261-A - Transfer of development rights; definitions; conditions; procedures.

§  261-a.  Transfer  of  development  rights; definitions; conditions;  procedures. 1. As used in this section:    a. "Development rights" shall mean the  rights  permitted  to  a  lot,  parcel, or area of land under a zoning ordinance or local law respecting  permissible  use, area, density, bulk or height of improvements executed  thereon.  Development  rights  may  be  calculated  and   allocated   in  accordance  with  such  factors  as area, floor area, floor area ratios,  density, height limitations, or any other criteria that will effectively  quantify a value for the development right in a reasonable  and  uniform  manner that will carry out the objectives of this section.    b. "Receiving district" shall mean one or more designated districts or  areas  of  land  to  which development rights generated from one or more  sending districts may be transferred and in which increased  development  is permitted to occur by reason of such transfer.    c.  "Sending  district" shall mean one or more designated districts or  areas of land in which development rights are designated for use in  one  or more receiving districts.    d.  "Transfer  of  development rights" shall mean the process by which  development rights are transferred from one lot, parcel, or area of land  in any sending district to another lot, parcel, or area of land  in  one  or more receiving districts.    2.  In  addition  to  existing  powers  and authorities to regulate by  planning or zoning, including authorization to provide for  transfer  of  development  rights  pursuant  to  other  enabling  law, a town board is  hereby empowered to provide for transfer of development  rights  subject  to the conditions hereinafter set forth and such other conditions as the  town  board deems necessary and appropriate that are consistent with the  purposes of this section. The  purpose  of  providing  for  transfer  of  development   rights   shall  be  to  protect  the  natural,  scenic  or  agricultural qualities of open lands, to  enhance  sites  and  areas  of  special character or special historical, cultural, aesthetic or economic  interest  or value and to enable and encourage flexibility of design and  careful management of land  in  recognition  of  land  as  a  basic  and  valuable natural resource. The conditions hereinabove referred to are as  follows:    a.  That transfer of development rights, and the sending and receiving  districts, shall be established in accordance with a comprehensive  plan  within  the  meaning of section two hundred sixty-three of this article.  The sending district from which transfer of development  rights  may  be  authorized shall consist of natural, scenic, recreational, agricultural,  forest, or open land or sites of special historical, cultural, aesthetic  or  economic  values sought to be protected. Every receiving district to  which transfer of development rights may be authorized, shall have  been  found  by  the  town  board,  after  evaluating the effects of potential  increased  development  which  is  possible  under   the   transfer   of  development   rights   provisions,   to   contain   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  such  increased  development  is  compatible  with  the development  otherwise permitted by the town and by the federal,  state,  and  county  agencies  having  jurisdiction to approve permissible development within  the district. A generic environmental impact statement pursuant  to  the  provisions  of article eight of the environmental conservation law shall  be prepared by the town board for the receiving district before any such  district, or any sending district, is  designated,  and  such  statement  shall  be  amended  from  time  to  time  by the town board if there are  material changes in  circumstances.  Where  a  transfer  of  developmentrights  affects  districts  in two or more school, special assessment or  tax districts, it may not unreasonably transfer the tax  burden  between  the  taxpayers  of  such  districts. The receiving and sending districts  need not be coterminous with zoning districts.    b.  That sending and receiving districts be designated and mapped with  specificity and the procedure for  transfer  of  development  rights  be  specified.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law to the contrary,  environmental  quality  review  pursuant  to  article   eight   of   the  environmental  conservation  law  for any action in a receiving district  that utilizes development rights shall only require information specific  to the project and site where the action will occur and shall be limited  to review of the environmental  impacts  of  the  action,  if  any,  not  adequately reviewed in the generic environmental impact statement.    c.  That  the  burden  upon  land within a sending district from which  development rights have been  transferred  shall  be  documented  by  an  instrument  duly  executed  by the grantor in the form of a conservation  easement, as defined  in  title  three  of  article  forty-nine  of  the  environmental  conservation  law,  which  burden upon such land shall be  enforceable by the appropriate town in addition to any other  person  or  entity  granted  enforcement  rights by the terms of the instrument. All  provisions of law applicable to such conservation easements pursuant  to  such title shall apply with respect to conservation easements hereunder,  except  that  the  town  board  may  adopt  standards  pertaining to the  duration of such easements that are more stringent than  such  standards  promulgated  by the department of environmental conservation pursuant to  such title. Upon the designation of any sending district, the town board  shall adopt  regulations  establishing  uniform  minimum  standards  for  instruments  creating  such  easements  within  the  district.   No such  modification or extinguishment of an easement shall diminish  or  impair  development  rights within any receiving district. Any development right  which has been transferred by conservation easement shall  be  evidenced  by  a certificate of development right which shall be issued by the town  to the transferee in a form suitable for recording in  the  registry  of  deeds  for  the  county  where the receiving district is situated in the  manner of other conveyances of interests in land affecting its title.    d. That within one year after a development right is transferred,  the  assessed  valuation  placed on the affected properties for real property  tax purposes shall be adjusted to reflect the  transfer.  A  development  right  which  is  transferred  shall be deemed to be an interest in real  property and the rights evidenced thereby shall inure to the benefit  of  the transferee, and his heirs, successors and assigns.    e.  That development rights shall be transferred reflecting the normal  market in land, including sales between owners of  property  in  sending  and  receiving districts, a town may establish a development rights bank  or such other account in which development rights may  be  retained  and  sold  in  the  best  interest  of the town. Towns shall be authorized to  accept for deposit within the bank gifts, donations, bequests  or  other  development  rights. All receipts and proceeds from sales of development  rights sold by the town  shall  be  deposited  in  a  special  municipal  account to be applied against expenditures necessitated by the municipal  development rights program.    f.  That  prior  to designation of sending or receiving districts, the  legislative body of the town shall evaluate the impact  of  transfer  of  development  rights  upon  the  potential development of low or moderate  income housing  lost  in  sending  districts  and  gained  in  receiving  districts and shall find either there is approximate equivalence between  potential  low  and  moderate housing units lost in the sending district  and gained in the receiving districts or that the town has or will  takereasonable  action  to  compensate  for  any  negative  impact  upon the  availability or potential development of low or moderate income  housing  caused by the transfer of development rights.    3.  The  town  board  adopting  or amending procedures for transfer of  development rights pursuant to this section shall follow  the  procedure  for adopting and amending its zoning ordinance or local law, as the case  may  be,  including  all provisions for notice applicable for changes or  amendments to a zoning ordinance or local law.    Nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate any provision  for transfer of development rights heretofore or  hereafter  adopted  by  any local legislative body.