw from the RID. Notice may be given on a date no earlier than one (1) year prior to the end of the minimum term. If such notice is given, the following procedure shall apply: (1) Within forty-five (45) calendar days of receipt of a notice of Landowner's written intention to withdraw, the Town shall provide the Landowner with a letter of intent. The letter of intent shall either inform the Landowner of the Town's desire to purchase development rights or fee title of the subject property, or release the Landowner from the RID. If the Town's letter of intent releases the Landowner, the Landowner is free to leave the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw. Failure of the Town to respond within forty-five (45) calendar days shall constitute such a release. In the event of such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. In no event shall the Landowner be permitted to exit the RID prior to the expiration of the minimum term except as provided in either of Sections 100-177 Subdivision or 100- 179 Hardship Exit below. (2) If the Landowner has not been released from the RID by the Town as provided above, within three (3) months of the Town's receipt of the I~andowner's ~vritten notice of intent to withdraxv, the Town shall prepare an appraisal of the parcel and make an offer to the Landowner based upon the appraisal. The Land Preservation Committee shall issue a set of written guidelines and assumptions for the preparation of all appraisals for the subject property under this Article. All appraisals under this Article shall also follow the general guidelines for the conduct of appraisals, which shall be issued from time to time by the April 12, 2005 6 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District Land Preservation Committee and made available to Landowners prior to the enrollment of the subject property in the RID. Included among those guidelines shall be the requirement that appraisals be conducted on the assumption that the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID remain applicable to the subject property at the time of the appraisal. Failure of the Town to prepare an appraisal and make an offer within three (3) months of its receipt of the Landowner's written notice shall automatically release the Landowner from the RID at the end of one years' time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum tenn. In the event of such release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID lbr a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. (3) Within forty-five (45) calendar days of receiving the Town's offer, the Lando~vner may either accept the offer from the Town, make a counteroffer based upon an appraisal provided by the Landowner to the Town, or reject the Town's offer. Any such appraisal from which an offer is made must conform to the guidelines and assumptions issued by the Land Preservation Committee for that property, lfthe Landowner makes a counteroffer~ and provides its appraisal, the Town shall disclose its initial appraisal to the Landowner at such time. If the Landowner rejects the Town's offer or fails to respond with a counteroffer and appraisal within such forty-five (45) days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term requirement, and the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit from the RID. (4) If the Landowner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and the Landowner's appraisal and the To~vn's disclosed appraisal are no more than ten percent 00%) apart, (i.e., the lesser of the two appraisals is ninety percent (90%) or more of the greater of the two), the parties shall endeavor to reach an agreement. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement within thirty (30) calendar days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term~ and upon exit, the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit from the RID. (5) If the Landowner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and the appraisals are more than ten percent (10%) apart, and if the Town and the Lando~vner are unable to reach an agreement on the basis of the two disclosed appraisals xvithin thirty (30~ calendar days, at the election of either party~ a third appraisal shall be conducted in conformance with the gui&lines and assumptions mutually agreed upon by the parties. The parties shall jointly agree on the selection ora party to prepare such third appraisak which appraisal shall be disclosed to both parties. If the parties are unable to agree upon the third appraiser within ten (10) days, an appraiser not previously disclosed by either part3' in the negotiations shall be selected at random from a list of appraisers periodically established by the To~xm Board pursuant to this Local Law. The parties shall share equally in the expense of the third appraisal, which shall be completed within sixty (60) days. Within thin3' (30! days of receipt of the third appraisal, the Town may elect to consider the average amount listed in the three disclosed appraisals as its Final Offer. If the To~vn elects not to do so, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt ot'the April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 7 Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, without penalty, and the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. (6) If the Landowner elects not to accept the Final Offer extended by the Town within thirty (30) days of such Final Offer, the Landowner will be deemed by default to remain in the RID unless the Landowner gives express written notice to the Town, within that time, that the Landowner intends to exit the RID, with the understanding that the property shall be subject to the zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit. If the Landowner provides such timely written notice, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term requirement, and upon exit the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit from the RID. If such notice of exit is not provided, the Landowner shall remain in the RID and shall only be entitled to restart the exit process provided in this section after the expiration of one year's time from its failure to accept the Final Offer. (7) Within twelve (12) months of the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw from the RID, the Town and the Landowner shall have concluded the aforementioned process. If the process produces an agreement, the contract shall be signed within thirty (30) days and all good faith efforts shall be made to conduct the closing within thirty (30) days after contract signing. The specific deadlines provided herein may be extended only upon the mutual written consent of both the Town and Landowner. §100-177. Subdivision. During the easement period, a landowner may apply to develop the property as a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter Al06 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, Subdivision of Land. During the period of time the subject property remains in the RID, the Landowner's application for such Conservation Subdivision shall be governed by the applicable lot area requirements in effect at the time the subject property entered the RID, and pursuant to the procedures employed by the Land Preservation Department, without reference to the appraisal process set forth above. During such application process, the RID classification shall remain in effect. §100-178. Easement Term Payment Incentive. In the event the Town and Landowner execute an agreement for the sale of fee title or development rights of property that has remained in the RID for a minimum of eight (8) years, upon the closing of such sale the Town shall pay Landowner a certain amount as compensation for the full extent of the Easement term, as follows: 1. A payment at the rate of 1.25 percent (0.0125) of the agreed-upon purchase price for each year, or fraction thereof, that the property for which the Town has acquired fee title or the development rights, has remained in the RID. 2. In the event such exit from the RID occurs via completion ora Conservation Subdivision, such payment shall only be made for property for which the Town has acquired fee title or development rights. 3. In the event that such exit from the RID occurs via completion ora Conservation Subdivision, such payment shall be made only if such Conservation Subdivision meets the requirements of a 75/75 Conservation Subdivision in accordance with the definitions and procedures set forth in Chapter Al06, Subdivision of Land. April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 8 4. Such payment shall only be made for a maximum period of txvemy-lbur (24) years, or a maximum total of thirty percent (30%) of the total purchase price of the fee title or development rights. §100-179. Hardship Exit. A Landowner may request early termination of the Easement by liling a written request with the Clerk. The Town Board shall hold a public hearing upon notice, and may, upon its discretion, grant such a request upon a showing of undue hardship or extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to death, illness or catastrophic economic loss. The Town Board may release the Landowner from the obligations of the RID immediately and without penalty. In the event the Town Board grants such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. In the event that a hardship release from the RID is granted to the Landowner subsequent to a change in zoning applicable to the subject property, the grant of such a release shall be conditioned upon the Landowner's provision to the Town ora right of first refusal on the purchase of development rights or fee title to the subject property during the entirety of the three (3) year period of zoning protection. §100-179.1. Article 78 Procedure. A person aggrieved under this Article may file an Article 78 proceeding. Such proceeding shall be commenced within thirty (30) days of the filing of the decision with the office of the Town Clerk. III. SEVERABILITY If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect the validity of this law as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid. IV. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary. of State as provided by law. COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: That summarizes the legislation that is before us tonight. 1 have several communications, I also have the legals that has appeared in the newspaper, it has appeared on the bulletin board outside. And I have in front of me a letter from First Pioneer Farm Credit which they have asked to have read into the record. "We have reviewed the resolution presented to the Town Board titled "A local law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts." It is our commitment and ongoing intent to provide our best efforts, resources and expertise to Long Island's agricultural conununity. A most important part of Long Island's agricultural furore is a growing and available thrmland base. Maintaining a critical mass of farmland is critical to the future of Long Island agriculture. Every acre lost to non-farm uses is a loss to fanning and a loss to the Farm Credit System's future. We encourage all of your best efforts in this resolution and on going efforts to afford Southold's farming families opportunities lbr success. The resolution, as prepared, is a good start. In our opinion, however, it is not adequate to meet its stated goals, most important of which is encouragement and incentives ibr farmland owmers to enter a "RID" and increasing rate at which thrmland is preserxed through easement. An amended resolution containing changed exit provisions (SS100-176 B3.4.5 and 6) providing the subject property be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID, instead of the exit from the RID would provide farmland owners and the Town with appropriate and sufficient positions from which to negotiate tbr permanent preservation. As written, the exit provisions lack sufficient incentive for Town oflErs and will provide preservation success rates similar to today, which are less than desired. Increased preservation success rates can be April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 9 achieved if farmland owners perceive manageable risk upon entry into the RID and the Town perceives potential loss accumulations if negotiations fail. As written, the Town has little motivation to change its negotiating behavior and processes beyond those that exist today, regardless of how many appraisals are completed. We commend the Town and the community for its continuing efforts to support a viable agriculture and preserve our remaining open spaces. We hope you will continue to work on the current proposal to better accomplish these important goals. You can count on us for our continued support to this end." And I should have some comments from the, this is a memorandum to the Supervisor and members of the Town Board from Jeri Woodhouse, chair of the Planning Board dated April 6th. "The proposed legislation is intended to provide a tool whereby property owners may protect their equity in the current existing zoning classification of their property for a period of eight years or more. The proposed legislation provides a mechanism whereby landowners of further sub- dividable property may petition for permission to retain existing zoning density for an indeterminate amount of time. The legislation also provides for an incentive to the landowner according to the amount of time the landowner elects to stay in the district. The Planning Board comments are as follows: 1. Since the legislation sets up a rezoning procedure, is the Town Board required to coordinate with the Suffolk Count Planning Commission as well as the Town Board? See Chapter 100-174. If so, please change the 30 day response period to the required 45 days. 2. The Comptroller should set aside funds to ensure the acquisition of any land that is rezoned pursuant to this legislation. 3. Chapter 100-172 B states that the rezoning to the RID classification means that "all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern..." However, there is no listing of such in the proposed legislation. We recommend that this listing be included. If a listing is included, Chapter 100-172 B, which states "All other restrictions and controls in the underlying zoning district shall remain applicable" will be self-evident. 4. Chapter 100-174 B states in the last sentence that the applicant for the RID classification shall pay a proportionate share of the cost of preparing such environmental impact statement. We recommend defining what is meant by the term proportionate share and also, noting who will make the determination. 5. Chapter 100-174 B states that the Town Board must prepare an environmental impact statement. Environmental impact statements are required when the lead agency determines that an action may have a significant environmental impact, in other words, a positive declaration. This wording implies that all proposed rezonings will receive a positive declaration, which is not necessarily true. It is suggested that this phrasing be changed and the words 'environmental assessment form' be substituted." I think those are the only written comments that we have in the file on this RID legislation. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Okay. Thank you, Councilman Wickham. I am glad that you didn't recuse yourself from reading the notice because there is nobody else who can do it quite like you can. In fact, Tom, if you ever retire or are retired, I think the Board should hire you as the public heating reader. Maybe as a consultant. COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: I think I will retire at this point. SUPERVISOR HORTON: I open the floor to the public in regard to this specific hearing pertinent to the Rural Incentive District. Would anybody care to address the Board? Mr. LaRocca. VINCENT LAROCCA: Vincent LaRocca, Cutchogue. Before Tom leaves I would just like to thank you, Tom, for volunteering to recuse yourself on this issue. It is the right thing and thank you for April 12, 2005 10 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District doing that. Also, just one brief suggestion that maybe the folks that have actually come ought to be heard first betbre letters are read that we sit through that (inaudible) .... SUPERVISOR HORTON: I am sony. I didn't hear you. MR. LAROCCA: When you read letters from people that sent in their opinions, it might be right to listen to the folks that have come to the meeting before you read letters from tblks that have sent in letters. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Actually, a point well-made and moving tbrward, I will make that our policy. Thank you, that was a good suggestion. MR. LAROCCA: Alright. Basically, I have just txvo problems with this. First. this is strategically flawed and second, it is morally bankrupt. And I will go through both of those tbr you. First the strategic issue, other than that, I have no small comments to make. First a little history. The farmers have long been clear in making sure that some of us heard it very clearly that to quote, if not paraphrase, just leave us alone. We have been stewards of this land for a long time, we will do the right thing, just do us a favor, stay out of our lives and we will do this when it is appropriate for us and when it makes sense for us and our families. Added to that was legislation that you all most recently put into effect to further encourage with incentives: conservation opportanities, subdivisions, and discourage full development and at that time we were told this is a wonderful compliment to increase incentive to allow for what is already working, we don't need to panic, this is going fine, but here is a little extra incentive in case development picks up. And we were told this would really button it up. If this were your own money, you wouldn't say on top of that, if this is going to work and it has been working and we have even tightened it up further with changes in development legislation, let's dip into our own pockets and spend what could be another 30% on top of that to accomplish the goal. For pete's sake at least see how it is working before we discuss incentives and see if all the planning that has been done and the money that has been committed is working, which you have all told us it is working. Now on incentives, what you call the fact that the taxpayers of Southold as well as taxpayers in the state and certainly taxpayers in the county, have come up to the bar and said, 'look, preservation of land is extremely important to us' and yet we recognize that at the same time the farmers are being pressured and getting offers from the developers and they are different fi.om the value of the farmland and the taxpayers said that development is so important, look, here is an incentive for you. We will purchase the development rights fi.om you at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, you the farmer, will retain 100% ownership of )'our farm, 100% of the income producing capabilities of that business, ~vith no interference whatsoever from the government. Well. to me, that is one heck of an incentive to preserve your land and not sell to a developer. That is the incentive. Now you want to take another potential 30% incentive, that quite frankly takes this fi.om Southold being, I would argue. the most generous taxpaying community in the nation as it regards to preservation and turning it into a program that could bankrupt the community financially. And here is the ironic rub. it is the wrong incentive. It is absolutely the upside down incentive, if you were to do an incentive, additional incentive, l'his is the absolute wrong incentive you would ever want to do and needless to say, [ xvould be glad to explain why that is. The way this incentive works is, you graduated if you come into the program and you preserve in the first year, you get a little bonus. But if you wait 24 years, you get a 30% bonus. The reason that is backwards is that time is not our fi.lend in Southold when it comes to land preservation and tax payer cost, okay? I~et's go back and look at 20 5'ears the other wa3~ I,et's go April 12, 2005 l 1 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District back to 1985. Take the same approximate 8,000 acres at risk. Had we preserved all that land in 1985, it would have cost us somewhere around $50,000,000. Well, here we are in '05 talking about preserving those 8,000 acres and $50,000,000 is more like $400,000,000 to preserve all that land. Time is not our friend. No one looks at that math and says 'you know what incentive we need?' We are sitting on $16,000,000 which Josh, is it earning 1% in a CD? SUPERVISOR HORTON: Actually, I just re-invested that money to earn 2 %. MR. LAROCCA: Thank you very much. So it is earning 2 V2 % sitting in a bank and ~ve have come with an incentive that says, don't sell now, heck, wait 24 years and sell. While we sit with money in the bank earning 2%, you wait 24 years and collect 30%. And I don't even know what the issues, by the way, if a developer were to go and negotiate with a landowner and you get an appraisal, your appraisal I am sure the town I am speaking of, certainly couldn't have an appraisal that took into account the 30% but let's say a developer is a busy bee in Brookhaven right now. But those guys need inventory, so he says, hey, I can beat the offer that old Southold is offering because I will throw the land in the RID, 20 years later I am basically finished with Brookhaven, Riverhead is toast, and look what I got? A bonus to do McMansions on big lots and preserve the rest like I wanted to do anyway. And not only the taxpayers funding the land appreciation, which I promise you over 30 years, if history is any barometer, will outstrip the CD investing and we will kick in another 30% on top of that. Of course, we don't know what that might cost because the sponsor of the bill hasn't done a financial calculation of what it might cost this town. Which brings us to the moral issue. You are binding the hands of future voters and the Boards they elect. And you are creating not an unfunded mandate on the people of the future, you are creating an irrevocable binding commitment, of which we don't know what it costs, we haven't tried to even look at what it is going to cost. I don't even know if you have stuck your finger in the air, those who have sponsored this. And I am not speaking to the whole Board because I know you haven't voted on it yet, I am not saying everyone is supporting it. But to bring this here, as a sponsor, having failed to calculate the costs, having gotten the incentive absolutely upside down is ridiculous. It really is ridiculous and it is irresponsible. It is not like treating it like it is your own money. And there are two problems and they keep coming back. One is some of you are just not getting it. The taxpayers can't take the squeeze anymore. I don't know how many different places you have to hear it. You don't hear it in the Suffolk Times every time it comes out, we brought you articles. Last week, NBC Nightly News, people being forced out of towns because they can't pay the property taxes anymore, and too many politicians don't get it. They don't want to get it, it doesn't serve their special interest to get it, but we can't afford your collection of those votes quite frankly. And I am not speaking to each of you here, I am speaking to those politicians who continue to sell out the taxpayers with ill-conceived plans that they haven't cost justified that don't even work in the end. And lastly .... SUPERVISOR HORTON: Don't stop now. MR. LAROCCA: .... is the fact, is the fact that there is an issue that we keep not wanting to address because it is extremely challenging. Almost everyone is confident and chooses to be confident that the long term family farms in this Town have been and will continue to be good stewards. And that we shouldn't misinterpret them not xvanting the govemment telling them what to do or interfering in their lives with the fact that they will ultimately do the right thing. But the fact, the quantitative fact is that the majority of land at risk in Southold is not owned by the family farmers in this town, if only it were. April 12, 2005 12 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District If it were, we would have a whole different discussion we could have. But the tact is, the majority of the land that we are talking about at risk is not owned by the family tkrmer. And even some of the farmland we see them on with their tractors, they are having to rent t?om investors. So when xve keep looking at ways to solve the problem, ~ve can't be thinking ]'om Wickham, Al Krupski, Marry Sidor. We need to be thinking investors and developers and real estate people. And I am not saying that makes them bad folks. That gives them a different agenda. So when you come up with a plan that may make sense for a small farmer, who is out there working his land and busting his hump; that is not v, ho may blow a hole in this thing on us. It is very shrexvd guys with very deep pockets and we can't take both the Town down and the taxpayers down shooting at the wrong boogey man. We have got to start being honest about the dialogue here. It is not the family farmer that is threatening this ]7own and we cannot afford blank check politics anymore. Thank you very much. Please shoot this. Oood night. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you. Mr. LaRocca, did you have prepared remarks that you also want to...? MR. LAROCCA: Nope. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Wow. Okay. That was impressive that those remarks were not prepared. Thank you. Yes, Mrs. Wickham, you had your hand up. ABIGAIL WICKHAM: Good evening. Abigail Wickham of Cutchogue. I would like to speak in support of this legislation. I do believe there are a number of technical improvements, which are inevitable in this type of complex legislation but while my comments are constructive criticisms, I am in favor of it. I think it is extremely important that your Town Board support the local farmers, both the current and the retired farmers who are trying to hold onto their land. You need to do more for other small business owners in this town, too, there is no question about that but farmers are subject to not only those small business difficulties that other ov, x~ers are but development pressures and what [ think is going to be excruciatingly mounting problem of estate tax financing. I would like to acknowledge that this is a fairly small part of what your overall preservation has to be but I think it is important. Certainly developers will benefit under the umbrella of this program but that is inevitable, and let's face it, they are going to win either way, which ever way they go. I think that my feeling about the new subdivision law is that the conservation subdivisions, while they are good, do extraordinarily limit density and there are going to be people who are going to be pushed toward a standard subdivision because of the severe restriction on density that a conservation subdivision from the way I read the legislation avails a landowner. I think that while the new subdivision law fbr standard subdivision will involve considerable time and expense, the fact that a RID might make an owner who is trying to decide ~vhether to go conservation or standard, push them into a possible mechanism where they can stay in agricultural production, might help. Obviously, nobody knows the answers but I do think it is good because if you can't avoid the ultimate development, delay is the next best thing, as any good attorney will tell you about anything. To the criticism that thrn~ers are getting windfall, the huge value that their land has enjoyed is not necessarily helping them stay in business. Every property owner in this to~vn has benelited from appreciation in the real estate market, it' you had a $125,000 house, it is now worth over $400. Certainly everybody, vacant lots are offthe charts, this is not something that is unique to farmers. I would like to address some specific comments to the legislation in the nature of technical concern. I do note and I want the Board to be aware that in the course of making the application, a new survey is required. That may be unavoidable unless you can April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 13 come up with a mechanism for a map or a sketch because for a farmer to present a survey to the Board, a new survey, is going to be a $15,000-$20,000 proposition, minimum. Also, I think there is a question about thc language that the whole parcel must be, to be eligible must be engaged in agricultural production. That raises the question to me of farms where there is a farmhouse and how you are going to deal with that, if you are. The provisions with respect to the imposition of an easement appeared to be negotiated after the process has started and I think it is important that you incorporate into the legislation some standard concept of what the easement should be, so that there is some uniformity within the zoning program. Certainly Melissa Spiro can tell you that one of the biggest things that I have found in handling land preservation transactions is the negotiation of the easement language. It gets very technical, I can't imagine I am the only one, [ hope I am not the only one that is focusing on that when we do land preservation deals, if you are going with a county program, a town program, federal funding, state funding, all that language is different and the town has recently revamped its conservation easement, so if you could come up with even a model form or some standard to employ, I think that would be better than having it subject to negotiation as you go along. I am going to just skip over the release clauses, they are very, very complex and I can't tell you I have digested them thoroughly but I want to move to a couple of other things. One important thing obviously is the hardship exit provision, I do think that you need to tighten that up a bit, you don't want to be too specific, but you do have to tighten that up a bit and I am not sure the fight of first refusal language is completely clear either. If you have a fight of first refusal to purchase development fights, are you bidding against the county? I don't get that. And the fee title to the subject property, what if it has been subdivided in the course, how does that fight of first refusal work? So I would like to have that addressed more specifically. Generally though, I do think it is an important piece of legislation and I think it needs to be favorably considered by your Board. If I could, at the risk of taking too much time, just address some of Mr. LaRoeca's comments .... SUPERVISOR HORTON: Actually, Mrs. Wickham, specific to the legislation, I won't allow rebuttal from ..... MS. WICKHAM: Then I will do it in another forum, how is that? SUPERVISOR HORTON: You are an expert being a lawyer and .... MS. WICKHAM: Other than to say I do take issue with his comments. Thank you very much. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Indeed. Thank you. Are there other comments from the public in regard to this hearing? Yes, Ms. Debold. JULIE DEBOLD: Good evening. Julie Debold, Long Island Farm Bureau. I have lengthy comments prepared by our executive director, Joseph Gergela. I have copies for each of you as well. And if I could read them into the minutes of the hearing, we would appreciate it. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Please feel free. MS. DEBOLD: Thank you. To Southold Town Supervisor Joshua Horton and Southold Town Board members from Joseph M. Gergela, Executive Director, Long Island Farm Bureau regarding the proposed local law entitled "A Local Law in Relation to Rural Incentive Districts." Long Island Farm April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 14 Bureau commends Supervisor Horton, the Town Board, the town agencies and individuals who have worked on this proposed legislation, as well as those members of the Southold Town community who have donated their time to creating the Rural Incentive District proposed code. Long Island Farm Bureau is disappointed that this proposed legislation has been diluted from a landowner's perspective. In discussing the proposed RID legislation with members of the Southold farming community, LIFB remains concerned that this proposed legislation will not translate into a successful program unless all issues are addressed. The RID legislation currently before us has become so complex from its original concept that landowners may be advised by their attorneys and lenders not to enter into the RID. The Town needs to keep its eye on the ball- the goal is preservation. When originally discussed during the Blue Ribbon Commission, the RID legislation was meant to provide a planning tool to the town and the landowner so each may prepare to achieve long-term goals. For the landowner, acceptance into the RID was meant to provide assurance that he could sell development rights to the town or Suffolk County or the state, etc., at some point in the future and that the sale of development rights would be appraised a the zoning in place at the time of acceptance into the RID. The landowner also expected to be able to maintain his land's equity and withdraw from the RID as he entered, (i.e. if the landowner came in with 2-acre zoning, he would leave with 2-acre zoning.) As the proposed code is wxitten, this is not the case. As outlined in the proposed RID legislation, landowners' enrollment into the RID provides the town with time to plan, acquire and leverage funding for the purchase of development rights (PDR) or fee title purchase of those select RID lands without the pressure of those lands being developed in the meantime. The RID also affords the Town the oppommity to tbcus upon lands, which have not enrolled into the RID and may be at immediate risk of development. For the past three years, many people, including the stakeholder groups who made up the Blue Ribbon Commission and numerous others since, have invested a great deal of time and effort towards drafting the RID legislation. Southampton's Planned Development District (PDD) is the original template from which Southold's Rural Incentive District (RID) was drawn. However, through these years of discussion and compromise, Southold's proposed RID legislation now bears little resemblance to the Southampton PDD, except that both are based in incentive zoning law (Town law 261-b) and hope to draw in lands for preservation. The two most notable points of divergence between Southampton's PDD and Southold's proposed RID are 1. The incentive to the landowner for participation and 2. The method by which the landowner may be released from the program. Incentive. The incentive in the Southampton PDD legislation is a density bonus, an increase in residential yield. As a compromise and alternative to a residential density bonus, the Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee suggested a cash incentive based upon the purchase of development rights sale. As written, the cash incentive is a fraction of the value of the originally proposed residential density bonus based upon the Southampton PDD. The residential density yield bonus as outlined in the Southampton PDD is calculated at the time of granting the PDD designation. Having received the PDD designation, the Southampton landowner may develop his property as a conservation subdivision at any time and utilize the residential density yield bonus. Southold's RID legislation allows the landowner to collect the cash incentive only upon the completion of a minimum 8-year term (capped at 24 years) provided the land's development rights are sold only to the Town and if completing a conservation subdivision, the criteria of 75% land preservation/75% density reduction are met in addition to selling development rights. At a recent meeting during the drafting of this proposed legislation, it was asked if a landowner who otherwise met the criteria to receive the incentive payment (i.e.. minimum enrollment period and preservatiol~density reduction requirements) could sell his development rights to Suffolk County and receive the incentive payment from the Town. The answer was that the Town would not want to tie its incentive pas~nent to the county's appraisal, thus the proposed RID legislation is written to require that the Town purchase April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 15 the development rights in order tbr the landowner to receive incentive payment. LIFB reminds the Town that in the scenario outlined, the Town has enjoyed the benefit of voluntary land preservation for at least the minimum of eight years and if the landowner receives an offer from Suffolk County for the purchase of development fights, the Town should not discourage the sale, when in the long-mn the Toxvn benefits from the permanent preservation of the land while only paying the incentive, not the purchase of development rights cost per acre in addition to the incentive. LIFB cannot support this notion that development rights must be sold only to Southold Town in order for the landowner to receive the incentive. Remember, the goal is to preserve farmland. The more options a landowner and the Town have, the greater chance to accomplish that goal. Release. The method by which a landowner may be released from Southold's RID is much more involved than that of the Southampton PDD. In Southampton, subsequent to completion of the minimum term enrollment of 10 years during which time the land has been in agricultural production, the landowner who wishes to terminate the PDD "shall submit a written notice to this effect to the office of the Town Clerk designating the termination date." (Section 330-244, I. 1) Or the Southampton landowner may have developed the property as a conservation subdivision at any time during the ten years. Southold's proposed RID legislation also requires the landowner to provide written notice of his intention to withdraw from the program. This notice can be received no earlier than one year before the completion of the minimum 8-year term. Provided that the landowner has not completed a conservation subdivision and/or sold his development rights or fee title interest in the land to the Town during the previous seven years, and that the Town wants to complete the purchase of development rights (PDR) or fee title purchase on the parcel, this notice initiates an intense dialogue and negotiation phase between the landowner and the Town for the sale of the land's development rights or fee title purchase prior to a landowner's release from the Rural Incentive District. It must be understood that the proposed Rural Incentive District legislation is complex legislation, which asks for a family's greatest asset (possibly) to be placed on the table and such a decision cannot be made lightly. Additionally, the Town has limited the possible properties available for consideration to those included in the Community Preservation Project Plan. As such, the Rural Incentive District is not a catch basin for every landowner. As the advocate for Long Island's agricultural industry, LIFB is also a strong proponent of private property fights. The proposed Rural Incentive District is a voluntary land preservation program, which may aid farmers as they plan for their long-term family needs. This RID legislation equips the town with a pro-active planning tool to aid in achieving its land preservation and residential density reduction goals. In the most recent discussion, which took place Monday, April 11, 2005 with Southold farmers regarding this proposed RID legislation, the following viewpoints were expressed: 1. With the term requirements having been met, the incentive should be paid to those landowners meeting the Chapter Al06 criteria for a conservation subdivision (80% preservation/60% density reduction or 75% preservation/75% density reduction) not only those which meet the 75%preservation/75% density reduction criteria; 2. At agreement to the term easement upon acceptance into the RID, the landowner should receive a yield map based on his land's current zoning; this yield map remains in effect through participation and after withdrawal from the RID ensuring the farmer leaves with what he came in with and providing the Town with actual numbers by which to reduce density (via PDR, TDR, fee title purchase); 3. All sub- dividable land should be eligible for inclusion in the Rural Incentive District; 4. A landowner should be able to withdraw from the RID with his land's original zoning intact and retain said zoning for two (2) years subsequent to withdrawal; 5. Support voiced for the 3-appraisal process, however, the proposed code lacks any method by which the Town is held accountable (i.e., if negotiations fail, the Town will not suffer any loss as the landowner may.) These points illustrate that although many people have worked long and hard on this proposed Rural Incentive District legislation, a few key April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural lncemive District 16 details still need to be addressed. The Rural Incentive District's purpose is to facilitate the orderly preservation of farmland and open space over many years, to promote active fainting lbr the long term and to maintain the equity of the land over time. LIFB is concerned that the concept of the Rural Incentive District may be undermined by complexities within its currently proposed legislation, dooming it to failure. Long Island Farm Bureau urges the Town Board to fine-tune the proposed Rural Incentive District legislation with these observations by Southold farmers taken under advisement. We have all invested so much time and ettbrt into this legislation-with a little more work. we can get it done." Thank you. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you, Ms. Debold. And I am going to recommend that Mr. Gergela come next time himself and read that into the record. This is longer than the legislation itselt: Thank you. Well-done. I appreciate it. I will distribute this. Would anybody else care to address the Board'? Yes, Ms, Schroeder. GWYNNE SCHROEDER: Good evening, Gwynne Schroeder, North Fork Envirournental Council. 1 know there has been a lot of ~vork into this and a lot of time and many, many tblks have given to this but at this time, NFEC does not support the adoption of a Rural Incentive District. Although NFEC supports a concept ora RID, it would be imprudent tbr the town to adopt a RID or any other land use legislation without first adopting residential density goals. The concept of a RID was first proposed by the Blue-Ribbon Commission and another recommendation of the Blue-Ribbon Conmfission was that the town adopt preservation and density reduction goals and you have not done that. In the meanwhile, you have adopted a new subdivision code, you have re-written the affordable housing district legislation and you created a sanitary flow credit bank, you put your first credit in tonight. All these things will facilitate new growth and development in the tox~,n. But the citizens of Southold axe still not being told what you have in store for us. How many more residential dwelling units does the town plan for Southold's future? Without clearly established goals and given the uncertainty of land values in the future, it would not be in the best interest of the Town and its taxpayers to adopt a RID. NFEC strongly recommends that the Town adopt by resolution, specific preservation density reduction goals. We recommend that the Town also adopt a means of measuring the preservation rate against the rate of development and that you react if we are not meeting our goals. At a time when you do that, when yoo do establish, when you tell us where you are going because we really don't have any idea, all this legislation that you have passed is increasing density in the hamlet areas or the halo zones which have yet to be established and we are not really understanding what you all have in mind and we really don't have any guarantees about where we are going. None of these will guarantee presen'ation, these are all hopeful wishes. But at a time that you do establish goals, we think a RiD might not be a bad idea and may be an appropriate action. A RiD would give landowners who are serious about preserving their land the opportunity to retain their two-acre status for the purpose of appraisal in the event of a future up-zoning. The landowner is making a commitment to preserving his land and the town is making a commitment to purchase the lando~vners development fights, within is time tYame that best suits the landowner. The landowners are being offered not only immunity from future zone changes and the flexibility to do what they want with the development rights in their own time frame but they are being given an extremely generous financial incentive. As was said belbre, if the landowner stays in the proposed RID 24 years, he will be paid 30% over the appraised value of development rights. You know, that might just be too much for the taxpayers. There are other risks. The RID may defer the sale of development rights to a time when they are too expensive to taxpayers, if the Town doesn't have the funds and is unable to purchase development rights, the landowner leaves the RID with his zoning April 12, 2005 17 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District intact for three years. Several other scenarios could occur which would be detrimental to the Town. what would happen if several landowners opted to exit the RID at the same time? How would this be handled if the Town didn't have the funds available to purchase all thee development rights all at once? What would this mean in terms of future density? And there are a couple of, in the legislation specifically that we thought should be changed if in the future a RID was ever authorized. There should be no development on the property that enters the RID, when the landowner exits the RID all development rights should be sold to the Town. We have no objection to the landowner doing this on an incremental basis. Entry into the RID should not be open-ended. Offering windows of opportunity, rather than open-ended admission would give the Town a better sense of future funding needs and the ability to plan in a more efficient manner. And I have to say, the hardship clause, which I don't have in front of me, one of the hardships is death and when you are talking about 24 years, everybody dies. I mean, so, that is wide open for hardship. And we just think that the Town, NFEC and I have to thank, we have a land use committee and Frank Wills is here and Ray Huntington, Mike Domino and Larry, who is not here and Julie Amper who are all part of that committee, Ronnie Hill. These are all, we talked about this and this is what the group is putting forth and we really believe that the Town has an obligation to share your vision. You are not letting us know where you are going with the community and I just hope that you really consider our cormnents carefully. Thanks. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you, Gwyune. MS. SCHROEDER: And I do have comments, I always forget to, so may I hand them in? SUPERVISOR HORTON: Yeah, please do. Thank you. Thanks a lot, Gwynne. Would anyone else like to address the Board on this public hearing? Yes, Mr. Krupski. AL KRUPSKI: Al Krupski, Jr. Cutchogue. I just have a couple of brief comments, I took a few notes, I listened to what everyone had to say. I think it is very interesting that everyone that came up with prepared comments had like a laundry list of changes that they wanted to see made and I thought that was productive. The concept itself, it is a great concept, my biggest concern is that the Town won't, because there is such a laundry list of concerns that the Town is never going to actually ever act on this. It could be a really positive tool, it is not going to solve all the town's problems, it is not going to solve all the town's density problems, however, it should be a valuable tool that the town could use in it's long term preservation goals. And the reason is, and I hope that the Board understands this, is that not everyone can sell their development rights immediately and it has nothing to do with the price of land, it has got nothing to do with who is next to you or who moved into town yesterday or who has been here for 100 years. It is a matter of long-term family and estate planning. And every family can't just say okay, we are going to cash in a certain part of our equity now because that is all the equity they have. So, if a RID is adopted by the Town and it is successful and by I mean successful that landowners and farmers both would enter it, then time is your friend. Because then, people who enter the RID aren't necessarily going to say, oh, eight years, now seven years, oh, six years. They are going to have a comfort zone that they can live and they can operate, people live everyday and then they die and then generations go on but then there is that comfort zone knowing that at least you don't have to worry about anything else, any elected official or any in, you know, toxvn or county or state ~vho is going to do anything that is going to take control from your property because then you are in a district zoning that is going to give you that protection and so there is not going to, even after 24 years people could still be in it. I am not quite sure where the 24 years come in. so I would have to, I would April 12, 2005 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District 18 have to say that, you know, overall the goal is preservation and l would have to encourage you to. to adopt some form of rural incentive district that would help the Town and would help the landowners, all landowners. We, unfortunately, don't own all the land that we like to t'arm. We rent from people that are either absentee landlords or non-farmers and these are all good people and they are not interested in development, otherwise they would have developed. They are interested in just holding on to the land and renting to people like us. And I think it is good to give everyone an opportunity to enter something like this to preserve their equity, to give them stability, and to help the Town long term tbr preservation goals. Thank you. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you, Mr. Krupski. Would anyone else care to address the Board? Yes, Ms. Tole. KATHY TOLE: Kathy Tole of Greenport. I don't want to address the specifics of this legislation, the nitty gritty of it, I want to talk about a few concepts that really concern me about this whole thing. We have praise for the concept of RID but not real strong praise for the law. We've also had praise fur every concept that has been raised by the Blue-Ribbon Commission, by the huge other plan that brought up all the, all the moratorium report, fur lack of better words, that studied the issue fur two years or more. It doesn't mean that it should all become legislation, concept is good..,ks I am listening to all of this, what really comes to mind for me is a gentleman by the name of John Lindsey, mayor of New York. Fine gentleman. Who put New York City in hock for the future and Abe Beam caught the bucket that was left when it all came due. And big mac was necessary to bail them out of their, all of their bills that they put off payment on for 20 years. Wonderful things happened at the beginning under Abe Beam, we rebuilt New York City. And they left it for somebody else. some future generation of politicians and taxpayers to pay the bill and they were not prepared to pay that bill but you know what? Those politicians all knew that they wouldn't be there when that bill came due. 1 want you to think about that and what you are doing to the taxpayers of now and the taxpayers of the future. This Board has chosen not to do economic impact on any of the legislation that they have proposed but we as taxpayers, especially people whose income will never grow, such as mine, have to think about that. And I beg you all to think about that. Because 20 years from now, I certainly hope to be here and I don't want to pay these sort of bills for lack of planning. If it is a good program, pay/rbr it all now. Then it is worth it. Then you raise the taxes and do what you must and put the money in the bank to pay for it. This doesn't mean I am against farmers or against preservation. There are a lot of good programs that will accomplish both and there has to be a balance of programs so that everybody feels they are getting a fair shake. I haven't been comfortable over the last three years that there has been that balance but we will have to see, I guess all we can do is wait and see. It is not the only wa3' to help farmers. Farmers need help, let's not hock the future to do that fbr them. You know, it was said that it's and Al I respect tremendously, that it is a protection against town, county and state action. the future, the whims of politicians in the future. There is nobody else who has that protection. Not me as a homeowner, should zoning change, setbacks or anything else. I am not protected from future politicians and zonings. ,And we keep building in special classes and I think we ought to examine how we are doing that. A year ago, I stopped coming to these meetings. I spent nine months asking this Board simply for a list of things, a handwritten, one page list of how you are going to proceed. What you were going to do when you finished your zoning changes, what you were going to do next and just a list, what subjects? I xvaited nine months and I came to the meeting every two ~veeks and I asked for that list. Never got it, never did. ,And I heard somebody else standing here asking still asking, after 1 have been absent for a year. You still are not letting anybody know what your intentions are. Is this a April 12, 2005 19 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District stop gap? Is this in between? Are you doing more? And in fairness, you should be telling the people what your plans are. Not for yesterday, not for today, not a two-week legal notice but what your grand plans are. Thank you. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you, Ms. Tole. Would anybody else care to address the Board on this hearing? Yes, Dr. Booth. ED BOOTH: Ed Booth, Southold. I would like to try to convince anybody on the Board who doesn't think this RID proposal is a good idea, I would like to convince them that it really is a good idea and I am going to give you some personal examples, okay? About three years ago, I think it was, I first heard of the RID and that was at the KFC Hall over there in Peconic and somebody got up to address, I think it was probably promoted by the Farm Bureau, and somebody got up to address the group there would be a possibility of tying up your land for eight or ten years or something of that nature and at the end of that time, if you had succeeded in getting together with the Town and preserving that land, you could then exit with your two acre zoning intact. And I thought to myself, well that sounds interesting. I am not a farmer but I own open space and I haven't decided what to do with it. The conservation subdivision I had heard of but I really hadn't made up my mind what to do and I hadn't finished my family planning at all, well, I was just a kid and that was three years ago. And actually I was 74 and I thought, well, now if I tie up my property and can't do anything with it for eight years, will that be a good thing or a bad thing? It would give me a chance to plan and maybe the Town can go ahead and buy my development rights or whatever that was, I didn't really know what it was, maybe not. But it sounded like a likely thing to do and I was pretty enthusiastic about it and I went to the Blue-Ribbon Commission meetings and it sounded as if they were going to go through with an RID of that sort. Then however, years went by. Three years went by. Now I think to myself, can I really afford to tie up this land that long and the rest of my estate that long and not do any planning? This is a burden on me and I decided I really couldn't do it. It is going to cost me too much to do that. In other words, this is the thing you are asking the landowner to do, to lock themselves in and not be able to do other things they might have done. It is not so bad when you are 50 but think about it, if anybody is in the RID for 24 years even those fellows I meet with on Monday morning are going to be old men. And they are going to find that they want to settle their estates. And they are going to be, you know, their hands will be tied as long as they are in that RID, obviously the fn:st eight years is the hard part. I just want to say that that is a valuable commodity, which we are asking, you the Town Board, to pay for. That is one point. The other point, a relatively small point, that is the big point and the relatively small point is this 1.25% per year of the, of the sale of the development rights. I want to put that into context. Somebody said earlier, I forget who it was, oh, it is 30%, you are giving away 30% but of course, that is nonsense. You are giving away 30% divided by 24, which of course is 1.25% per year. Now if you want to rush out and make an investment at 1.25% and get rich, help yourself. But is not really a terrifically big incentive. It is not a giveaway. And think about this, it is on the development rights that you are putting this 1.25% per year. The development rights are typically worth perhaps one third of the whole package. You have an investment. It is your land, your farm and maybe it is worth $l,000.000 now, about one third of that is the development rights. So you are putting 1.25% divided by three a year on your total investment. And so at the end of 10 years, you are looking not at 10%, eight years, sorry. At the end of eight years, you are not looking at 10% windfall and you hope you get more in the savings bank from now on but you are looking at something which is one third that much because that is the value of the TDR. Okay, those are my points. Thank you. April 12, 2005 20 Public Hearing-Rural Incentive District SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you, Dr. Booth. Would anyone else care to the Board on this public hearing? Then, Mr. Cooper. DOUG COOPER: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Doug Cooper, IVlattituck. Pleasure to be here, I would like to thank Mr. Edwards for his tireless work on this program, this idea, even though 1 am not a strong supporter of it, I do support it. It is a far cry from what came out of the Blue-Ribbon. I would have been a very enthusiastic joiner of this plan. However, I do still support it and I hope that if it is approved to have some changes to be done in the future. [ agree with Julie t~om the Farm Bureau, I agree with Gail Wickham, they both brought up excellent points. When it comes to the incentive, the payment for the incentive as well as the payment tbr the TDR's will be coming out of the Community Preservation Fund. It is not going to be, most likely and I would say extremely likely, that it will be the local taxpayer. It will be the people that move here. It will be the people that come here and are affecting us. It will be considered a mitigation tax. The school district has often considered this, which we had a way of having mitigation tax for people that move here. The Community Preservation Fund is a good way of doing that and that serves our purpose. It will be paying for our preservation, as opposed to our local residents paying for it. The notion that the price o£the land will be higher in the future and development rights should be paid, therefore farmers should sell now their development fights rather than waiting for the future is ill-conceived. As prices go up, the Community Preservation Fund will be going up exponentially as well. The fact that landowners will only be selling their development rights when they need to, it is not something you are going to mn out and say, oh I have got a lot of money. We are going to do it as we need to. It is a once in a lifetime, once in a lands lifetime to be done. It is not something that we will do lightly. Only when we have to. I urge you to support this RID plan. I would like to see the incentives apply to 80-60 conservation subdivisions as well, I would like to see the exit doors change somewhat, I would like to see any sub- dividable property being eligible for this. From the onset, the farmers that have been working on this landowners it hasn't just been the farmland. We are looking at protecting people's equity overall and someone who has four acres or six acres, if they should ever be upzoned they should be protected. They should have the rights to protect their equity as well as the farmers. Indeed, these small parcels could well be farmland at some time. I hope you favorably decide on this legislation and I thank Mr. Edwards. Josh, he is your, a good man for you, I will be sorry to see you leave. Thank you. SUPERVISOR HORTON: Thank you. Would anybody else care to address the Town Board on the RID proposition? (No response) We will close the hearing. Southold Town Clerk DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING COUNTY OF SUFFOL SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECLmVE RECEIVED APR ! 2 o5 So~-HTown Clerk THOMAS ISLES, AICP DIRECTOR OF PLANNING April 7, 2005 Town Clerk Toxvn of Southold Applicant: Town of Southold Zoning Action: Amendment to Section 100-170 thru 100- 179.1 "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Public Hearing Date: 4/12/05 SCPC File No.: SD-05-03 Gentlemen: Pursuant to the requirements of Sections A 14-14 to 23 of the Suffolk County Administrative Code, the above referenced application which has been submitted to the Suffolk County Planning Commission is considered to be a matter for local determination as there is no apparent significant county-xvide or inter-community impact(s). A decision of local determination should not be construed as either an approval or disapproval. Very truly yours, Thomas Isles, AICP Director of Planning Principal Planner APF:cc LOCA~ION MAILING ADDRESS H. LEE DENNISON BLDG· - 4~1 FLOOR · P O. BOX ~ I O0 · (E~3 i ) 853-5 I cJO ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax t63D 765-6145 Telephone 1631) 765-1800 southoldtown.northfork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION NO. 215 OF 2005 WAS ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ON APRIL 12, 2005: WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Southold is conducting an uncoordinated SEQR Review of an Unlisted Action involving the creation of Chapter 100 Article XVII of the Code of the Town of Southold, Rural Incentive Districts; and WHEREAS, the purpose of the legislation is to provide incentives for the preservation of lands in agricultural production and open space throughout the Town of Southold, xvhile simultaneously preserving land equity. This Local Law does so by creating Rural Incentive Districts, by which identified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a minimum term easement with restrictions on development, and providing a mechanism for the negotiated purchase of fee title or development rights to such parcels upon the termination of the minimum easement term. The Local La~v also provides incentives to the landowner to remain in the RID, and protections to ensure good faith bargaining. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that pursuant to Part 617 of the SEQR Regulations, the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby designates itself as the Lead Agency for the SEQR Review of this Unlisted Action. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that pursuant to Part 617 of the implementing regulations pertaining to Article 8 (State Environmental Quality Review Act) of the Environmental Conservation Law, the Lead Agency has determined that the proposed Unlisted Action will not have a significant adverse effect on the environment. Elizabeth A. Neville Southold Town Clerk ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax i63D 765-6145 Telephone (6311 765-1800 southoldtown.nor t h fork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION NO. 216 OF 2005 WAS ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ON APRIL 12, 2005: WHEREAS, pursuant to Town Law §261-b, the Town Board of the Town of Southold has evaluated the impact of the proposed "Local Law in Relation to Rural Incentive Districts" upon the potential development of affordable housing; and WHEREAS, the proposed Local Law is not contemplated in isolation, but rather as part of the broader efforts of the Town to preserve lands in agricultural production and open space, create affordable housing and redirect intensive development to proposed hamlet areas; IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Southold has and will take reasonable action to mitigate any negative impact upon the availability or potential of affordable housing caused by the enactment of the proposed Local Law~ including~ without llmitation~ the recent enactment of the Affordable Housing District (AHD)~ the enactment of Chapter A106~ Subdivision of Land~ containing an affordable housing requirement for all standard subdivisions~ and the enactment of Transfer of Development Rights legislation involving the banking and transfer of sanitary flow credits for the purposes of providin~ affordable housing within the Town. Elizabeth A. Neville Southold Town Clerk ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS IvL,~IAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main R.oad P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone (6311 765-1800 southoldtown.nort h fork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC ttEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and remm to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments Elizabeth A. Neville Toxvn Clerk Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals ,,~//~ LL,C~ r~ :~C'~/'Ef-C.d lt. ' Date: Signatt~,lRec~ived By DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTItOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REG[ST}LtR OF V[T.~L STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone 1631) 765-1800 southoldtown.nor t h fork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Toxvn Board of the To~m of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals Signature, Receivfd B~ Date: DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK APR. - 1 2005 ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone (6311 765-1800 southoldtown.northfork.net RECEIVED PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Toxvn Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS NLZ, NAGEMENT OFFICER FgEEnOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 Town Half, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax ~63D 765-6145 Teleph~me 1631 ~ 765-1800 southoldtown, north fork. net PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aibresaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments ecr Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold To~vn Assessors Southold Town Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK RI'.GISTBAR OF VITAL STATISTICS i~L~RRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREI ;DOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (6311 765-6145 Telephone ~6311 765-1800 southoldtown.northfork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April l, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm. the Local [,aw, is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and remm to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments cc: Suffolk County Department of Planning Village o f Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Signature, Received~), '- Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island To~vn of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals Date: DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RE~RNK1LTD SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone ~63D 765-1800 southoldtown.northfork.net OFFICE OF TIlE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April l, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Toxvn of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, ~'A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments cc: Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Signature, Received By Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Long Island State Park Cotmnission Tox~m of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGIS'FILeR OF \ [TAL STATISTICS MARRIAGb] OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631} 765-6145 Telephone t631) 765-1800 southoldtewn.northfork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 PLEASE T.~KE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEAR/NG on thc afbresaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attacbanents Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Suffolk County Department of Planning Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island To\vn of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals Signature, Received By · ' ~/~ - Date:_ ~/5/~ $-~ DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VIT.~L STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax 1631~ 765-6145 Te[ej~ne. (ff~t ~ 765-1800 sour holdto~n.no~thfork.ner PLEASE T.M<E NOTICE that the Tow'n Board of the To~a of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the atbresaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments Elizabeth A, Neville Tov, m Clerk Suffolk Co unty Department o f Planning Village o f Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Toxvn of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals Signature, Received By Date: DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK RE(]ISTI~ OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORNLa~TION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone (631) 765-!800 sour holdtown.nor t h fork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicate of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments Suffolk County Department of Plamfing Village of Greenport Town of Riverhead Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department re, Re~eivcd'~3' t Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM £)F INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Southold, New York 11971 ]Vax 1631) 765-6145 Telephone (63t) 765q1800 sour holdtown.nor t h£ork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD April 1, 2005 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the To~xm Board of the Totem of Southold will hold a PUBLIC HEARING on the aforesaid Local Law on April 12, 2005 at 8:00pm, the Local Law is entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". Please sign the duplicale of this letter and return to me at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Attachments cc: Suffolk County Department of Planning Village o f Greenport Town of Riverhcad Southold Town Planning Board Southold Town Assessors Southold Town Building Department Elizabeth A. Neville Town Clerk Long Island State Park Commission Town of Shelter Island Town of Southampton Southold Town Trustees Southold Town Board of Appeals Date: Signatt/eceived By DUPLICATE TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO SOUTHOLD TOWN CLERK LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been presented to the Town Board of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York, on the 15th day of March, 2005 a Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" NOTICE IS HERBY FURTHER GIVEN that the Toxvn Board of the Town of Southold will hold a public hearing on the albresaid Local Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York, on the 12th of April, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at xvhich time all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard. The proposed Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" reads as follows: LOCAL LAW NO. 2005 A Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as folloxvs: I. Legislative Intent. Open space and farmland constitute key components of the Town of Southold's rural character. These areas provide the cornerstone of the land use environment valued by year-round residents as xvell as visitors. Numerous planning documents and studies in the Town's comprehensive planning over the past 20 years have recognized this value and have recommended strategies to preserve these resources. In recent years, the Town has engaged in an aggressive effort to preserve open space and farmland through the use of a variety of conservation tools, including purchase of development fights, outright fee title purchase, and cluster development. The Town has joined with other governmental agencies at the Federal, State and County levels, and with conservation groups such as the Peconic Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy, to further its efforts. In addition, the Toxxm has made use of various long- and short-term funding options to purchase interests in open space and farmland, such as the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) transfer tax, voter-approved bonds and grants. The Town Board recognizes thai preservation efforts must continue in accordance with the Town's comprebensix e planning efforts and initiatives. Additional funds will be required, and it~ possible. leveraged, to enable the Town to continue to purchase interests in open space and farmland and retain the Town's rural character. The Town Board detemfines that its land preservation el'forts can best be accomplished through a number of legislative initiatives. This local law creates a new incentive district, or floating zone classification. Known as the Rural Incentive District (RID), the RID is intended to encourage the presenfation and conservation of open space and farmland, while preserving land equity. It is intended to provide incentive to Landowners dedicated to the preservation and conservation of open space and fatxnland, while providing the Town with a means to prioritize lands at risk of development. New York State Town Law Section 26 l-b provides the fran~ework to accomplish these goats. II. Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Southold is herebs' amended to create a new Article XVII~ as follows: Sec. 100-170. Purpose. t/// In order to provide for the safety, health and welfare of the public, it is necessary and appropriate to provide incentives for the preservation of lands in a~mdcultural production and open space throughout the Town of Southold. This Local Law would do so by creating a Rural Incentive District by which identified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a minimum term easement with restrictions on development, and providing a mechanism for the negotiated purchase of fee title or development rights to such parcels upon their end of the minimum easement term. The Local Law would also provide incentives to the landowner to remain in the R1D, and protections to ensure good faith bargaining. 100-171. Definitions. The temps and words used in this Po:ticle shall be given the meaning and uses as defined in this Article, or if not defined herein, those defined or generally attributable to them in other sections of this Chapter. iNCENTIVE ZON1NG DISTRICT -- A zoning district created pursuant to Town Law Section 261-b, xvherein specific incentives or bonuses are granted on the condition that specific physical, social or cultural benefits or amenities would inure to the community. 100-172. Classification. A. The Rural Incentive District (RID) is established as an Incentive Zoning District pursuant to Tox~m Law Section 261-b. B. The RID classification may be considered on a floating zone basis. Upon rezoning to the RID classification, all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern the lands subject to the RID classification. All other restrictions and controls in the underlying zoning district shall remain applicable. 100-173. Requirements for Eligibility. All properties meeting the standards and criteria set forth in this Article shall be deemed eligible for rezoning as a RID. In order to be considered for rezoning within the RID, lands in the Town of Southold must meet the follo~ving criteria: A. The lands must consist of a sub-dividable parcel meeting the Toxvn's preservation goals and included in the Community Preservation Project Plan (CPPP), which may consist of a lot designated as a separate tax map number, or of two or more contiguous lots with separate tax map numbers. A landowner may also apply for the rezoning of additional land contiguous to property already in the RID classification. B. A parcel must be land in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, or open space, as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold. C. The Town Board must find that the parcel provides an environmental, physical, economic, aesthetic, social or cultural benefit to the Town. 100-174. Zonin~ Approval; Application and review procedure. The Toxvn Board may rezone lands from that of their underlying zoning district to the RID classification upon written application of the landoxvner pursuant to this Article. 3 A. Application. An applicant shall submit two (2) copies of the icbllo~ lng to the Town Board: 1. Form of Application approved by the Town Board, including the name of the owner and/or applicant, description of current use of tile property, and disclosure affidavit; 2. Deed(s) covering all lands for which application is made: 3. Survey(s) or mapls) showing all lands proposed to be included within the RID, and any improvements on those lands. B. Environmental Review."~he Town Board shall comply with SEQRA in acting upon any application for the rezoning of any lands to the RID classification. Furthermore, pursuant to Town l_aw Section 261-b, the Town Board shall prepare a generic environmental impact statement pursuant to 6 NYCRR 6 l 7.5 ]tbr any zomng district in which the granting of incentives of bonuses have a significant effect on the environment before any such district is designated, and such statement shall be supplemented from time to time by the Town Board if there are material changes in circumstances that may result in significant adverse impacts. The applicant lbr RID classification shall pay a proportionate share of the cost of preparing such environmental impact statement. C. Referral. Alter receipt of a complete application and the conduct of all required environmental review, the Town Board shall refer the application to the Planning Board and to the Land Preservation Committee and, as applicable, to the Agricultural Advisory Committee, for review and recommendation. The Planning Board and other cotnmittees shall provide a report within thirty (30) days of the date of the meeting at which the referral is received. No action shall be taken by the Town Board until receipt or'the Planning Board report and other Committee reports, as applicable, or the expiration of its 30-day review period, whichever comes first. The review period may be extended by mutual consent of the applicant, the Town Board, the Planning Board, and, as applicable, the Land Preservation Committe~and~or the Agricultural Advisory Committee. D. Plamfing Board Report. The Planning Board may reconunend approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the proposed rezoning, h~ preparing its report, the Planning Board shall take into account the recommendations of the Southold Town Farm and Farmland Protection Strategy, adopted as policy by Town Board resolution of 4 January 18, 2000 and supporting documents, the studies contained in the Town's comprehensive planning efforts and initiatives, the existing characteristics of the property and the surrounding properties, the environmental, social, physical, aesthetic, economic and cultural aspects of the property and its surroundings, and such other factors as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Article and this Chapter. The Planning Board shall further evaluate the effects of the incentives provided by virtue of the provision of the community benefit, i.e., the preservation of agricultural lands or open space, and whether the subject parcel will contain adequate resources, enviromnental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection. The Planning Board's report shall provide detailed reasons for its reconnnendation. E. Public Hearing. Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the Planning Board report, or the expiration of the Planning Board review period, whichever occurs first, the Town Board shall hold a public hearing on the application, with the same notice prescribed for zoning amendme/ats. F. Town Board Action. Within thirty (30) days of the date of the closing of the public hearing, the Toxvn Board shall either approve or disapprove the rezoning and file its decision with the Town Clerk, with notice to the applicant. In approving such rezoning, the Town board shall determine, after considering the Planning Board's recommendation, and evaluating the effects of any potential incentives which are possible by virtue of the provision of community amenities, that the subject parcel contains adequate resources, environmental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection, and that there will be no significant environmentally damaging consequences and that such incentives or bonuses are compatible with the development othenvise permitted. If approved, the Town Board shall amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance with the approval and forward a copy of the resolution containing the decision to the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Conunittee, the Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the applicant. Any such approval shall be subject to the Conditions of Approval as set forth below in 100- 175 of this Chapter. 1. Following a public hearing and approval of the rezoning pursuant to Chapter I00 of the Town Code and Chapter 247 of the General Municipal Lax~, thc Landowner shall enter a Preservation Easelnent {the "Easement"} with the Town, in the form provided by the Town, which shall inclode the tbllowing: a. ~M~ agreement that the property ~vill remain as open space as defined itl Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold. or in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, for a minimum of eight (8) years, except as prox ided in Section 100-177. Subdivision and/or 100-179. Hardship Exit of this Articlc~ b. Restrictions regarding permitted principal and accessory uses on the property as set forth in Section 100-175.B. c. Restrictions for the construction of principal and accessory structures on the property as set forth in Section 100-175.B. d. Procedures limiting any subdivision of the property to a Consep,,ation Subdivision or Open Development Area. e. Termination procedures as set forth in Section 100-176. Exit from tile RiD and~or 100-179. Hardship Exit of this Article. f. An agreement to compensate the Landmvner for the Easement term in the event of a sale to the Town of fee title or development rights, as prm ideal in Section 100-178. g. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 100-175.B., land included within a New York Agricultural District pursuant to Article 25AA of the Agricultural District Law shall retain the benefits of such inclusion. 2. The easement shall be in a form acceptable to the Landowner, the Town Attorney's office and consistent with the Town's form of Preservation Easement. 3. The easement shall be recorded in the Office o f the Suffolk County Clerk. B. Permitted Uses and Structures During the Easement Period. 6 Open Space as defined in Chapter 59 oft. he To~m Code of the Town of Southold. Open space lands may be converted to, and fallow fields may be returned to, Agricultural Production without penalty. Agricultural Production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold. Improvements to existing structures and the construction of new structures on agricultural lands shall remain subject to all applicable restrictions, standards and protections as would govern agricultural lands in the applicable zoning district(s). §100-176. Exit from the RID. A. The Rural Incentive District (RID) enrollment shall have a minimum term of eight (8) years. The Landowner may elect to continue enrollment beyond the initial eight-year term indefinitely. The Landowner may exit enrollment in the RID prior to the expiration of the minimum term only by completing a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter Al06 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, Subdivision of Land, or pursuant to Section 100-179 Hardship Exit, as provided herein. Upon completion of the minimum term, the Landowner may exit enrollment by following the procedures provided herein. The Town Board shall approve such exit from the RID and amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance with such exit and provide notification of such approval and amendment to the Town Clerk, the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Committee and the Landowner. B. At any time during the easement period the Town may offer to purchase or the Landoxvner may offer to sell the development rights or fee title of all or of part of the parcel. This offer may be initiated at the discretion of either the Town or the Landowner, by written notice to the other. Should the Town not have made an offer to and reached an agreement with the Landox~mer to purchase development rights or fee title of the subject property after the first seven (7) years of the minimum term RID Easement, the Landoxvner may exit the RID by providing the Town with a minimum of one (1) year's ~Titten notice of the Landowner's intention to withdraw from the RID. Notice may be given on a date no earlier than one (1) year prior to the end of the minimum term. If such notice is given, the following procedure shall apply: 7 (1) (2) Within lbrty-five (45) calendar days of receipt ora notice of kandox~ner's written intention to withdraw, the Town shall provide the kandox~ tier with a letter of intent. The letter of intent shall either inform the [,andowner of the Town's desire to purchase development rights or fee title of the subjeci property, or release tbe Landowner from the RID. If the Fown's letter ot intent releases the Landowner, the Landowner is free to leax e the PdD at thc end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the k. andoxxtxer's xx ritten notice of intent to withdraw. Failure of the Town to respond within lbny-five (45) calendar days shall constitute such a release. In the event of such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment itl the RID tbr a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. In no eveut shall the Landowner be permitted to exit the RID prior to the expiration of the minimum term except as provided in either of Sections 10t}-177 Subdivision or 100-179 Hardship Exit below. If the Landowner has not been released from the RID by the Town as provided above, within three (3} months of the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, the Town shall prepare an appraisal of the parcel and make an offer to the Landowner based upon tile appraisal. The Land Preservation Committee shall issue a set or'written guidelines and assumptions for the preparation of all appraisals ibr the subject property under this Article. All appraisals under this ,Article shall also follox~ the general guidelines 1hr the conduct of appraisals, which shall be issued from time to time by the Land Preservation Committee and made available to Landowners prior to the enrollment of the subject property m the RID. Included among those guidelines shall be the requirement that appraisals be conducted on the assumption that the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID remain applicable to the subject property at the time of the appraisal. Failure of the Town to prepare an appraisal and make an offer within three (3) months of its receipt of the Landowner's written notice shall automatically release the Landowner from the RID at the end ol' one years' time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice but 8 in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term. In the event of such release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. (3) Within forty-five (,45) calendar days of receiving the Town's offer, the Landovmer may either accept the offer from the Town, make a counteroffer based upon an appraisal provided by the Landowner to the Town, or reject the Town's offer. Any such appraisal from ~vhich an offer is made must conform to the guidelines and assumptions issued by the Land Preservation Committee for that property. If the Landowner makes a counteroffer, and provides its appraisal, the Town shall disclose its initial appraisal to the I~andowner at such time. If the Landowner rejects the Town's offer or fails to respond with a counteroffer and appraisal within such forty-five (45) days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time fi.om the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term requirement, and the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit from the RID. (4) If the I~andowner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and the Landowner's appraisal and the Town's disclosed appraisal are no more than ten pement (10%) apart, (i.e., the lesser of the two appraisals is ninety pement (90%) or more of the greater of the two), the parties shall endeavor to reach an agreement. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement within thirty (30) calendar days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term, and upon exit, the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit from the RID. (5) If the I~andowner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and the appraisals are more than ten percent (10%) apart, and if the Town and the Landowner are unable to reach an agreement on the basis of the two disclosed appraisals within thirty (30) calendar days, at the election of either party, a 9 third appraisal shall be conducted in conformance x~, ith the guidelines and assumptions mutually agreed upon by the parties. The parties shall jointly agree on the selection of a party to prepare such third appraisal, which appraisal shall be disclosed to both parties. If the parties are unable to agree upon the third appraiser within ten 110) days, an appraiser not previousl5 disclosed by either party in the negotiations shall be selected at random ti'om a list of appraisers periodically established by the To~x n Board pursuant to this Local Law. The parties shall share equally in the expense of thc third appraisal, which shall be completed within sixty lO0) days. Within thirty 13~ days of receipt of the third appraisal, the Town may elect to consider the average amount listed in the three disclosed appraisals as its Final Offer. It' the Town elects not to do so, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landoxvner's written notice or' intent to withdraw, without penalty, and the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effec! at the time o~' the enrollment in the RID tbr three 13) years subsequent to the exit from the RiD. If the Landowner elects not to accept the Final Offer extended by the Town within thirty (30) days of such Final Offer, the Landowner will be deemed by default to remain in the RID unless the Landowner gives express written notice to the Town, within that time, that the kandowner intends to exit the RID, with the understanding that the property shall be subject to the zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit. if the Landowner provides such timely written notice, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice or' intent to withdraw but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term requirement, and upon exit the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit fi-om the RID If such notice of exit is not provided, the Landowner shall remain in the RID and shall only be entitled to restart the exit process provided in this section after the expiration of one year's time from its failure to accept the Final Offer. (7) Within t~velve (12) months of the Town's receipt of the Landoxvner's written notice of intent to withdraw fi.om the RID, the Town and the Landowner shall have concluded the aforementioned process. If the process produces an agreement, the contract shall be signed within thirty (30) days and all good faith efforts shall be made to conduct the closing within thirty (30) days after contract signing. The specific deadlines provided herein may be extended only upon the mutual written consent of both the Town and Landowner. §100-177. Subdivision. During the easement period, a landmvner may apply to develop the property as a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter A 106 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, Subdivision of Land. During the period of time the subject property remains in the RID, the Landowner's application for such Conservation Subdivision shall be governed by the applicable lot area requirements in effect at the time the subject property entered the RID, and pursuant to the procedures employed by the Land Preservation Department, without reference to the appraisal process set forth above. During such application process, the RID classification shall remain in effect. § 100-178. Easement Term Payment Incentive. ~ In the event the Town and Landowner execute an agreement for the sale of fee title or development rights of property that has remained in the RID for a minimum of eight (8) years, upon the closing of such sale the Town shall pay Landowner a certain amount as compensation for the full extent of the Easement term, as follows: 1. A payment at the rate of 1.25 percent (0.0125) of the agreed-upon purchase price for each year, or fraction thereof, that the property for which the Town has acquired fee title or the development rights, has remained in the RID. 2. In the event such exit from the RID occurs via completion of a Conservation Subdivision, such payment shall only be made for property for which the Town has acquired fee title or development rights. 3. In the event that such exit fi.om the RID occurs ','ia completion of a Conservation Subdivision, such payment shall be made only if such Conservation Subdivision meets the requirements of a 75/75 Conservation 11 Subdivision in accordance xvith the definitions and procedures set forth m Chapter Al06, Subdivision of kand. 4. Such payment shall only be made for a maximum period oftweoty4bur 124~ years, or a maximum total of thirty percent (30%) of the total pm'chase price of the tee title or develo,pj~ent rights. §100-179. Hardship Exit. A Landowner may request early termination of the Easement by filing a written request with the Town Clerk. The Town Board shall hold a public heating upon notice, and ma.x. upon its discretion, grant such a request upon a showing of undue hardship or extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to death, illness or catastrophic economic loss. The Town Board may release the Landowner from the obligations of the RID immediately and without penalty. In the event the Town Board grants such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for a period of three 13i years subsequent to the exit from the RID. In the event that a hardship release fi'om the RID ~s granted to the Landowner subsequent to a change in zoning applicable to the subject property, the grant of such a release shall be conditioned upon the kandowner's provision to the Town ora right of first refusal on the pumhase of development tights or fee title to the subject property during the entirety of the three (3) year period of zoning protection §100-179.1. Article 78 Procedure. A person aggrieved under this Article may file an Article 78 proceeding. Such proceeding shall be commenced within thirty (30) days of the filing of the decision with the office of the Town Clerk. III. SEVERABILITY If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the judgment shall not aftkct the validity of this lax,,' as a xvhole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid. 12 IV. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided by law. Dated: March 15, 2005 BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOAiLD OF THE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD Elizabeth Neville Town Clerk PLEASE PUBLISH ON MARCH 24, 2005, AND FORWARD ONE (1) AFFIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION TO ELIZABETH NEVILLE, TOWN CLERK, TOWN HALL, PO BOX 1179, SOUTHOLD, NY 11971. Copies to the following: The Traveler Watchman Planning Building Town Clerk's Bulletin Board To~vn Board Members Town Attorney Zoning Board of Appeals 13 NORTll FORK £NVIRONM 'NTAL COUNCIL, INC. ~ nfec@optonline.net www.nfecl.org RECEIVED April 12, 2005 Members of Town Board Southold Town Dear Members of the Board: APR 12 2005 Southold Town Cler~ I offer the following comments on the proposed "Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive District." North Fork Environmental Council CNFEC) acknowledges and commends the time and hard work of those who contributed to this proposed legislation. NFEC does not support the adoption of a Rural Incentive District or RID at this time. Although NFEC supports the concept of a RID, it would be imprudent for the Town Board to adopt a RID or any other land use legislation without first adopting residential density goals. The concept of a RID was first proposed by the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC). Another recommendation of the BRC was that the Town adopt preservation and density-reduction goals. To date, the Toxvn Board has not done this. The Town has been adopting legislation, including a new subdivision code, a rewrite of the Affordable Housing District Legislation and the creation ora Sanitary Flow Credit Bank, all to facilitate new gro~aeth and development. But the citizens of Southold are not being told how many additional residential units are being planned for our Town. Without clearly established goals and given the uncertainty of land values in the future, it would not be in the best interest of the Town and its taxpayers to adopt a RID at this time. NFEC strongly recommends that the Town Board adopt, by resolution, specific preservation and density reduction goals. We recommend that the Town also adopt a means of measuring the preservation rate against the rate of development and react when the adopted goals are not being met. At a time when the Town establishes preservation and density-reduction goals, the adoption if a RID may be an appropriate action. A RID would give landowners who are serious about preserving their land the opportunity to retain 2-acre zoning status, for the purpose of appraisal, in the event of a future upzoning. The landowner is making a commitment to preserve his land and the Town is making a commitment to purchase the landowner's development rights within a time frame that best suits the landowner. a non-profit organization for the preservation of land, sea, air and quality of life The landowners are being offered not only immunity from future zone changes and flexibility' as to when they can sell their development rights, but are being given a very generous financial incentive as well. If the landowner stays in the proposed RID for 24 years, he will be paid 30% over the appraised value of his development rights. If the RD were adopted, the Town and taxpayers would be taking a considerable risk. The RID may defer the sale of development rights to a time when they are too expensive for taxpayers. Il'thc Town doesn't have the funds and is unable to purchase the development rights, the landoxx ncr leaves the RID with his zoning intact for 3 years. Several other scenarios could occur that would be detrimental to the Town. What would happen if several landowners opted to exit the RID at the same time? How would this be handled if the Town didn't have the funds available to purchase all these development tights at once? What would this mean in terms of future density? Any fitture legislation authorizing a RID should have the following components: There should be no development on property that enters the RID. When the landox, ner extts the RID, all development rights should be sold to the To,tm. We have no objection to the landowner doing this on an incremental basis. EntD.' into the RD should not be opened ended. Offering windows of opportumty rather ~han open ended admission ~ ould give the Town a better sense of future funding needs and the abiltt_,,' to plan in a more efficacious manner. NFEC believes that the Town Board has an obligation to share its vision with the communi'o'. Please consider our comments carefully. Yours truly, Gxwnn Schroeder Executive Director tonq stan I:a m Bureau, nc. 104 Edwards Avenue, Calv~rton, NY 11933 Phone: (631) 727-3777 Fax. (631) 727-3721 TO: FROM: DATE: RE: SOUTHOLD TOWN SUPERVISOR JOSHUA HORTON SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD MEMBERS JOSEPH M. GERGELA, III EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LONG ISLAND FARM BUREAU APRIL 12,2005 THE PROPOSED LOCAL LAW ENTITLED, "A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO RURAL INCENTIVE DISTRICTS" RECEIVED APFJ 12 2005 Southold Town ClerJ Long Island Farm Bureau (LIFB) commends Supervisor Horton, the Town Board, the Town agencies and individuals who have worked on this proposed legislation, as well as those members of the Southold Town community who have donated their time to creating the Rural Incentive District proposed code. Long Island Farm Bureau is disappointed that this proposed legislation has been diluted from a landowner's perspective. In discussing the proposed Rural Incentive District (RID) legislation with members of the Southold farming community, LIFB remains concerned that this proposed legislation will not translate into a successful program unless all issues are addressed. The RID legislation currently before us has become so complex from its original concept that landowners may be advised by their attorneys and lenders not to enter into the RID. The Town needs to keep its eye on the ball - the goal is preservation. When originally discussed during the Blue Ribbon Commission, the Rural Incentive District (RID) legislation was meant to provide a planning tool to the Town and to the Landowner so each may prepare to achieve long-term goals. For the landowner, acceptance into the RID was meant to provide assurance that he could sell development rights to the Town (or Suffolk Count5', or New York State, etc.) at some point in the future, and that the sale of development rights would be appraised at the zoning in place at the time of acceptance into the RID. The landowner also expected to be able to maintain his land's equity and withdraw from the RID as he entered (i.e., if the landowner came in with 2-acre zoning, he would leave with 2-acre zoning). As the proposed code is written, this is not the case. As outlined in the proposed RID legislation, landowners' enrollment into the RID provides the Town with time to plan, acquire and leverage funding for the purchase of development rights (PDR) or fee title purchase of those select RID lands without the pressure of those lands being developed in the meantime. The RID also affords the Town the opportunity to focus upon lands which have not enrolled into the RID and may be at immediate risk of development. For the past three years many people - including the stakeholder groups who made up the Blue Ribbon Commission, and numerous others since - have invested a great deal of time and effort towards drafting the RID legislation. Southampton's Planned Development District (PDD) is the original template from which Southold's Rural Incentive District (RID) was drawn. However, through these years of discussion and compromise, Southold's proposed RID legislation now bears little resemblance to the Southampton PDD, except that both are based in Incentive Zoning law (Town Law 261-b) and hope to draw in lands for preservation. The two most notable points of divergence between Southampton's PDD and Southold's proposed RID are: I .) the incentive to the landowner for participation, and 2.) the method by which the landowner may be released from the program. Incentive The incentive in the Southampton PDD legislation is a density bonus, an increase in residential yield. As a compromise and alternative to a residential density bonus, the Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee suggested a cash incentive based upon the purchase of development rights sale. As written, the cash incentive is a fraction of the value of the originally proposed residential density bonus based upon the Southampton PDD. The residential density yield bonus as outlined in the Southampton PDD is calculated at the time of granting the PDD designation. Having received the PDD designation, the Southampton landowner may develop his property as a conservation subdivision at any time and utilize the residential density yield bonus. Southold's RID legislation allows the landowner to collect the cash incentive only upon the completion ora minimum 8-year term (capped at 24 years) provided the land's development rights are sold only to the Town and, if completing a conservation subdivision, the criteria of 75% land preservation/75% density reduction are met in addition to selling development rights. At a recent meeting during the drafting of this proposed legislation, it was asked ifa landowner who otherwise met the criteria to receive the incentive payment (i.e., minimum enrollment period and preservation/density reduction requirements) could sell his development rights to Suffolk County and receive the incentive payment from the Town. The answer was that the Town would not want to tie its incentive payment to the County's appraisal, thus the proposed RID legislation is written to require that the Town purchase the development rights in order for the landowner to receive the incentive payment. LIFB reminds the Town that in the scenario outlined, the Town has enjoyed the benefit of voluntary land preservation for at least the minimum of eight years and iftbe landowner receives an offer from Suffolk County for the purchase of development rights, the Town should not discourage the sale, when in the long-run the Town benefits from the permanent preservation of the land while only paying the incentive, not the purchase of development rights cost per acre in addition to the incentive. LIFB cannot support this notion that development rights must be sold only to Southold Town in order for the landowner to receive the incentive. Remember, the goal is to preserve farmland. The more options a landowner and the Town have, the greater chance to accomplish that goal. Release The method by which a landowner may be released from Southold's RID is much more involved than that of the Southampton PDD. In Southampton, subsequent to completion of the minimum term enrollment of l0 years during which time the land has been in agricultural production, the landowner who wishes to terminate the PDD "shall submit a written notice to this effect to the office of the Town Clerk designating the termination date.'[§330-244, I. (1.)] (Or the Southampton landowner may have developed the property as a conservation subdivision at any time during the ten )'ears.) 2 Southold's proposed RID legislation also requires the landowner to provide written notice of his intention to withdraw from the program. This notice can be received no earlier than one year before the completion of the minimum 8-year term. Provided that the landowner has not completed a conservation subdivision and/or sold his development rights or fee title interest Jn the land to the Town during the previous seven years, and that the Town wants to complete the purchase of development rights (PDR) or fee title purchase on the parcel, this notice initiates an intense dialogue and negotiation phase between the landowner and the Town for the sale of the land's development rights or fee title purchase prior to a landowner's release from the Rural Incentive District. It must be understood that the proposed Rural Incentive District legislation is complex legislation which asks for a family's greatest asset (possibly) to be placed on the table, and such a decision can not be made lightly. Additionally, the Town has limited the possible properties available for consideration to those included in the Community Preservation Project Plan. As such, the Rural Incentive District is not a catch basin for every landowner. As the advocate for Long Island's agricultural industry, LIFB is also a strong proponent of private property rights. The proposed Rural Incentive District is a voluntary land preservation program which may aid farmers as they plan for their long-term, family needs. This RID legislation equips the Town with a pro-active planning tool to aid in achieving its land preservation and residential density reduction goals. In the most recent discussion which took place Monday, April l 1, 2005 with Southold farmers regarding this proposed RID legislation, the following viewpoints were expressed: 1. With the term requirements having been met, the incentive should be paid to those landowners meeting the Chapter A 106 criteria for a Conservation Subdivision (80% preservation/60% density reduction OR 75% preservation/75% density reduction) - not only those which meet the 75% preservation/75% density reduction criteria; 2. At agreement to the term easement upon acceptance into the RID, the landowner should receive a yield map based on his land's current zoning; this yield map remains in effect through participation and after withdrawal from the RID ensuring the farmer leaves with what he came in with and providing the Town with actual numbers by which to reduce density (PDR, TDR, fee title purchase); 3. All sub-dividable land should be eligible for inclusion in the Rural Incentive District; 4. A landowner should be able to withdraw from the RID with his land's original zoning intact and retain said zoning for two (2) years subsequent to withdrawal; 5. Support voiced for the 3-appraisal process, however, the proposed code lacks any method by which the Town is held accountable (i.e., if negotiations fail, the Town will not suffer any loss as the Landowner may). These points illustrate that although many people have worked long and hard on this proposed Rural Incentive District legislation, a few key details still need to be addressed. The Rural Incentive District's purpose is to facilitate the orderly preservation of farmland and open space over many years, to promote active farming for the long term, and to maintain the equity of the land over time. LIFB is concerned that the concept of the Rural Incentive District may be undermined by complexities within its currently proposed legislation, dooming it to failure. Long Island Farm Bureau urges the Town Board to fine-tune the proposed Rural Incentive District legislation with these observations by Southold farmers taken under advisement. We have all invested so much time and effort into this legislation - with a little more work, we can get it done. 04/13/2005 09:32 631727060:i___ FT~ST PIONEER F~RM C PAGE 01 TO: ~PHONE: FROM: PAGES 0,,el. cover First Pioneer Farm Credit, ACA 12gl Pie. 58 Rive~head, NY 11901 Phone: (631) 727-218g 1-800-890-302g FAX: (631) 727 -0603 04/12/2005 Mr. Josh Hot,on Stephen Weir If you could have Josh mad this prior to tonight's Public hearing. We would also appreciate your copying and presenting this to each Town board member prior to tonight's meeting. If you can not, please advise. Thank you. Leases Appraisals Financial Analysis and Reporting Business Consulting Estate Planning Financial Record Keeping Payroll Service Tax Preparation Business Software FIRST PIONEER FARM CREDIT,,4CA ,4 GRICUL TURAL FINANCIAL SER VICES RECEIVED APF~ 12 2005 Southoid Town Cleric 04/13/2805 09:32 ~317270603 FIRST PIONEER FARM C First Pioneer Farm Credit,, PAGE 02 April 12, 2005 Southold Town Joshua Y. Horton, Supervisor William Edwards, Council Member Louisa P. Evans, Council Member John M. Romanclli, Council Member Thomas H. Wi&ham, Council Member Town Hall, P. O. Box 1179 Southold, NY 11971 Dear Council; We have reviewed the Resolution presented to the Town Board titled "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". h is our commitment and ongoing intent to provide our best cffmls, resources and expertise to ' Long Island's agricultural communivj. A most important part of Long Island's agricultural future is a growing and available fannlend b~se. Maintaining a critical mass of farm land is critical to the future of Long Island agriculture. Every acre lost to nonfarm uses is a loss to farming and a loss ~o the Farm Credit System's future. We encourage all of your best efforts in this Resolution and ongoing efforts to afford Southold's farming families opportunities for success. The Resolution, as prepared, is a good start. In our opinion, however, it is not adequate to meet its stated goals, most imporlant of which is encouragement and incentives for farmland owners to enter a "RID" and increasing the rate at which farmland is preserved through easement. An amended Resolution containing changed exit provisions (SS100-176 B3, 4, 5 and 6) providing thc subject property be governed by the applicable zoning r~gulations in effect at thc time of thc enrollment in thc RID, instead of the exit from the RID would provide farmland owners and the Town with appropriate and sufficient positions from which to negotiate for permancnt preservation. As written, the exit provisions lack sullici~nt incentive for Town offers and will provide preservation success rates similar to today, which are less than desired. Increased preservation success rates can be achieved if farmland owners l~Sl Route 58 · Rlverhead, NY 11901-2097 · (800) $90.$028 · (631) 727.21S8 · FAX (631) 727-O603 The ~orm Credit System ~.qual Oppollunity/Affirmo~ive Action Elnployer M/Ir/H/V · Visit us ot w'w,,e.!~lrstPione~lr, com .84/13/2885 89:32 6317278689! FIRST PIONEER FARM C PAGE 83 perceive xp~mageable risk upon enlry in~o the RID and the Town perccives potcutial loss accumulations if nagofiations fail. As written, thc Town has little motivation to changc its negotiating behavior and pwccsses beyond those that exist today, regardless of how many appraisals are comple~i. We commend the Town and thc community for its continuing cfforts ~o support a viable agriculture and preserve our remaining open spaces. We hope you will continue to work on the current proposal to better accomplish these important goals, You can count on us for ou~ continued support to this end. Sincerely Stephen R. Weir Vice President ACORD TM CERTIFICATE OF PROPERTY INSURANCI DATE APR 11 06 PRODUCER THIS CERTIFICATE IS ISSUED AS A MATTER OF INFORMATION ROY H REEVE AGENCY, INC. ONLY AND CONFERS NO RIGHTS UPON THE CERTIFICATE PO BOX 54 HOLDER. THIS CERTIFICATE DOES NOT AMEND, EXTEND OR MATTITUCK NY 11952 ALTER THE COVERAGE AFFORDED BY THE POLICIES BELOW. COMPANIES AFFORDING COVERAGE COMPANY A Insurance Corporation of Hannover INSURED COMPANY TOWN OF SOUTHOLD B CIO SOUTHOLD TOWN HALL P.O. BOX 1179 COMPANY SOUTHOLD NY 11971 C COMPANY D COVERAGES THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE POLICIES OF INSURANCE LISTED BELOW HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO THE INSURE{) NAMED ABOVE FOR THE POLICY PERIOD INDICATED. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY REQUIREMENT TERM OR CONDITION OF ANY CONTRACT OR OTHER DOCUMENT WITH RESPECT TOWHICH THIS CERTIFICATE MAY BE ISSUED OR MAY PERTAIN, THE INSURANCE AFFORDED BY THE POLICIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IS SUBJEC~ TO ALL ~HE TERMS, EXCLUSIONS ANU CONDITIONE OF SUCH POLICIES. LIMITS SHOWN MAY HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY PAID CLAIMS ;O TYPE OF INSURANCE POLICY NUMBER POLICY EFFECTIVE POLICY EXPIRATION COVERED PROPERTY LIMITS .Tn DATE (MMIDDPfY} DATE (MM/DD/YY) CAUSES OF LOSS PERSONAL PROPERTY | BASIC H63P000302 JAN 1 05 JAN 1 06 BUSINESS INCOME $ = A --_ BROAD EXTRA EXPENSE $ X SPECIAL BLANKET BUILDING $ EARTHQUAKE BLANKET PERi PROP FLOOD X BLANKET BLDG & PP ~- 8,340,722 ~X_ INCLUDES THEFT INLAND MARINE TYPE OF POLICY S CAUSES OF LOSS $ NAMED PERILS $ OTHER $ CRIME $ TYPE OF POLICY $ ~ BOILER & MACHINERY $ LOCATION OF PREMISE~/DESCRIPT1ON OF PROPERTY Main Road, Southold, New York 11971 ~PECIAL CONDITIONS/OTHER COVERAGES CERTIFICATE HOLDER IS LISTED AS LOSS PAYEE WITH RESPECT TO 1 CANON COPIER IR2870 VALUED AT $50,897.00. AND ANOTHER CANON COPIER IR5020 VALUED AT $27.523.00. LEASE #'S ARE 0605233 & 060S232. COVERAGE IS EFFECTIVE 2/28105. I~ .... CERTIFICATE HOLDER CANCELLATION SHOULD ANY OF THE ABOVE DESCRIBED POLICIES BE CANCELLED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION DATE THEREOF THE ISSUING INSURER' WILL ENDEAVOR TO MAIL 10 DAYS WRI~EN NOTICE TO THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER N,%MED TO THE LEFT BUT Canon Business Solutions East FAILURE TO DO SO SHALL IMPOSE NO OBLIGATION OR LIABILITY OF ANY KIND UPON THE cio Premier Lease & Loan Services INSURER. ~S AGENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES 16325 S.E. 30th Place AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE . , ACORn 24 (1195) Certificate # 5726 Thomas A. Dickerson © ACORn CORPORATION 1995 LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIA, TEN that there has bccnprc- scnted to thc Town Board of thc Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York. on the 15th day of March. 2005 a Local Law entitled" a w' r I - tion to Rural Incentive Districts" NOTICE IS HERBY FUR- THER GIVEN that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid Local Law at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 .M, ain Road, ~outhold, New 'tork, on the 12m of April, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at which time all interested persons will be gwen an opportunity.' to be heard. The proposed Local Law enti- tled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" reads as follows: LOCAL LAW NO. 2005 A Local Law entitled, ",4. Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Southold as follows: L L?gislative Intent, Open space and farmland con- stitute key comp,o, nents of the Town of Southold s rural char- acter. These areas prey/de the ~ cornerstone of the land tlse en*i- ~ ' ronment valued by year-ronnd 1 residents as well as visitors. I Numerous planning documents t and studies in the Town's com- [ prehensive planning over the f past 20 years have recognized o this value and have recommend- I ed strategies to preserve these L ir resources. In recent years, the Town has engaged in an aggres- ~ stye effort to preserve open space and farmland through the l~ use of a variety of conservation -- tools, including purchase of ioo development rights, outright fee not title purchase, and cluster devel- la;;. opment. The Town has joined q~i with other governmental agen- jo roes at the Federal, State and p~m County levels, and with censer- :sa,, ration groups such as the ll~lt¢ Peconic Land Trust and the jo ~: Nature Conservancy, to fnrther 000' its efforts. u~ In addition, the Town has uom made use of various long- and ' short-term funding options to at[~ ~ purchase interests tn open space igu~ and farmland, such as the Comnrunit}, Pmserxation Fund (CPFI transfer tax. voter- approved bonds and grants. The Town Board recognizes that preservation efforts must contin- ue itt accordance with the Tow n's comprehcnsix e planning efforts and inittatives. Additional fimds will be required, and if possible, lever- aged, to enable the Tox~n to con- tinue to purchase interests in open space and farmland and retain the Town's rural character. The Town Board determines that its land preservation efforts can best be accomplished through a number of legislative initiatives. This local law cre- ates a ne~ incentive district, or floating zone classification. Known as the Rural Incentive District (RIDk thc RID is intended to encourage the preservation and conservation of open space and fnnuland, while ?treserving land eqaity. It is ltended to pt'o~ide incentive to Landowners dedicated to the preservation and conscrvation of open space and famlland, x~hile providing thc Town with a means to prioritize tan& at risk of development. New York State Toxin Law Scction 261-b provide, the fiamcwork to accomplish these goals. IL Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Southold is hereby amended to create a new Article XVII, as fol- lows: Sec. 100-170. Purpose, In order to provide for the safety, health attd welfare of the public, it is necessary and appro- priate to provide incentives for the preserxation of' lands in agri- cultural production and open space throughont the Town of Southold. This Local Law would do so by creating a Rural Incentive District by which identified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a mini- mum term easement with restrictions on development, and providing a mechanism for the negotiated purchase of tee title or development rights to such pa:rc~ls upon their end of the Local Law would also provide incentives to the landox~ner to renlain in the RID. and protec- tiop~ to cnsnre good faith bar- gaming. 100-171. Definitions. The tcmls and words ased in this Article shall bc eiven the meaning attd uses as c~efined in this Article, of if not defined herein, tl~osc defined or central- 15' attributable to them 'in other sections of this £ hapter. INCENTIVE ZONING DIS- TRICT A zoning district cre- Sectiml 261-b, wherein specific ed on the conditiun that specific physical, social or cahura/bene- fits or mnenitics would inure to thc community. 100-172. Classification. A. The Rural Incentive District (RI[)) is established as an lncentixe Zoning District suant to Town Law Section ~[~ b. B. The RID classification may' be considered on a floating zone basis. Upon rezoning to the RID classification, all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, con- trols andincetukes listed in the RID shall govern the lands sub- ject to the RID classification. All other restrictions and con- trois in the underlying zoning district shall remain applicable. 100-173. Requiretnents fgr Eligibility. All properties meeting the stan~tards and criteria set forth in this Article shall be deemed eli- ~ible for rezonine as a RID. In rdcr to be cnnsk~cred tbr tezon- in~ xdthin thc RID. lands m thc To~wn of Soathold must meet thc following criteria: A. Thc lands nmst consist or u sub-dividable parcel meeting thc Town's preservation goaN and included in thc Community Preservation Project Plan (CPPP). which may consist of u lot designated as a separate tax map number, or of two or more contiguous lots with separate tax map nmubers. A landowner may also appb' for thc rezoning of additional land contiguons to properly already in the RID clas- sification. B. A parcel must be land m anricultaral prodaction as d[fined ia Chapter 25 of the To~n Code et the Town of Soutbold. or open space, a~ defined in Chapter 50 of the Town Code of the Town Southold. C. Thc Town Board must find that thc parcel provides an enx i- ronmcntaL physical, ecunomic. aesthetic, social or coharal ben- efit to thc Town. 100-174. Zoning Approxal; Application and review proce- dure. The Town Board may rezone lands t~om that of their nndcrlv- in~ zoning district to tile RfD cl~ssifica~on upon written application of the landowner pursuant to this Article. A. Application. An applicant shall submit two (2~ copies of the following to the Town Board: 1. Fo~ of Application approved bv the Town Board. including th~ name of the owner an~or applicant, dcschption of cuwem use of the property, and disclosure affidavit; 2. Deedls) covering all lands fur which application made; 3. Sun'ey(s) or mapl~) showinu all [ands proposed to bc include~ within the RID, and an5 improvements on those lands. B. Enviromnenta[ Rexiew. The Town Board ~hall compl3 with SEQRA in acting upnn an3 application for the rezoning of an3 lands to thc RID clas4fica- lion. Fumhermore, pursaant to Town Lax~ Section 261-b. thc Town Board shall prepare u generic cnxdnnmcntal impact statement pursuant to 6 NYCRR 617.5 k~r any zonine district in which thc grhnting tff incentivc~ of bonuses have a significant efl~ct on the enx ironmenl before any sach district is desim~ated. an3 such statement shall [c sup- plemented I?om thnc to time by the Town Board if thcre arc material change~ in circum- stance~ that may result m leant adverse impacts. The applicant for RID classification shall pay a proportionate share of thc cost of preparing sach en~ ironmcntal impact statemem. C. Red, gal. After receipt ora complete application ~nc} thc conduct of al/required cnx irnn- nl~ntal r~x iew, thc Tow n Board shall ret~r the application [o thc Planning Board and to the Land Prese~,ation Comminee and. as applicable, to the Agricuhural Advised Committee, for review and recommendatinn. The Planning Board and other committees shall provide a rcpo~ within thi~' (30) days of the date of the meeting at which the ret~al is received. No action shall be taken by Town Board until receipt bf Planning Board repo~ and other Committee repo~s, as applica- ble. or the expiration of t% 3)- day review per~od, whicbcxer comes first. Thc rexicw periud ma5 be exter, ded b,', mntual con- sent of the applicant, the Tox,,n Board. the Planning Board, and. as applicable, thc [ ~tnd Preservation C{nnmittec attdor the :\gricultm'al .~,d~ isory Committee. D. Phnnfing Board Report Tire Planning Board ma5 recom- mend approval, approval aith conditions, or disapprox al of the propogcd rezonmg. In preparing ~ts report, thc Planning Board shall take into accoant the rec- ommendations of thc Southold ~own Farm and Farmland Protection Strategy, adopted as policy by Town Board resolution of JanuaO' 18. 2000 and ,upport- ing docmnents, the >tudie~ con- tained in the Tow n's eomprehen- >ire phmnmg ct'fu~s and initia- tives, the existing characteristics of thc propert3 and the ~tn'- rounding properties, thc emi- ronmcntal, social, phy,ical, ac,- thetic, economic and cnhural aspects of thc property and its surrounding,, and sach other ~UC[O['S as ma5 be necessaB' carrx otn thc purpo~e~ of thi, Amcle and this Chapter. Uae Phmning Board shull further ex aluatc the effects of the incen- tives provided b5 xirtne of the prnvision of lbo connllttnity ben- cfit, i.e.. thc presort atkm ofagri- tahara[ landq or open ,pace, and whether the subject parcel contlLin adequute resources, emirnnmemal quality and pub- Itc Pacilitics. including adequate transportation, watcx supply. waste dioosal and fire protec- tion. Tile Planning Board's rcpo~ shall prnvidc detailed rea- >OhS fur its rcconlmendation. E. Pablic ltearmg. Within thi~v 130) day5 of the receipt of tl~c 0lanning Board rcpofl, or thc e3piration of the Planning Board resiew perle& ~ hichever occars first, the Tox~n Board shall I~old a public hearing on the applica- tion. xdth thc same notice pre- scribed for zoning amendments. F. %wn Bourd Action. Within thim' (30) days nfthc date of the closing of tl~( public hcahng, the Tox~n Board shall either approve or disapprove the rczoaing and file its decision with the Toxxn Clerk. xdth noPce to thc appli- cant. In approving sach rczon~ in~. the Tow n board shalL deter- mine, after considcling thc Planning Board's reconnncnda- tion. and c~alnutinu thc xxhich arc possible b5 xirtue of amenities, that thc snbicct pnrccl environmental quailb and pub- Itc lhcilitics, mcltulmg adequate turn. and that there xxill bc no ~ignificant cnx ir,mmentally compatible with thc dexclop- approxcd, thc Io~n Board shall amend the 7oning map uf thc approval and funvard a cop3 thc re~olution containing thc decision to the Planning Board, Committee, the Agricultural Advise%' Committee. and thc applicunt. Any such approval shall be subject to tt~c Conditions nf Approval as Scl ~brth below in 100-175 of this Chapter. 100-175. Conditions nf Approval. A. Easemem. 1. Following a public hearing attd appro'~al of the rezoning pursuara to Chapter 100 of the Town Code and Chapter 247 of the General Manicipal Law. thc Landowner shall enter a Prc~,et'x, alion ~ascnlcnt ( the "Eusetnenl"} ,xith thc Foxxn. in the tm'm prox idcd by thc Iox~n. xduch 5ha[I include thc tbllox~- lng: a. An agreement that thc properb t~ ill remain a~ open space as defined in Chapter 59 of thc Tox~ n Code of the Tux~ n of Soathold. or in agricuhnral pro- dnction a~ defined in Chapter 25 of thc %~ n Code of thc Tm~ n of Southold, for a minimum eight ~8} 5 carq. except as prox id- ed in Section tU0-177. SubdivNinn and~or 100-179. Hardship Exit of this Article. b. Restriclions regard- lng permitted principal and accessed~ uses nn thc property as scl ~'orth m Section 175.B. c. Restrictions Ibr the construction oF principal and uccessory ,tructul'CS on thc prop- crtv a~ ~et fin'th in Scclion IO0- d. Procedures limumg an5 >abdixi~ion of the propetl5 to a Conset'x alien Stlbdi~ ision or Open Development Area. c. Tcrnlinulion ptocc- dnt'c~ a5 scl [bt~[/ in 5Cclion 176. [:xn from thc RID ;tnd or 100-17~L ~at'dqlip Exit of this Article. x ided in ~cction II}U- ] 7S. g. Notwilh.tanding proxisions of Soclion 175.B.. land included ~Gthm a New 5~.'k Agricnlmral District pursuant to Article 25AA of thc Agricahural District Law .hall 2. /be ca~emcnt shull bc in 3. The casement shall recorded m thc ofllcc of thc Stlt~blk Counl5 Clerk. I. Open Space a~ defined m Chapter 50 of tho Trax n ('ode of the Town of Southold. Open and fallow field, Ina> be Prodnction x~ ilhont pcnalt5. stt~iect to all applicublc rc.u'ic- lund~ in th~ apphcaglc zonmg districtl~}. {100-176. kxitfl'umthc RID. A. Thc Rurn] Incentive District {RID~ cmolhncnt shall 18) years. The Landowner may beyond thc initial mght-year term indefinitely. The in the RID prior to the cxpirution of the minimum term only by completing a Conservation Al06 of the -Fox~n Cnde of the Town of SonthokL Snbdix Nion of kand, or pnr, uam to Section 100-17g Hardship Exit, as pro- vided herein. Upon completion by follo~ lng fl~c proccdure~ pro- tided herein~ ~l~e To~n Board p[~s -sa~d ~hall approve such exit from the MD and amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance wire such exit and provide notifica- tion of such approval and ainendment to the Town Clerk, the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Committee and the Landowner. B. ~ At any time during the easement period the Town may o~er to purchase or the Landowner may offer to sell the development rights or fee title of all or of part of the parcel. This offer may be initiated at the dis- cretion of either the Town or the Landowner, by written notice to the other. Should the Town not have made an offer to and reached an agreement with the Landowner to purchase develop- merit rights or fee title of the subjectproperty after the first ~even (7)years of the minimum term RID Easement, the Landowner may exit the RID by providing the Town with a mini- mum of one (1) year's written notice of the Landowner's inten- tion to withdraw from the RID. Notice may be given on a date no earlier than one (1) year prior to the end of the minimum term. If such notice is given, the fol- lowing procedure shall apply: (t) Within forty-five (45) cal- endar days of r,eceipt of a notice of Landowner s written inten- tion to withdraw, the Town shall ~erovide the Landowner with a tter of intent. The letter of intent shall either inform the Landowner of the Tm`,n's desire to. purchase development rit, hts or fee title of the subject proper- ty, or release the Landowner from the RID. If the Town's let- ter of intent releases the Landowner, the Landowner is free to leave the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of thc Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw. Failure of the Town to respond within forty-five (45) calendar days shall constitute such a release. In the event of such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to.the zoning regulations appli- cable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enroll- ment in the RID for a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. In no event shall the Landowner be permit- ted to exit the RID prior to the expiration of the minimum term except as provided in either of Sections 100-177 Subdivision or 100-179 Hardship Exit below. (2) If the Landowner has not been released from the RID by the Town as provided above, within three (3) months of the T6wn's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraxv, the Town shall prepare an appraisal of the parceland make an offer to the Landowner based upon the appraisal. The Land Preservation Committee shall issue a set of written guidelines and assumptions for the prepara- tion of all appraisals for the sub- ject property under this Article. All appraisals under this Article shall also follow the general guidelines for the conduct of ~rppraisals, which shall be issued om time to time by the Land Preservation Committee and made available to Landowners prior to the enrollment of the subject property in the RID. Included among those guide- lines shall be the requirement that appraisals be conducted on the assumption that the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the enr~,llment in thc RID remain al: able to the subject property., the time of the appraisal. Failure of the Town to prepare an appraisal and make an offer within three (3) months of its receipt of the Landowner's written notice shall automatical- ly release the Landowner from the RiD at the end of one years' time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice but in no event prior to the expi- ration of the minimum term. In the event of such mlease, the Landowner shall be elttitled to the zoning regulations applica- ble to the subject property in effect at the time of the enroll- ment in the RID for a period of three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. (3) Within forty-five (45) cal- endar, days of receiving the Town s offer, the Landowner may either accept the offer from the Town, make a counteroffer based upon an appraisal provid- ed by the Landowner to the Town, or reject the Town's often Any such appraisal from which an offer is made must conform to the guidelines and assump- tions issued by the Land Preservation Committee for that property. If the Landowner makes a counteroffer, and pro- ,,'ides its appraisal, the Town shall disclose its initial appraisal to the Landowner at such time. If the Landowner rejects the Town's offer or fails to respond with a counteroffer and apprais- al within such fort's-fi~c 1451 days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time fi'om the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw but in no cxent prior to the expiration of the minimuln tem~ requirement. and the subject propett): ~,hall bc governed b~, the applicable zmt- mg regulattons in effect at thc time of such exit from thc RID. (4) If thc Landowner make~, a cmmteroft'cr based upon a dis- closed appraisal and thc Laudowner's appraisal and thc Town's disclosed appraisal are no. more than ten percent ( 10°ol apart, (i.e., the lesser of thc two appraisals is ninety percent (90%) or more of the greater of the t`,vo), the parties shall endeavor to reach an agrcenlent. lfthe parties are unable to reach an agreement within thirty (30) calendar days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's recetpt of thc Landowner's writ- ten notice of intent to withdra;v. but in no event prior to the expi- ration of the minimum tenn, and upon exit, the subject properiy shall be goyemed by the appli- cable zoning regulations ~n effect at the time of such exit from the RID. (5) If the Landowner makes a counteroffer based upon a dis- closed appraisal and the appraisals are more than ten per- cent (10%) apart, and if the Town and the Landowner are unable to reach an agreement on the basis of the two disclosed appraisals within thirty (30) cal- endar days, at the election of either party, a third appraisal shall be conducted in confor- mance with the guidelines and assumptions mutually agreed upon by the parties. The parties shall jointly agree on the selec- tion of a party to prepare such third appraisal, which appraisal shall be disclosed to both par- ties. If the parties are unable to agree upon the third appraiser within ten (10) days, an apprais- er not previousl7 disclosed by either party in t~e negotiations shall be selected at random from a list of appra?ers pcrioaicatly establishedb5 the Ton oard pursuant to this Local La,,. The parties shall share equally in the expense of the third appraisal. which shall be completed within si.xty 160) days. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the third appraisal, the Town ma5 elect to consider the average amount listed in the three disclosed appraisals as its Final Offer. If the Town elects not to do so. the Landowoer may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's ~-eceipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, without penalty, and the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for three 13) years subse- quent to the exit from lhe RID. (6} If the Landowner elects not to ,accept the Final Oft'er extend- ed by the Town within thirty (39) dayg of such Final Offer, the Landowner will be deemed by default to remain in the RID unless the Landowner gives express written notice to the Town, within that time, that the Landowner intends to exit the RID. with the understanding that the property shall be subject to the zoning regulatioos in effect at' the time of such exit. If the Landowner provides such timely written not,ce, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landor, ncr's ~ Tit- ten notice of intent to withdrav, but in no exent prior to thc expi- requirement, and npon exit the suttiect property shall bc gox- crned by the applicable zmting regulati~ms in ctfect at thc time- of such exit from thc RID. If such notice of exit is not pro~ id- ed. the Landowner shall remain in the RID and shall on[5 bc entitled to restart the exit process pi'o~idcd itt this section time fl'out its ~hilnrc to accept the Final Offer. 17} Within twclvc 112} months of the Town's receipt of thc kandowner's written noticc of intent to withdraw from thc RID. the Tov. n and the kandowner shall have concluded the afore- mentioned process. If the thc contrac~ shall be signed within thirt5 130) days and all good thith efforts shall be made to conduct the closing `,`,ithin thirt) 130) days after contract sigmng. The specific deadlines provided herein may be extend- ed only upon the mutual written consent of both the Town and Landownen 8100-177. Sabdivision. During the easemem period, a hmdowner may apply to develop the propert3, as a Conservation Subdivision pursnant to Chapter Al06 of the Town (.'ode of the Town of Southold, Subdivision of Land. During the period of time the subject property remains in the RID. the Landowncr's application for such Conservation Subdivision shall be governed bi,' the appl.i- cable lot area reqmrements m effect at the time the subject property entered the RID. and pursuant to the procedures employed by the Land Preservation Department, with- out reference to the appraisal process set tbrth above. During such application process, the RID classification shall rentain in effect. ,~100-178, Easement Term In the evem the Town and L I, ~.egals from preceding pag~ nt th TOV(N OF RIVERHEAD a NOTICE TO BIDDERS up Sealed Bid~ tbr To SIGNS AND RELATE[ cm ~ for the use of tht for Riverhead Highway Departmen Ea~'ei,E,d'rerm, ~/s fiSllo'~,s: I. A payment at the rate of 1.25 percent (0.0125) of the agreed- upon-purchase price for each year, or fi'action thereon that thc properD' for which the Town has acquired lee title or the develop- ment rights, has remained in the RID. 2. In the e`,'ent such exit from the RID occurs via completion of a Consep,'ation Subdivision, such payment shall only be made for properpy for whidh the Town has acquired fee title or development rights. 3. In the event that such exit from the RID occurs ,,'ia com- pletign of a Conservation Subdivision, such payment shall be made only if such Conservation Subdivision meets the requirements of a 75/75 Conservation Subdivision in accordance with the definitions and procedures set forth in Chapter Al06. Subdivision of Land. 4. Such payment shall only be made thr a maximum period of twenty-four (24) years, or a ~naxir~um total of thirty' percent 130%) of the total purchase price of the fee title or development rights. 6100-179. Hardship Exit. A Landowner may request early terntination of the Easement by filing a written request with thc Town Clerk. The Town Board :,hall hold a public hearing upon notice, and may, upon its discretion, grant such a request upon a showing of undue hardship or extraordi- nary circumstances, incinding but not limited to death, illnes~, Ol catastrophic economic loss. rite Town Board ma.,, release thc Landowner fi'om the oblioations of the RID immediateb' and without penalB,, ht the e~ent the Town Board grants such a release, the Lando~ner shall be entitled to the zoning t~gulations applicable to the subject proper- ~' in effect at the time of the enrollment io the RID tbr a peri- od of three 13 ~ years subsequent to the exit from-the RID. In the e,,ent that a hardship release from the RID is granted to the Landowner subsequent to a change in zoning applicable to the subject property, the grant of such a release shall be condi- tioned upon the Landowner's pro~ ision to the Town of a right of first refusal on the purchase of development rights or fee title to the sabject property during the entirety of the three (3) year period of zoning protection. §100-179.1. Article 78 Procedure. A person aggrieved under this Article may tde an Article 78 proceeding. Such proceeding shall be commenced within thir- ty (30) days of the filing of the decision with the office of the Town Clerk. IlL SEVERABILITY If any clause, sentence..para- graph, section, or part otthis Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdic- tion to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect the validity of this law as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be nnconsritutional or invalid. I~.5 EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS JERIIA'N B. WOOD}lOUSE Chair WILLIAm4 J. £'REMERS KENNETH L. EDWARDS MARTIN H. SIDOR (iEt)RGE D. SOLOMON PLANNING BOARD OFFICE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD ~MLING ADDRESS: P.O Box 1179 Southold, ~ 11971 OFFICE ll)~ATION: Town Hall Annex 54375 Sta~e Route 25 ,cot. Main ~d. & Youngs Ave. Sou thold. ~ Telephone: ~31 7~5-1938 F~: 631 765-813~ Memorandum To: Joshua Y. Horton, Supervisor Members of the Town Board From: Jeri Woodhouse, (Thairwoman Members of the P!tarming Board Re: Proposed Local Law pertaining to the Rural Incentive District Date: April 6, 2005 The proposed legislation is intended to provide a tool whereby property owners muy protect their equity in the current existing zoning classification of their property for a period of eight years or more. Tile proposed legislation provides a mechanisln whereby landowners of' further sul~dividable property may petition for permission to retain existing zoning density for an indeterminate amount of time. The legislation also provides for att incentive to the land owner according to the amount of time tile laodoxx ncr elects to stay io the district. Tile Planning Board comments are as tbllows. Since the legislation sets up a rezoning procedure, is the Town Board required lo coordinate with the Suffolk County Planning Commission as well as the Town Planning Board? See Chapter 100-174. If so, please change the .30 day response period to the required 45 days. The Comptroller should set aside funds to ensure the acquisition of an_~ land that is rezoned pursuant to this legislation. Chapter 100-172.B. states that the rezoning to the RID classificatioo means that "all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern...". Ifowever, there is uo listing of such in the proposed legislation. We recolnmend that this listing be included. Ifa listing is included, Chapter 100-172.B., which states "All other restrictions and controls itl the underl)4ng zoning district shall remain applicable" x~ ill be self- evident. Chapter 100-174.B. states in the last senteoce that the applicant for the RID classification shall pay a proportionate share of the cost of preparing such environmental impact statement. We recomlnend defining what is mean! by the term "proportionate share" and, also, noting x~ Ilo will make tile detemfination. Chapter 100-174.B. states that the Town Board must prepare an "environmental impact statement". Environmcntal [mpact Statements arc' required when the Icad agency determines that an action may have a significant environmental impact, in other words, a Positive Declaration. This wording implies that all proposed rezooings will receive a positive declaration, which is not necessarily true. It is suggested that this phrasing be changed and thc words "environmental assessment form" be substituted. Please contact the depamnent xxith any questions. ELIZABETH Ao NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REG-ISTR~4.R OF VIT.&L STAT[STIC~ 13,,LAIt R IAG E OFFICER RECORDS ML~NAGEMENT OFFICI~2, R FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER Town Hall. 53095 Main Road F'.O. B,~x 1179 Southold, New York 11971 Fax ~63D 765-6145 Telephone ~ 631 ~ 765-1800 southoldiown north£ork.net OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD March 22. 2005 Re: Resolutions No. 134 ce,: 1~35 regarding proposed Local Lax,.' in relation to %5 Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive DistlfCtS "of the Code of the Town of Southold Jeril)~ B. Woodhouse, (?hainnan Southold Town Plalming Board Southold Town Hall Southold, New York 11971 Dear Ms. Woodhouse: The Southold Town Board at their regular meeting held March 15, 2005 adopted the above resolutions. Certified copies ofsanle are enclosed. Please prepare an official report defining the Planning Board's recommendations with regard to this proposed local law and forward it to me at your earliest convenience. This proposed local law has also been sent to the Suffolk County Plamung Department for their rexiew. The date and time for the public hearing is 8:00 PM, Tuesday, .-X_p~5l 12. 2005. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. ]7hank you. Very truly yours, Southold Town Clerk Enclosures 12) cc: Town Board Toy. n Attorney ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REI~i.qTR;\R ( )F VITAL STATI,NTIC>; MARRIAf;E ( )FFI('ER RECORD,q MANAtiEMENT OFFICER FREEDIJM ()F INFORMATI( )N OFFICiER Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 1179 Sout hold, New York 11971 Fmx 16311 765-6145 Telepho ne ~ 6311 765-18(~0 sou[holdtown.nort h£ork.~et OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD Tills IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION NO. 135 OF 2005 WAS ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ON MARCH 15, 2005: RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold authorizes and directs the Town Clerk to transmit the proposed Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rnral Incentive Districts" to the Southold Town Planning Board and the Suffolk County Department of Planning for their recommendations and reports. Elizabeth A. ~eville Sonthold Town Clerk LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that there has been presentecl to the To,,vn Board of the Tox,, n of Southold, Suflblk County, Ncx,. York, on the 15th day of March. 2(11~5 a Local La,,x entitled "A Local Lnw in relntion to Roral Incentive Districts" NOTICE IS HERBY FURTHER GIVEN that tile To,,,, n Board of the ] oxxn of Southold ,,,.'ill hold a public hearing on the albresaid Local Lax,.' itt thc Southnld Tox,. n Hall, 53095 Mairt Road, Southold. Nex,, York. on the I? of April, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at which time all inlerested persons ,,,, ill be given all opportunity to be heard. Thc proposed Local La,,,,' entitled. "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" reads ins £olloxx s: LOCAL LAW NO. 2005 A Local Lax,.' entitled. "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". BE IT ENACTED by tile To,,,, n Board o£the Town of Southold as tblloxxs: I. Legislative [ntenl. Open space and fb. rmland constitute key components of the Town of Sotlthold's rural character. These areas provide the cornerstone of the land use enxironment cahtcd by year-round residents as well as visitors. Nmnerous planning documents and studies itl the Tox,, n's comprehensive plamling ox er tile past 20 3'ears ha,,'e recognized this value and have recomn3endcd strategics to preser,,'e these resources. In recent years, the Wowll [las engaged in an aggressive eflbrt to preserve open space and t;amtland through the use of a variety of consel;'ation tools, including purchase of de,,'elopmeot rights, outright fee title purchase, and cluster development. The Town has joined ,,~ ith other governmental agencies at the Federal, State and County le,.'els, and with conservation am'cups such as thc Peconic Land Trust and the Nature Conser,.'ancy, to further its efforts. In addition, the Town has made use of various long- and shomtcnn funding options to purchase interest,.; in open space and farmland, such as the Conmmnit3 Preservation Fund (CPF) transfer tax, voter-approved bonds and grants. The Town Board recognizes that preserx ation efforts must continue in accordance with tile Toxx n's comprehensive planning efforts and initiatives. Additional lands/x ill be required, and if possible, lex eraged, to enable tile Toxxn to continue to purchase interests io open space and l:armland and retain tile Toxx n's rural character. The ~lown Board detemfines that its land preservation efforts can best be accomplished througb a number of legislative initiatives. This local laxx c reales a new iucentive district, or floating zoue classification. Knox~n as the Rural lnceotive District (RiD k the RID is intended to cncourage the preservatioo and conservation o£ open space and farmland, wllil¢ prcser~ ing land equity. It is intended to proxide incentive to Landoxxners dedicated to the prescrvation and conservation of open space and fiumland. while providing the Town with a meaos to prioritize lands at risk of development. New York State Town Law Section 261-b provides the framework to accomplish these goals. Il. Chapter !00 of the Code of the Town of Sonthold is hereby amended to create a new Article XVIL as follows: Sec. 100-170. Propose. In order to provide for tile safety, health and xx elfare of tile pnblic, it is necessary and appropriate to provide incentives tbr the preservation of lands in agricultural production and open space throughout the Toxxn of Sontbold. This Local Law would do so by creating a Rural Incentive District by which ideotified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a minimum term easement with restrictions on development, and providing a mechanism for the negotiated purchase of fee title or development rights to such parcels upon their end of the minimnm easement term. The Local Law ~xould also provide incentives to the landowner to remain in the RID, and protections to ensure good faith bargaining. 100-171. Definitions. The temls and words used in this Article shall be given the meaning and uses as defined in this Article, or ifoot defined hereio, those defined or generally attributable to them in other sections of this Chapter. INCENTIVE ZONING DISTRICT -- A zoning district created pursuant to Tox~ n Law Section 201-b. wherein specific incentixes or bonuses are granted on the condition that specific physical, social or cultural benefits or amenities v, ould inure to the commnnity. 101)-172. Classification. A. The Rural Incentive District (RID) is established as an Incentive Z.)ning District pursuant to Town Law Section 261-b. B. The RID classification may be considered on a floating zone basis. Upon rezoning to the RID classification, all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern the lands subject to the RID classification. All other restrictions and controls in the underlying zoning district shall remain applicable. 100-173. Requirements tbr Eli~oibilitv. All prope~-ties meeting the standards and criteria set forth in this z~Mlicle shall be deemed eligible for rczoning as a RID. In order to be considered for rezoning within the RID, lands in the Town of Soathold must mcct the following criteria: A. The lands must consist of a sub-dividable parcel meeting thc Toxx n's preservation goals and included in the Community Preservation Project Plan ICPPP). which may consist ora lot designated as a separate tax map mtmber, or of two or nlore contiguous lots with separate tax map nmrrbers. A landowner may also apply for the rczoning of additional land contiguous to property already in the RID classification. B. A parcel tnust be land in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, or open space, as defined in Chapter 59 or'the Town Code of the Town of Southold. C. The Towtt Board must find that the parcel provides an environmental, physical, economic, aesthetic, social or cultural benefit to the Town. 100-174. Zoning Approval; Application al'id re,.'iex,, procedure. The Town Board may rezone lands from that of their underlying zoning district to the RID classification upon written application of the landowner pursuant to this Article. A. Applicatioo. An applicant shall submit two 12) copies of thc tbllowmg to the ¥own Board: 1. Form of Application approved by the Toxxn Board, including the name of the owner and. or applicant, description ofcun'ent use of the propetxv and disclosure affida~ it; 2. Deed(s) covering all lands [br which application is made; 3. Survey(s) or map(s) showing all lands proposed to be included within thc RID, and any improvetnents on those lands. B. Envirom~aental Review. The To~x n Board shall comply witb SEQRA io acting upon any application for tbe rezoning of any lands to the R~ classification. Furthermore. pur:suant to Town Law Section 261-b, the Town Board shall prepare a generic envirom~ental impact statement pursuant to 6 NYC~ 6 l 7.5 tbr an) zoning district in which lhe granting of incentives o f bonuses hax e a significant effect on the enviromnent betbre any such district is designated, and such statement shall be supplemeoted fi'om time to timc by thc To~x n Board if there are material changes in circumstances that may result in significant adverse impacts. The applicant [br RID classification shall pay a proportionate sbare of the cost of preparing such enviromnental impact statement. C. Refe~al. After receipt of a COlnplete application and the conduct of all required environmeotal ret'iew, the Toxxn Board shall reIkr the application to the Planning Board and to the Land Preservation Comminee and, as applicable, to the A~icultural &dvisory Committee, for review and recommendation. The Plamfing Board and other committees shall provide a repon witbin thirty (30) days of the date of the meeting at which the retbrl-al is received. No action shall be taken by tbe Toxin Board until receipt of the Planning Board report and other Committee repo~xs, as applicable, or the expiration of its ~,0-dax review period, whichevcr comes first. The review period may be exlended by mutual consent of the applicant, the Town Board, the Planning Board, and. ~s applicablc. the Land Presen~.~tion Committee and, or the Agricultural Advisory Committee. D. Plamfing Board Repolt. The Plamfing Board may rccommend approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the proposed rezoning. In preparing its repo~, the Plmming Board shall take into account the recommendations of the Soutbold Town Farm and Fannland Protection Strategy, adopted as policy by Town Board resolution of 4 January 18, 2000 and supporting documents, the studies contained in the Town's colnprehensive plamfing efforts and initiatives, the existing characteristics of the property and the sun-ounding properties, thc cnvironmental, social, physical, aesthetic, economic and cultural aspects of the property and its surroundings, and such other factors as may be nccessary to can':,, out thc purposes of this Article and this Chapter. The Plamfing Board shall fi~rther evaluate the effects of thc incentives providcd by virtue of the provision of the community benefit, i.e., the preset-~ation of agricultnral lands or open space, and whether the subject parcel will contain adequate resources, environmental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and firc protection. The Plamfing Board's report shall provide detailed reasons for its recommendation. E. Public Hearing. Within thirty {30) days of the receipt of the Planning Board report, or the expiration of the Planning Board re~ iew period, whichever occurs first, the Town Board shall hold a public heariug on tile application, with the same notice prescribed fbr zoning amendments. F. Town Board Action. Within thirty (30) days of the date of thc closing of thc public hearing, the Town Board shall either approve or disapprox e the rezoumg and file its decision with the Town Clerk, with notice to the applicant. In approving such rezoning, the Town hoard shall detemfine, alter considering the Planning Board's recommendation, and evaluating the effects of any potential incentives which are possible by virtue of the provision ofcommmfity amenities, that the subject parcel contains adequate resources, enviromnental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection, and that there will be no significant enviromnentally damaging consequences and that such incentives or bonuses are compatible with the dex elopment othe~",vise permitted. If approved, the Town Board shall amend tile zoning map of the Town in accordance with the approval and forward a cop.,,' of the resolution containing tile decision to the Planning Board. the Land Preservation Committee, the Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the apphcant. Any such approval shall be subject to the Conditions of Approval as set Ibrth below in 100- 175 of this Chapter. 100-175. Conditions of ApproYal. A. Easement. 1. Following a public hearing and appro`, al of the rezoning pursuant to Chapter 100 o l' tile Town Code and Chapter 247 of the General Municipal Law, the Landowner shall enter a Prese~'ation Easement (tile "Easement") w~th the Town, in tire form provided hy tile Town. ~`. hich shall include Ihc following: a. An agreement that the property will t'emain as open space as defined in Chapter 59 of tile Town Code of the Town of Southold, or in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the To,,,, n Code of the Town of Southold, f'ora mininmm of eight I8) )'ears, except as pro¥ided in Section l(}0-177. Subdivision andor 100-179. Hardship Exit of this Article. b. Restrictions regarding pernfitted principal and accessory us. es on the property as set forth in Section 100-175.B. c. Restrictions tbr the construction of principal and accessory structures on the prope~ty as set tbrth in Section 100-175.B. d. Procedures linfiting any subdivision of the propet~ty to a Conserxation Sabdixision or Open Development Area. e. Termination procedures as set forth in Section 100-176. Exit t'rom the RID atnd"or 100-179. Hardship Exit of this ,~:ticle. f. An a~'eement to compensate tile Landowner tbr tile Easement teml in tile ex ent of a sale to the To`.`. n of fee title or development rights, as provided in Section 100-178. g. Notwithstanding tile provisions of Section 100-175.B., land included w~thin a New York Agricultural District pul-suant to )ffticlc 25AA of the Agricultnral District La`.x shall retain the benefits of such inclusion. 2. The e.~sement shall be ill a form acceptable to the Landowner, the Town Attorney's office and consistent `.x ith the Town's tbrm of Prcsen'ation Easement. 3. Tire e.xsement shall be recorded in tile Office of the Sul'tblk Courtly Clerk. B. Permitted Uses and Structures During the Easement Period. 6 Open Space as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold. Open space lands may be convet~cd to, and fidloxx fields may be returned to, Agricultural Prodnction ~x ithout penalty'. Agricultural Production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Toxxn Code of the Town of Sou,bold. hnprox ements to existing structures and the construction ofne~t structures on agricultural lands shall remain snbject to all applicable restrictions, standards and protections as would govern agricultural lands in the applicable zoning districtl s). :~B)1)-176. Exit from the RID. A. The Rural[ Incentive District (RID) enrolhncnt shall ha~ e a minimum term of eight (8) years. Thc Landowner may elect to continue enrollment beyond the initial eight-year term indefinitely. The Landowner may exit enrolhnent in the RID prior to the expiration oF the minimum term only' by completing a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter ALII6 of the To~ n Code of thc Town of Sou,bold, Subdivision of Land. or pursaant to Section 100-179 Hardship Exit. as prox ided herein. Upon completion o f the minimum tem~, tim Landowner may exit enrolhnent by Following the procedures provided berein. The Town Board shall approve such exit fi'om the RID and amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance xxitb such exit and prox ide notification of such approval[ and amendment to the Town Clerk. the Planning Board, the Land Presetwation Colnmittee and the Landowner. B. At any time during tile easement period tile Town may offer to ptn'cbase or the Landowner may' offer to sell the development rights or fee title of all or of part of the parcel. This offer may be initiated at the discretion of either the Town or the Landowner, by written notice 1o the other. Should the Toxin not bare made an offer to and reached all agreement with tile Landowner to purchase development rights or fee title of the subjcct property after the first seven (7) years of the nmfimum term RI[) Easement, ~hc Landowner may exit the RID b). providing the Toy. n with a minimum of eric ( 1 ) year's writ,ch notice oflhe Landowner's intention to withdraw fi-om the RID. Notice may be gix en on a date no earlier than one (1) 3'ear prior to the end of the nlinimum term. If such notice is given, the tbllowing procedure shall apply: (2) Within fbrty-fivc 145} calendar days o£receipt ora notice of' Landowner's xx ritten intention to withdraw, the Town shall provide the Landowner/x ith a letter of intent. The letter of intent shall either inform the Landowner of thc Town's desire to purchase development rights or tee title of the subject property, or release the Landoxx ncr fi-om thc RID. It' the Town's letter of intent releases the Landowner~ the Landowner is fi-ee to leave the RID at the end of one 5ear's tinle from thc To,~x n's receipt of`the Lando,.x ne["s written notice of intent to withdraw. Failnre of the Town to respond within forty-fi¥c 1'45) calendar days sball constitute snch a release. In the event of'such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to thc subject property in eWect at tile time of the enrollment in the RID for a period of three 131 .,,'ears subsequent to the exit fi-om the RID. tn no exent shall tile Landowner be permitted to exit the RID prior to the expiration of thc minimuln term except as prox ided in either of Sections 100-I 77 Subdivision or 100-179 Hardship Exit below. If the Landowner has not been released fi'om the RiD by the Toxxn as provided above, within three 13) months of the Town's receipt of'the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, the Town shall prepare an appraisal of the parcel and make ail offer to the Landowner based upon tim appraisal. The Land Preserxation Committee shall isstle a set of written guidelines and assumptions tbr tile preparation of all appraisals, fi)r the subject prope]L'ty under tbis Article. All appraisals under this Article shall also follow the general guidelines for thc conduct of appraisals, which shall be issued t¥om time to time by the Land Preservation Committee and made available to Landowners prior to tile eorolhnent of the subject property in the RID. Included among those guidelines shall be the requirement that appraisals be conducted on the assumption that the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the enrolhnent in the RID remain applicable to the subject property at tile time c,l'the appraisal. Failure of`ttle Tov~n to prepare an appraisal and make ail offer xx ithin three 13) months of`its receipt of thc Landowner's written notice shall automatically release thc Landowner i'roni the RID a~ the end of one years' time f`rom the Town's receipt of the Landox~ net's written notice but 8 in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum tenn. hi the event of such release, the Lando~ ncr shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID tbr a period of three 13) years subsequent to the exit fi'om tile RID. {3) Within ibrty-five {451 calendar days of receiving the Town's offer, the Landowner may either accept the offer from the Town, make a cuunteroffer based upon an appraisal provided by tile Landowner to the Town. or reject the Town's offer. -&Lv such appraisal from x~hich an offer is lnade must conform to the guidelines and assumptions issued by the Land Presel~,ation Committee lbr that property. If the Landowner makes a counteroffer, and provides its appraisal, the Town shall disclose its initial appraisal to the Landowner at such time. I[fthe Landowner rejects the Town's offer or fails to respond xx'ith a counteroflier and appraisal within such forty-five 145} days. the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdrax~ but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum tet'm requirement, and the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the tm~e of such exit from Ibc RID. (4) If the Landowner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and tile Laudowner's appraisal and the Towu's disclosed appraisal are no more than ten percent 110%} apart. (i.e., the lesser of the two appraisals is ninety percent (90%~ or more of tile greater of the twol, the parties shall endeavor to reach an agreelnent. If the pm~ies are unable to reach an agreemcut within thirty 130) calendar days. the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Lando~ner's written notice of intent to withdraw, but in no event prior to the expiratiou of the minimum tempi, and upon exit. the subject property shall be governed by thc applicable zoning regulations in effect at thc time of such exit from the RID. (5) If the Landov~ner makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and the appraisals are more than ten percent ( 100 i,I aparL and i f thc To~x u and tile kandox,,ller are unable to reach an agreement on the basis oflbe 1;,.o disclosed appraisals within thiffty (30) calendar days, at the election of either part.,,,, a tbird appraisal shall be conducted in conl'onnance with the guidelines and assumptions tnutually agreed upon by the pallies. The parties shalljointly agree on the selection ora party to prepare such third appraisal, which appra, sal shall be disclosed to both parties. If the parties are unable to agree upon the tbird appraiser within ten (10) days, an appraiser not previously disclosed by either party in tbe negotiations shall be selected al random from a list of appraisers periodically established by the Town Board pursuant to this Local Lax,.'. The parties shall share equall3 itl the expense of the third appraisal, which shall be completed within sixty {O0) days. Within thirty 130~ days of receipt of the third appraisal, the Town may elect to conside; the average amount listed in the three disclosed appraisals as its Final Offer. If the Toxxn elects not to do so, tile Landowner may exit the RID at thc. end of one year's time from the Town's receipt of the Landoxxner's xx ritten notice of intent to withdraw, without penalty, and the Landowner sball be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID for three (3) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. If the Landowner elects not to accept the Final Offer extended by the Toxxn within thirty (30) days of such Final Offer, the Landowner will be deemed by default to renrain in the RID nnless the Landowner gives express written notice to the Tow~l, within that time. that the Landoxx ncr intends to exit the RID, with the understanding that the property shall be subject to the zoning regolations in elTect at the time of such exit. If the Landowner provides such timely written notice, tile Landowner may exit the RID at tile end ol one year's time fi'om the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to witbdraw but itl no event prior to tbe expiration of the minimum term requirement, and upon exit the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit l¥om ~:be RID. If such notice of exit is not provided, the Landor, ncr shall remain in the RiD and shall only be entitled to restart the exit process provided in this section after the expiration of one year's time fi-om its fhilure to acccpl the Final Offer. 10 Within t~x elve {121 months of the Town's receipt of the Landowner';~ written notice of intent to xx ithdraw l?om the RID, the Town and the Landowner shall have concluded the aforementioned process. If the process produces an agreement, the contract shall be sigmed within thirty (30) days and all good faith eftbtxs shall be made to conduct the closing within thirty (30) days after contract signing. The specific deadlines provided herein may I',e extended only upon the mutual written consent of both the Town and Landowqer. ~ll)0-177. Subdivision. During the easement period, a landowner may apply to develop the property as a Conservation Subdivision pursuant to Chapter Al06 of the Town Code of the To,.vll of Soutbold, Subdivision of Land. During the period of time the subject prope~%' remains in the RID, the Landowner's application tbr such Conservation Subdivision shall be governed by the applicable lot area reqnirements in effect at the time the subject property entered the RID, and parsuant to the procednres employed by the Land Preservation Department, without reference to the appraisal process set tbrth abox e. During such application process, the RID classification shall remain in effect. ss 100-178. Easement Term Payment Incentive. Iu tile event the Toxxn and Landowner execute an agreement for the sale of t~e ~itle or development rights of property that has remained in the RID for a minimum of eight (8) years, upon the closing of such sale the Town shall pay Landowner a ceffain antount as compensation for the fnll extent of the Easement term. as tbllows: 1. A pa3ment at the rate oF 1.25 percent 0).01251 of the agreed-apon purchase price [br each year, or Fraction thereof, that the prope~y for wNch the Town has acquired fee title or the development rights, has remained in the RID. 2. [n the event such exit from the RID occnrs via completion ora Conservation Subdivisiom such paFqnent shall only be made ~br prope~y tbr which the Tow n has acquired t~e title or development rights. 3. In the event that snch exit t?om the RID occors via completion o(a Conservation Subdivision, such pabq~ent shall be made only if such Conservation Subdivision meets the requirements of a 7575 Conservation 11 Subdivision itl accordance with the definitions and procedures set fm~th in Chapter A 106, Subdivision of Land. 4. Such payment shall only be made tbr a maximum period oftwenty-lbur (241 years, or a maxinmm total of thirty percent 430q o) of the total purchase price of the lee title or dex:elopment rights. §100-179. Hardship Exit. A Landowner may request early temqination of the Easement by filing a xx ritten request with the Town Clerk. The Town Board shall hold it public hearing upon notice, and may, upon its discretion, grant such a request upon a sho~x lng of undue hardship or extraordinary circumstances, including but not limited to death, illness or catastrophic economic loss. The Town Board may release tile Landowner from tile obligations of the RID immediatel,~ and without penalty. Itl thc event the Town Board grants such a release, the Landowner shall be entitled to tile zoning regulations applicable to ~he subject properb in effecl at the time of the enrolhnent in the RID for a period of three (3) >'ears subsequent to the exit from the RID. In the event that a hardship release from the RID is granted to the Landowner subsequent to a change m zoning applicable to the subject property, the grant of such a release shall be conditioned upon the Landowner's prox ision to the '1'o~ n ora right of first refusal on the purchase of development rights or fee title to the subject property during the entirety of the three (3) 5ear period of zoning protection. § 100- 179.1. Article 78 Procedure. A person aggrieved under this Article may file an Article 78 proceeding. Such proceeding shall be commenced within thirty (30) days of the filing of the decision with the office of the Town Clerk. III. SEVEIL&BILITY [fany clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the jud=mnent shall not affect the validity of this law as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so deckled to be unconstitutional or invalid. IV. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State as provided by law. Dated: March 15, 2005 BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF SOUTHOLD Elizabeth Neville Town Clerk PLEASE PUBLISH ON MARCH 24, 2005, AND FORWARD ONE ( 1 } )J:FIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION TO ELIZABETH NEVILLE. TOWN CLERK, TOWN HALL, PO BOX l179. SOUTHOLD, NY 11971. Copies to the following: The Traveler Watchman Planning Building Town Clerk's Bulletin Board Town Board Members Town Attorney Zoning Board of Appeals 13 STATE OE NEW YORK) SS: COUNTY OF SUFFOLK) LINDA J. COOPER, Deputy Town Clerk of the Tovcn of Southold, Ne`.`. York being duly swortl, says that on the 24th da.;' of March, 2(i)05, she affixed a notice of which the annexed printed notice is a true cop.,,', in a proper and substantial maturer, in a lnost pablic place in the Town of Southold. Suflblk County, Ne`.,` York, to `.`.it: To`.~ n Clerk's Bullctin Board. 53095 Main Road, Soutbold, New York. Local Lax','- PH April 12e' 2005 8:00 pm in t5 J. C6oper Soutbold Deputy To,,,, n Clerk Sworn before me this 24tl~ day LYNDA M. BOHN NOTARY PUBUC, State of New York No, 01 BC,6020932 Qualified in Suffolk County Term Expires March 8 20 __ ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK T.wu Hall, ,5:1095 Mare R~}ad p.c). Box 1179 ~outhold, New York 11971 Fax ,sal~ 76.5 ~;145 Teleph.ne t~i3l~ 765 1800 OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION NO. 164 OF 2005 WAS ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ON MARCtt 29, 2005: RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby authorizes aud directs Supervisor Joshua Y. Horton to hire the firm of Clearv Consulting to couduct ,'~ review pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) of the proposed Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rura{ Incentive Disthcts" in accordance with their proposal da/ed March 28, 2005, subject to the approval of the Town Attorney. Elizabeth A. Neville Southold Town Clerk ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE ]'OWN CLERK Town lc/alL 5;~095 Main ILO [Jox 1179 NouthoJd. No~ York 11971 F~tx ~631~ 765 G145 Telcr)hone ~6311 7G5~1800 ~out hold~own.nort hIk~rk.not OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD THIS IS TO CERTIFY FHAT THE FOLLO~VING RESOLUTION NO. 135 OF 2005 VC-kS ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR ,MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ON MARCH 15, 2005: RESOLVED that the Town Board of the To~ n of Soathold authorizes aud directs the To~n Clerk to transmit the proposed Local Law entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rural lucentive Districts" to thc Southold Towu Plauoing Board aud the Suffolk County Department of Planning tbr their recommendations and reports. Elizabeth A. Neville Southold Towu Clerk ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD T,,:vr, Hall, 5211195 [".luic, Road P.O Box 1179 S,,uthold. New York /1[)71 Fax ~631. 765-6145 Telcphont' ~G:II~ 765 1800 s, mt h~)lclN cam. no rt hIbrk, net THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLO'~VING RESOLUTION NO. 134 OF 2005 \VAS .ADOPTED AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTHOLD TO'WN BOARD ON MARCH 15, 2005: WHEREAS, there }ms been presented to the Town Board of the Town of $outhold, Suffolk County, Ncxx York. on the 15th da)' of March. 2005 a Local Laxx entitled "A Local La~ in relatioo to Rural Incentive Districts" now, therefore, bc it RESOLVED that the Fown Board of thc Town of Southold will hold a public hearing on the aforesaid Local Lax,.' at tb.c Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York, on thc 12 of Ap~ I, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. at Milch time all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard. The proposed Local Law entitled, "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts" t-eads as lbllows: LOCAL LAW NO. 2005 A Local Laxx entitled "A Local Law in relation to Rural Incentive Districts". BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Toxxn of Southold as [bllox~s: Legislative Intent. Opeo space and f:amfland constitute key components of the Town of Southold's rural charactcr. -Fhesc areas provide the cornerstone of thc land use environment valued by year-rouikl resktents as xxcll as visitors. ' ~ - ' Numerous platmtn, do*.uments and stu&es in thc Toxx n's comprehensix e planning o`. er thc past 20 )'ears have recognized this `. alue and havc recommended strategies to preset,, e these resources. Itl reccnt years, the Town has engaged in art aggressi,, e effort to preserve open space and farmland through the use ot'a `. ahety of consc~'ation tools, including purchase of de`. elopment rights, outright fee title pt~rchase, and cluster dex elopment. ]7he Town has joined with other governmental agencies at the Federal, State and County le`. els, and with conserx ation groups such as the Peco~lic Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy, to l'urther its et'forts. in addition, the To,.,, n has made use of various long- and short-term ftmding options to purchase interests in open space and fimnland, such as the Community Preservation Ftmd (CPI:) transfer tax, x'oter-approYed bonds and grants. The Town Board recognizes that preselwation effo~2s nmst continue in accordance with the Town's compreheiisive planning ettbrts and initiatiYes. Additional funds will be required, and if possible, leveraged, to enable the To`.`. n to continue to purchase interests itl open space and farmland and retain the Town's rural character. Thc Town Board detcnnincs that its land preservation eftbrts can best be accomplished through a number oflegislatiYe initiatives. This local law creates a new incentive district, or floating zone classification. [Cd, own its the Rural lnccntiYe District {RID), the RID is intended to encourage tile preset:'ation and conserx'ation of open space and Ihtanland, while preserving land equity. It is intended to pro`.ide incentix e to Lando`,`. ncrs dedicated to the preservation mid conscr`, ation or'open space and t'annland, while pro`.'iding tile Town with a means to prioritizc lands at risk ofdeYelopment. New York State Town La`.`.' Section 26l-b provides the t'ramework to accomplish these goals. Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Southold is hereby amended to create a new Article X¥II~ as follows: Sec. 100-170. Purpose. Itl order to pro,, ide tbr the sa~'et_v, health and welfi,-c of tile public, it is neccssary and appropriate to pt'ox ide incenti,, es tbr the presel-,'ation of lands in agricultural production attd open space throughout the Town of Southold. This Local La`.;' would do so by creating a Rural [rtcc.nti'.'e District b3 which idenlified parcels of land could be rezoned, subject to a minimum tcm't casement with restrictions on de,, elopment, and prox iding a mechanism t~or the negotiated purchase of fee title or development rights to such parcels upon their end of the nfinimum easement tenn. The Local Law would also provide inccntives to tile landoxxner to remain in thc RID. and protections to ensure good faith bargaining. 11)ll- 171. Definitions. The terms and words used in this Article shall be given the meaning and uses as defined m this Article, or if not defined herein, those defined or generally attributable to them in other sections o I' this Chapter. INCENTIVE ZONING DISTRICT -- A zoning district created pursuant to Town La:x Section 261-b, whcrein specific incentives or bom~ses are granted on the condition that specific pbysicai, social or cuhural benefits or amenities ,.x ould inure to the community. lt)(}-172. Classification. A. The Rural Incenfive District I RID) is established as an Incentive Zoning Dismct pursuant to Town Law Section 261-b. B The RID classification may be considered on a tloating zone basis. Upon rczoning to tile RID classification, all principal and accessory uses, restrictions, controls and incentives listed in the RID shall govern the lands subject to the RID classification. All other restrictions and controls in the underlying zoning district shall remain applicable. i00- 173. Requirements lbr Eligibilitv. All properties meeting the standards and criteria set forth in this .~a'ticle shall be deemed eligible for rezoning as a RI[). In order to be considered lbr rezoning xx ithin the RID, hinds in thc Town of $outhold must meet the Follow ing criteria: A The lands must consist ora sub-dix idable parccl meeting the Town's preset,, ation goals and included in the Community Preservation Project Plan ICPPP), which may consist of a lot designated as a separate tax map number, or oftxxo or more comiguous lots; with separate tax map nun'tbers. A landowner may also apply for the rezoning of additioual land contiguous to property already in the RID classification. B. A parcel must be land in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town of Southold, or opcn space, as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the To``x n ot'Soutbold. Thc Town Board must find that thc parcel pro,, idcs an eoviromnenta[, physical, economic, aesthetic, social or cultural benefit to the Town. I Oil)- 174. Zooin,o Approvalz Applica'tion and revic``~ procedurc. The fo``x n Board may rezone lands ii-om that of their underlying zoning district to tire R ID classification upon written application of the landowner pursuant to this Article. A. Application. An applicant shall sabmit two (2) copies of the folloxx lng to the Fown Board: 1. Fom~ of Application apl)roved by the Town Board, including the name of the owoer and or applicant, description of ctm'ent use of the properly, and disclosure affidavit: 2. Deedis) covering all lands for which application is made; 3. Sur~ey(s) or map(s) showing ali lands proposed to be included within the RID, and any improvements on those lands. B Enx ironmenta[ Review. The Towo Board shall comply with SEQ~A in acting upon any application tbr the rezoning of any lands to the RID classification. Furthermore, pursuant to Town Law Sectio[q 26 l-b, the To~xn Board shall prepare a generic environmental impact statement pursuant to 6 NYC~ 617.5 tbr atly zooing district in xx hich the granting of incentives of bonuses have a significant effect on the em ironment before any sacb district is designated, and such statement shall be supplemented fi'om time to time by the Town Board if there are material cbanges in circumstances that may result in significant adverse impacts. The applicant fbr RID classification shall pay a propotxionate share of the cost of preparing such enviromnental impact statement. C. Ref~lTal. Aller receipt ora complete application and the conduct of all required enviromnental review, the Town Board shall refer the application to the Planning Board and to the Land Preser~ ation Committee and, as applicable, to the Ag~Scultural Advisory Committee, for review and recommendation. The Planning Board and other committees shall provide a repose within thi~y (30) days of the date of the meeting at which Ibe referral is rcceix ed. No action shall be taken by the Town Board until receipt of the Plmmiog Board report and other Committee reports, as applicable, or the expiration of ils 30-day review period, whichever comes first. Thc review period may be extended by mutual consent oftbc, applicant, tire Town Board, the Planning Board, and, as applicable, the Land Preservation Comlnittee and.'or the Agricultural Advisory Committee. Planning Board Report. The Planning Board may recommend approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the proposed rezoning. In preparing its repo.-t, the Planning Board shall take into account the recommendations of the Southold Tow n Fan~q and Far'roland Protection Strategy, adopted as policy by Town Board resolution or'January 18, 20o0 and supporting documents, the studies contained in the Town's comprebensix e planning efforts and initiatix es, the existing characteristics o f the property and the surrounding properties, the environmental, social, physical, aesthetic, econom3c and cnltural aspects of thc property and its sm-roundings, and such other factors as may be necessary to calYy out thc purposes of this Article and this Chapter. Ttte Planning Board shall further evalnate tile effects of the incentives provided by virtne or'the prox ision of tile communit.~ benefit, i.e.. thc preservation of agricultural lands or open space, and whether the sub~ject parcel will contain adequate resources, environmental quality and public t;acililies, inclttding adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection. The Planning Board's report shall provide detailed reasons for its recommendation. Public Hearing. Within thirty (301 days of the receipt of the Planning Board report, or the expiration or'the Platming Board review period, whichever occurs first, the Town Board shall bold a public hearing on the application, x~ ith the same notice prescribed for zooing amendments. Town Board Action. Within thirty ~30) days of the date of the closing of the public bearing, the Town Board shall either approve or disapprove the rezoning and lilt' its decision x~itb the Town Clerk, with notice to the applicant. Io approving such rezoning, the Toxxn board shall dete~anine, after considering tile Planning Board's recomnrendation, and evaluating tile efl'ects of any potential incentives which are possible by virtue ot'the provision of community amenities, that the subject parcel contains adequate resot~rces, environmental quality nnd public facilities, including adequate transpotxation, waler suppl.,,', waste disposal and fire protection, and that there xx ill be no significant environmentally damaging consequences and Ibat sucb incentives or bonuses arc. COlnpatible x`. ith the development other,.`, ise permitted. If at)pro`, ed, the To,.',ll~ Board shall amend the zoning map of the To,.x n in accordance with the approYal and forward a copy of thc resolution containing the decision to the Plamfing Board, the Lan~ Preservation Commiltee, thc Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the applicartt. such approval shall bc subject to the Conditions of Approval as set forth belo`.~' in 100- 175 of this Chapter. Il }(I- 175. Conditions of App!:o`. al. A. Easement. l. Following a public hearing and approval of the rezoning pursuant to Chapler I00 of the Town Code and Chapter 247 of the General Municipal Law, tile Landowner shall enter a Presel-~:ation Easement Ithe "Easement") with the Town. in the tbrm pro`. ided by the Town. which shall include the tbllowing: a. An a~'eemen! that tile property will remain as open space as defined in Chapter 59 of the To,.x n Code of the Town of Southold, or in agricultural production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Town ofSouthold, lbr a minm~unl of eight (8) years, except as prox'ided in Section 100-177. Subdi`. ision .tudor 100- 179. Hardship Exit of this Article. b. Restrictions regarding permitted principal and accessory uses on the property as set forth in Section Itel)-175.B. c. Restrictions for the construction of principal and accessory structures on tile property as semi l:;arth in Section 11)0-175.B. d. Procedures limiting any subdivision of the property to a Conservation Subdivision or Open Development Area. e. Termination procedures as set lbrth in Section 100-176. Exit fi'om the RID and/or 1(10-179. Hardship Exit of this Article. An agrecment to cotnpensate the Lando,.`. net for the Easement term in the event of a sale to the Town of fee title or de,,elopment rights, as provided in Section 100-178. B o Nomithstanding the provisions of Section 100-175.B., land included within a New York Agricultm-al District pursuant to Article 25AA of the AgricuIlural District Law shall retain the benefits of such inclusion. 2. The easement shall be in a f'om~ acceptable to the Landowner, the Town Attorney's office and consisl'ent with the Town's lbrm of Preservation [:'asement. 3. The easement shall bc recorded in the Office of thc Suffolk County Clerk. Permitted LIses and Structures During the Easement Period. l. Open Space as defined in Chapter 59 of the Town Code of the Town of Scuthold. Open space lands may be conx cried to, and thllow fields may be returned Agricultural Production xx ithout penalt5. 2. Agricultural Production as defined in Chapter 25 of the Town Code of the Ttmn of Southold. Improvements to existing structures and the construction of new structures on agricultural lands shall remain subject to all applicable restrictions, standards and protections as would govern agricultural lands in the applicable zoning district(s). ~1(1~-176. Exit fi'om thc RID. A. Thc Rural Incentive District (RID) enrolhnent shall ha~ e a minimum term of eight t8) years. The Landowner may elect to continue enrolhnent beyond tile initial eight-year teton indefinitely. The Landowner may exit enrollment itt the RID prior to tile expiration of the nfinin~um term only by completing a Conserx ation Subdivision pursuan~ to Chapter A 106 of the Town Ce, de of the Toxin of Southold, Subdivision of Land, or pursuant to Section 100-179 Harctship Exit, as pi'ox ided herein. Upon completion of'tile n-tinimum term, the Landowner may exit enrolhnent by' follow lng the procedures provided herein. The Town Board shall approve such exit fi'om the RID and amend the zoning map of the Town in accordance with such exit and provide notification of such approval and amendment to the To~ n Clerk. the Planning Board, the Land Preservation Committee and the Lando~x net. At any time during the easement period the Town may offer to ptxrchase or the Landoxx her may offer to sell tile development rights or tee title of all or of part of the parcel. This offer ma> be initiated at the discretion of either tim Town or the Landowner, by written notice to the other. Should the Town not have made an offer to arid ro;.tchcd an agreement with the Landowner to purchase development rights or fee title et'the subject property after the first seven {7) years of the minimum term RID Easement, the Landoxx ncr may exit the RlD by providing tile Toxx n xxitb a minimum of one I 1 } year's xx rittcn notice of the l_andowner's intention to/x ithdraxx from the RID. Notice' may be given on a date no earlier than one I 113'ear prior to tile end o£the nlinimum tenn. l£such notice is given, the lbllowing procedure shall apply: { 1 } Within forty-five {45 ~ calendar days of receipt of a notice of Landowner's written intention to withdra~x, the Town shall prox ide tile Landowner with a letter of intent. The letter of intenl shall either inform the Landowner of the Tow n's desire to purchase de~ elopment rights or lee title of the subject property, or release Landowner t¥om ~:be RID. If the Town's letter of intent releases the Landox~ ~er.. the Landowner is free to leave the RID at the end of one ,,,'ear's time from the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw. Failure of'the Toxxn to respond within £orty-five {45) calendar days shall constitute such a release, ltl the event of such a release, thc Landoxx ncr shall be entitled to the zoning regnlations applicable to tile subject propetW in effect at the time of thc enrollment in the RID tbr a period of tin-ce (3} years subsequent to the exit fi'om tile RID. In no event shall the Landowner be permitted to exit the RID prior to the expiration et'tile minimttm term except as provided in either of Sections 10()- 177 Subdivision or 100-179 Hardship Exit below. 121 If tile Lando~x ncr has not been released from the RID by the Town as prox idcd above, xx ithin three (3) months of the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, the Town shall prepare an appraisal et'the parcel and make an offer to the Landowner based upon the appraisal. The Land Preservation Committee shall issue a set of written gnidelines and assnmptions for the preparation of all appraisals lbr the subject property under this Article. All appraisals under tbs Articlc shall also follow the general guidelines for the conduct of appraisals, which shall be issued l¥om time Io time by the Land Preservation Committee and made ax ailable to Landowners prior to the enrollment of the sul~ject property in the RID. Included among those guidelines shall be the requirement that appraisals bc conducted on the assumption that the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the eurollmenl in the RID remain applicable to the subject property at the time of the appraisal. Failure of the Tow n to prepare an appraisal and make an offer within three (3) months of its receipt of the Landowner's written notice shall aotomaticall3r release the Landowner from the RID at the end of one years' time fi-om the Town's receipt of the Landowner's /x ritten notice but iii no event pt-ior to the expiration of the n'tinimmn tenl~. In the ex'em of such release, thc Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject property iii effect at the tilne of the enrollment the RID for a petnod of three (3) years subsequent to the exit t'rom the RID. Within lbrty- five (45} calendar days of receiving the Town's offer, the Landowner may either accept the offer fi'om the Town, make a cotmteroffer based upon an appraisal provided by the Landowner to the I-own, or reject the Tox~n's offer. An5' such appraisal fi'om which an offer is made must contbnn to the guidelines and asstm~ptions issued by the Land Preserx'ation Committee for that property. If the Landowner makes a counteroffer, and provides its appraisal, the Town shall disclose its initial appraisal to the Lando~xncr at such time. If tile Landowncr rejects the Town's offer or fails to respond with a counteroffer and appraisal within such fotxy- five (45) days, the Landowner ma.v exit the RID at the end of one 5'ear's time the Town's receipt of the Lando~x ner's xx ritten notice o£ intent to xx ithdra~x but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum term requiremeut, and Ihe subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations iii effect at the time of such exit from the RID. If the Landowner makes a cotmteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal arid the Landowner's appraisal and the Town's disclosed appraisal are no more than len percent (10%) apart, (i.e., the lesser of the txxo appraisals is ninety percent ~91)%~ or more of the greater of the two). the parties shall endeavor to reach an agreement. If the parties are nnable to reach an agreement within thil%' i30) calendar days, the Landowner may exit the RID at the end of one year's time fi'om the Town's receipt of the Landox~ner's written notice of intent to withdraw, but iii no event prior to thc expiration of the minimum term, and upon exit. the sut'tject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations itl effect at the time of such exit fi'om thc RID. If the Landoxx net makes a counteroffer based upon a disclosed appraisal and thc appraisals are more than ten percent (10'!,,) apart, and if the Toxin and tile Landoxx her are unable to reach an agreement on the basis of the two disclosed appraisals witbin tlfiOLy 130) calendar dab's, at the election of either part>', a third appraisal shall bc conducted in con~'onnance with the gtddelines and assumptions mutually agreed upon by the parties. The parties shall jointly agrec on the selection of a party to prepare such third appraisal, which appraisal shall be disclosed to both parties. If the. parties are nnable to agree upon the third appraiser within ten (10) days. an appraiser not pre~ iously disclosed by either party in the negotiations shall be selected at random from a list of appraisers periodically established by tile Town Board pursuant to this Local Law. The parties shall share equally in the expense of the third appraisal, which shall be completed x~ ithin sixty 100} days. Within thirty (30} days of receipt of tile tlfird appraisal, tire Town may elect to consider the average amotmt listed in the three disclosed appraisals as its Final Offer. If the Toxin elects not to do so. ~he Landowner may exit the RID at tile end of one 3'ear's time fi'om the Toxxn's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw, without penalty, and the Landowner shall be entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to the subject propet~ty in eiYect ut thc time of the enrolhnent in the RID fbr three 13) years subsequent to the exit from the RID. If the Landowner elects not to accept the Final Offer extended by thc To~x n within tlm~ty {30~ days of such Final Offer, the Landowner xx ill be deemed by default to remain in the RID nnless tile Landowner gives express ,adtten notice to the q-own, within that time, that tile Landowner intends to exit tile RID. with the understanding that the property shall be subject to the zoning regulations in effect at the time of such exit. If the Lando~vner provides such timely written notice, the Landoxxner may exit the RID at the end of one ycar's timc from thc Toxx n's receipt of the Landowner"s written notice of intent to withdraw but in no event prior to the expiration of the minimum tenn requirement, and upon exit the subject property shall be governed by the applicable zoning regulations in effect at the time ofsucb exit from tile RID. If such notice of exil is not provided, the Landowner shall remain itl the RID and shall only be entitled to restart thc exit process provided itl this section after tile expiration of one ),ear's time fi-om its failure to accept tile Final Offer. \Vitbin txx elve (12) months of the Town's receipt of the Landowner's written notice of intent to withdraw from tile RID, the Town and the Landowner shall have concluded the aforementioned process. If the process produces an agreement, the contract shall be signed within thirty {30) days and all good t:aith efforts shall be made to conduct thc closing within thirty (31)) days at'ret contract signing. The specific deadlines provided herein ma)be extended onl) upon the mutual written consent of both thc Toxx n and Landowner. 1011-177. Subdivision. During the easement period, a landox~ ncr ntay apply to develop the property as a Conservation Subdix ision pursuant to Chapter Al06 of the Toxxn Code of tile Town of Southold, Subdivision or' I_and. During the period o£time the subject property remains in the RID, the Landowner's application for such Conserx ation Subdivision shall be governed by the applicable lot area requirements itl effect at the time the subject property entered tile RID, and pursuant to the prnccdures employed by the Land Preservation Department, without reference to the appraisal process set tbrth aboxe. During such application process, the RID classification shall remain in cflbcl. 3 I()~- 178. Easement l'enn Pa)qnent Incentive. In tile ex ent tile Tow n and Landowner execute an agreelnent for lhe sale of tee title or development rights of propelly that has remained in the RID for a minirnuxn or'eight {8) years, upon the closing of such sale tile Town shall pa), Landowner a certain anlount as compensation for tile fitll extent of the Easement tem~, as follows: 1. A payment at the rate of 1.25 percent (0.0125) of the agreed-upou purchase price tbr each )'ear, or fraction thereof, that tile property for xx hicb the Town has acquired tee title or the development rights, has remained in the RID. 2. ltl the event StlCh exit fi-om the RID occurs ,,'ia completion ora Conservation Subdivision, such pa.x~nent shall only be made for propert5 for which the Town bas acquired fee title or dex elopment rights. 3. in the ex ent that such exit from the RID occurs via completion ora Conservation Subdivision, sue}', payment shall be made only if such Conservation Subdivision meets tile requirements of a 75'75 Conservation Subdivision in accordance x,'ith the definitions and procedures set forth in Chapter Al06. Subdix ision of Land. 4. Such pa.~neot shall only be made tbr a maximum period oftwenty-tbur (24) years, or a maximum total of thirty percent 31')"i,) of the total purchase price of the fee title or development rights. ~100-179. Hardship Exit. A Landoxx net may request early temfination of the Easement by filing a xx ritten request with the Toxx n Clerk. Tile Tow n Board shall hold a public hearing upon notice, and may, upon its discretion, grant such a request upon a showing et' undue hardship or extraordinary circumstances, including but uot limited to death, illness or catastrophic economic los:;. ]'he Town Board may release the Landowoer fi'om thc obligations of the RiD immediately attd without penalty. In tile eveot the Toxxn Board ~ants such a release, the Lando~xner shall be' entitled to the zoning regulations applicable to tile subject property in effect at the time of the enrollment in the RID tbra p,ztSod of three (3) ,,,'cars subsequent to the exit t¥om the RID. In the ex ent that a hardship release from the RID is granted to tile Landowner subsequct'~t to a change in zouing applicable to tile subject property, the grant of such a release shall be conditioned upon the [_audowner's provision to thc Toxxn ora right of first refusal on Ihe purchase of developmeut rights or fee title to the subject property during the entirety of the tlu-ee (3) year period of zoning protection. ~ Ill0- 179. I. Article 78 Procedure. A person aggriex ed under this Arlicle may file an Article 7S proceeding. Such proceedi~ag shall bc commenced xx ithin thirty 130} days of the filing of thc decision with tile office of the Town Clerk. SEVE1L~BILITY If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this Local Law shall be adjudged by arty court of competent jnrisdiction to be invalid, thc judgment shall not affect the validity of this laxx as a whole or' ara3, part thereot'other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing x~ ith the Secretary of State as provided by laxx. Elizabeth A. Neville Southold Town Clerk