The Agricultural Planned Development District emphasizes the importance of agriculture as both a vital economic base and as a land form that provides the Town with much of its rural character and scenic beauty. This program will provide the landowner with another mechanism to access the equity in his land by providing him with an expeditious means to incrementally sell his development rights to facilitate the preservation of farmland without having to subdivide his property. The development rights can be sold on an incremental basis while assuring the Town of the opportunity to purchase the remaining development rights applicable to the property, except those that may be used to develop a conservation subdivision pursuant to §
280-181B. This Agricultural Planned Development District creates a mechanism whereby the property can be rezoned AgPDD upon application of the landowner.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
The rights permitted to a lot, parcel, or area of land under
a zoning ordinance or local law regarding permissible use, area, density,
bulk, or height of improvements executed thereon.
All properties meeting the standards and criteria
set forth in this article shall be deemed eligible for rezoning as
an AgPDD. In order to be considered for rezoning to AgPDD, lands in
the Town of Southold must meet all of the following criteria:
A. The lands must consist of a subdividable parcel of
at least seven acres 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 Map numbers. A landowner may also
apply for the rezoning of a parcel contiguous to property already
zoned AgPDD or already preserved, even if smaller than seven acres.
B. The parcel must be enrolled in an agricultural district
or individual commitment, pursuant to Article 25-AA of New York State
Agriculture and Markets Law.
C. The Town Board must find that the parcel provides
an environmental, physical, economic, aesthetic, social or cultural
benefit to the Town.
The Town Board may rezone lands from that of
their underlying zoning district to the AgPDD classification upon
written application of the landowner pursuant to this article.
A. Application. An applicant shall submit two copies
of the following 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 the property, and disclosure affidavit;
(2) Deed covering each parcel for which the application
is made;
(3) Survey or map showing each parcel proposed to be rezoned
to AgPDD and any improvements on each parcel.
B. Upon receipt of a completed application, the Town
Board shall review the application at a work session and make a preliminary
determination whether the Board is interested in considering rezoning
of the parcel to AgPDD. If the Town Board is interested in considering
the rezoning, it shall refer the application to the Planning Board
and the Land Preservation Committee for review and recommendation.
C. Upon receipt of the application, the Land Preservation
Committee shall consider the application at its next meeting and prepare
recommendations to the Town Board with a copy to the Planning Board.
D. If the applicant seeks agricultural and/or residential
structure areas, the placement shall be agreed upon among the Land
Preservation Committee, the Planning Board and the landowner.
E. Upon recommendation of the Planning Board and the
Land Preservation Committee, the Land Preservation Coordinator shall
commission a survey and a title search of the property, which will
be forwarded to the Planning Department upon receipt.
F. The Planning Department will calculate the yield on
the parcel based on the zoning in effect at the time of the application.
(1) Yield will be calculated as follows:
|
Buildable lands ÷ minimum lot area of
zoning district = yield on entire parcel
|
(2) The landowner will be informed of the number of development
rights available on the parcel. Any fractional amount shall be rounded
down to the nearest whole number. Any existing nonagricultural production
uses shall reduce the number of development rights available for sale
on a parcel.
G. Environmental review. The Town Board shall comply
with SEQRA in acting upon any application for the rezoning of any
lands to the AgPDD classification.
H. The Planning Board shall provide a report within 90
days of the date of the meeting at which the referral is received
from the Town Board. No action shall be taken by the Town Board until
receipt of the Planning Board report or the expiration of its sixty-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 the Land Preservation Committee.
I. Planning Board report. The Planning Board may recommend
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 a Town Board resolution
of January 18, 2000, and supporting documents; the recommendations
of the Land Preservation Committee; 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's report shall provide detailed reasons for its recommendation.
J. Public hearing. Within 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 may schedule a public
hearing on the application, with the same notice prescribed for zoning
amendments.
K. Town Board action. Within 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 Town Clerk, with notice to the applicant. In approving such rezoning, the Town Board shall determine, after considering the Planning Board's recommendation, 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. 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 Committee, the Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the applicant. Any such approval shall be subject to the conditions of approval, as set forth below in §
280-175 of this chapter.
The Town Board shall, by resolution, at least
annually, set a price to be paid by the Town for AgPDD development
rights sales for the purpose of this chapter. This price shall be
the fair market value of development rights for nonwaterfront farmland
of average size with an average amount of road frontage obtained from
two independent certified appraisers.
The Land Preservation Coordinator will maintain
a log indicating the development rights sold and remaining on any
parcel zoned AgPDD. The easement executed and recorded by the landowner
at the time of each sale will indicate the number of development rights
sold and the number remaining on the parcel.