[Amended 5-15-2003 by L.L. No. 11-2003]
This chapter may be referred to as the "Town
of East Hampton Urban Renewal Law."
This article is adopted as a local law pursuant
to the authority of Article IX of the New York State Constitution;
§ 10 of the New York Statute of Local Governments; Article
2, § 10 of the New York Municipal Home Rule Law; the New
York Eminent Domain Procedure Law; Article 15 ("Urban Renewal") of
the New York General Municipal Law and related provisions of Chapter
402 of the Laws of 1961 enacting said Article; Articles 4 and 16 of
the New York Town Law, including § 276 thereof concerning
control of development in undeveloped filed subdivisions; and East
Hampton Town Local Law No. 2 of 1976.
The purpose of this chapter is to continue and
improve a comprehensive system of regulation providing for the redesign
and proper development of old filed maps in the Town of East Hampton,
such system having been first implemented by the Town Board in Local
law No. 2 of 1976 and having been founded primarily on the recognized
authority of a Town under the state Urban Renewal Law (Article 15
of the General Municipal Law) to prevent and, where necessary, eliminate
areas of substandard, unsanitary or unsafe land use in the Town.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ACQUISITION
The obtaining of title by the Town of East Hampton to property
comprising all or part of a designated Urban Renewal Area, either
to hold for public purposes or for reconveyance as provided for in
this chapter. Any such acquisition shall also constitute an "acquisition"
as defined in § 103 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law
and an "acquisition of property" as authorized by § 506
of the General Municipal Law.
ACQUISITION FEE
A fee of $5,000, or such other amount as may be set from
time to time by Town Board resolution, representing the approximate
average cost to the Town of counsel fees incurred in the acquisition
and reconveyance of lots in Urban Renewal Areas, and not including
costs for filing fees, surveys, appraisals, publication and similar
out-of-pocket costs.
ADMINISTRATOR
Any Town employee, including the Town Attorney, or any special
counsel, consultant, contractor or other person or persons hired,
appointed or designated by the Town Board to administer or assist
in the administration of this chapter, or to perform the function
assigned to the "Administrator" hereunder. In the event no such appointment
or designation shall have been made, or a vacancy shall exist, the
Town Attorney (or his or her designee within the Town Attorney's legal
staff) shall be deemed to be the Administrator for all purposes of
this chapter.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
Any Town employee appointed by the Town Board as a "Building Inspector" pursuant to the Town Law and Chapter
102 and
255 of the East Hampton Town Code, or any other person duly appointed or designated by the Board to perform the functions assigned to the "Building Inspector" by this chapter.
CONDEMNATION
A method of acquisition carried out by the Town in substantial
compliance with the provisions of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law.
DISPUTE
The inability of two or more owners of land in an Urban Renewal
Area to coordinate their actions or work in concert to create building
lots as shown on the Urban Renewal Plan adopted by the Town for the
area, or to otherwise together comply with such plan, with the result
that one or more owners wishing to obtain a building permit for the
use of their property is unable to do so.
MODIFICATION
A change made by the Town Board, or the Planning Board if
so authorized by the Town Board, to an Urban Renewal Plan previously
adopted by the Town. This term shall include the approval of any property
division or any lot boundary line change in an Urban Renewal Area
not in accordance with the controlling Urban Renewal Plan, but shall
not include Town Board changes of the prevailing per-lot fee, as defined
herein.
OLD FILED MAP
Any subdivision map or division of land filed in the office
of the Suffolk County Clerk without Town of East Hampton Planning
Board approval.
PARTY
An owner of property in an Urban Renewal Plan, including
one who is involved in a dispute, as defined herein.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of East Hampton. Such Board
shall for the purposes of this chapter constitute the planning "commission"
defined in § 502 of the General Municipal Law. With regard
to carrying out the urban renewal functions provided for in this chapter,
the Planning Board shall have only those powers delegated to it herein,
or by subsequent resolution of the Town Board acting in accordance
herewith.
RECONVEYANCE
The disposal to any private party of property previously
acquired by the Town in an Urban Renewal Area, to implement or carry
out an Urban Renewal Plan.
ROAD IMPROVEMENT UNIT ("RIU")
A measure of the amount of road and drainage work, or other
similar subdivision-type improvement work, which each owner of an
urban renewal parcel in a particular Urban Renewal Plan must accomplish
before being eligible to obtain a building permit for his property.
TOWN BOARD
The East Hampton Town Board. Such Board shall for the purposes
of this chapter constitute the "governing body" to carry out the urban
renewal functions provided for herein, both as defined in § 502
of the General Municipal Law.
URBAN RENEWAL AREA
An old filed map, or one or more portions of such a map,
which the Town Board, pursuant to § 504 of the General Municipal
Law and this chapter, designated as appropriate for urban renewal
treatment, after public notice and hearing.
URBAN RENEWAL PLAN ("PLAN")
A comprehensive plan, map, plat, or treatment for an identified
Urban Renewal Area officially adopted by majority vote of the Town
Board after public notice and hearing, which may show some or all
of the following: existing ownership patterns; roads to be improved,
widened, partially opened or abandoned; drainage areas and improvements;
areas to be dedicated, or over which easements are to be given; placement
of hydrants, fire wells, cisterns or other similar improvements; important
natural features and topography, together with mandated scenic easements
or open spaces required to protect the same; proposed parks or public
acquisitions; urban renewal parcels; assigned road improvement units
and other prebuilding requirements for lot owners; as well as other
features or details customarily shown on modem subdivision maps. Urban
renewal parcels whose creation will involve modified lot lines, lot
combinations or the like, shall be clearly shown in order to indicate
areas where Town acquisition and reconveyance of property will be
required to carry out the Plan in the event voluntary compliance therewith
does not occur.
From time to time, upon report and recommendation
of the Planning Board, the Town Board may designate all or a portion
of any old filed maps in the Town of East Hampton as an Urban Renewal
Area. However, no such designation shall be made except upon a finding
by the Board, made after a public hearing held on 10 days' notice,
that the area to be so designated is characterized by one or more
of the substandard, unsanitary, unsafe, deteriorated or blighted conditions
identified by the State Legislature in § 1 of Chapter 402
of the Laws of 1961; provided, however, that the Board need not determine
that such conditions affect every individual property within the designated
area.
The following shall apply to any and all property
located in any Urban Renewal Area for which an Urban Renewal Plan
shall have been approved and adopted by the Town Board:
A. Permits - URP conformity. No building permit, natural
resources special permit, certificate of occupancy, variance or other
Town authorization, approval or permit shall be issued in connection
with the use of any property, unless and until the boundary lines
of such property conform with those shown on the Urban Renewal Plan
for a numbered Urban Renewal Parcel and all other requirements of
the Urban Renewal Plan, including any required dedication or grant
of easement to the appropriate fire or fire protection district for
the siting of fire-fighting improvements, have been met by the URP
owner. Where two or more adjoining URP's are commonly owned, both
can be eligible for building permits under this subsection, but no
URP owned in common with an adjoining property that does not conform
to applicable URP lot lines shall be so eligible.
B. Permits - RIU compliance. No Town authorization, approval
or permit shall be issued in connection with the construction or occupancy
of any principal building, including a residence, on any vacant urban
renewal parcel until the owner thereof shall have made proper application
to the Town Planning Board for a determination as to the specific
work and improvements to be required by the Planning Board to satisfy
the Urban Renewal Plan RIU assignment for his property, and shall
then have completed such work or improvements to the satisfaction
of the Town Engineer. The Planning Board in its determination may
permit the owner to execute an undertaking in favor of the Town, secured
for no less than the dollar amount of his RIU assignment, in order
to obtain a building permit prior to actually carrying out the required
RIU work. However, no certificate of occupancy may be issued by the
Building Inspector in any case until all work determined to be required
by the Planning Board shall have been satisfactorily accomplished,
and any property dedication or easement required of the lot owner
by the Urban Renewal Plan or by the Planning Board shall have been
carried out.
C. Roads. No public or private road or street, nor any
platted right-of-way of any description, shall be cleared, opened,
extended, widened, paved, improved or used for access by any party,
including any governmental entity, public authority or utility corporation,
except as depicted on the approved Urban Renewal Plan.
D. Jurisdiction. The Town Board shall retain exclusive
jurisdiction with regard to the layout of lots, streets, drainage
structures, utilities and other improvements in any Urban Renewal
Area for which an Urban Renewal Plan has been adopted. The Planning
Board may issue subdivision approvals or subdivision waivers for property
included in any such approved Plan, subject to and conditioned upon
the Town Board's determination to amend the Urban Renewal Plan. The
Zoning Board of Appeals shall issue no variances authorizing or resulting
in changes to streets, access, frontage, road improvement units or
any other specific feature or requirements of any such plan, or of
this chapter, with the exception of variances for lot line configurations,
divisions, diminishments or expansions of any lot, which shall be
subject to and conditioned upon the Town Board's determination to
amend the Urban Renewal Plan.
[Amended 9-20-2005 by L.L. No. 29-2005]
E. Relationship to other laws. Unless specifically contravened by an element of an approved Urban Renewal Plan, the provisions of Chapter
102 (Building Construction), Chapter
255 (Zoning) and all other provisions of the Town Code with regard to permitted and specially permitted land uses, building sizes, setbacks, environmental protection, firesafety, etc. shall apply to all properties in any Urban Renewal Area, and all landowners in any such area shall comply with all such Code provisions in addition to the regulations contained herein, or implemented hereunder.
It is the intent of the Town that owners of
properties in designated Urban Renewal Areas understand their rights
and obligations under the law. To this end, the Building Inspector
shall maintain in his office and supply to any party requesting the
same, copies of this local law, copies of Urban Renewal Plans approved
and adopted by the Town, and any pamphlet, brochure, fact sheet or
other similar informational document which shall have been approved
by the Town Board for distribution to landowners in old filed maps/Urban
Renewal Areas of the Town.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as
limiting the authority of the Town Board of the Town of East Hampton,
acting in compliance with all applicable state and local laws, to
acquire for any public purpose, including the purpose of providing
affordable housing for local residents, any particular privately owned
property within the Town, whether or not such property is situated
in an old filed map; or to use its urban renewal authority to control
the development or redevelopment of any property wherever located.
Should any section or provision of this article
be decided by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision
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.
This article is enacted for the purpose of authorizing
the purchase, renewal and redevelopment of the mobile home park and
property known as the Three Mile Harbor Senior Citizens Trailer Park,
which the Town Board finds to be a blighted and substandard property,
and its reconveyance to a cooperative corporation consisting of residents
of said Trailer Park or, if that is infeasible, to a private or public
entity capable of managing the subject property as a mobile home park.
The Town Board finds that the Three Mile Harbor
Senior Citizens Trailer Park, in its present condition, is a blighted
and substandard area which constitutes a serious and growing menace
to the welfare of the residents of said Trailer Park and to the residents
of the Town of East Hampton generally. The Town Board further finds
that, in its present condition, said trailer park is injurious to
the public health, safety, morals and general welfare, is insanitary
and a source of contamination to nearby surface and ground waters,
necessitates excessive and disproportionate expenditure of public
funds for all forms of public services, and constitutes a negative
influence on adjacent properties, thereby impairing their economic
soundness, value and stability and threatening the source of public
revenues.
This article is enacted as a local law pursuant
to the provisions of the New York Municipal Home Rule Law and Article
15 (Urban Renewal) of the New York General Municipal Law.
The Town Board hereby designates the property
known as the Three Mile Harbor Senior Citizens Trailer Park as an
area appropriate for urban renewal as that term is defined in § 502
of the General Municipal Law, for the reasons set forth herein. Said
property consists of 3.2 acres of land, more or less, lying on the
west side of Three Mile Harbor Road north of Soak Hides Road and extending
westerly from said Three Mile Harbor Road for a distance of approximately
600 feet to the shoreline of Tanbark Creek. Said property is presently
identified on the Suffolk County Tax Map as parcel number 300-120-2-10.
The Town Board is hereby authorized to acquire,
redevelop, replan, rehabilitate, improve, conserve and renew the Three
Mile Harbor Senior Citizens Trailer Park property described above,
pursuant to an urban renewal plan to be adopted under authority of
this article, and to reconvey said property, or so much of said property
as the Town Board finds will serve the general public welfare, to
a residents' cooperative corporation or other private or public entity
capable of managing said reconveyed property as a mobile home park.
The Town Board shall cause to be prepared and
may adopt an urban renewal plan for the redevelopment, replanning,
rehabilitation, improvement, conservation and renewal of the Three
Mile Harbor Senior Citizens Trailer Park, in accordance with the procedures
set forth in Article 15 of the General Municipal Law and more specifically
set forth herein.
A. Preparation of urban renewal plan. The Town Board shall cause to be prepared an urban renewal plan for the area designated in §
232-2-30 hereof, which plan shall provide for the upgrade of sanitary and other facilities in said area, the removal of mobile homes and/or their relocation to more suitable sites within the area, the protection and conservation of lands bordering Tanbark Creek, and for other improvements or alterations of the area consistent with the purposes of this article.
B. Referral of plan to Planning Board. The urban renewal
plan prepared under supervision of the Town Board shall be referred
to the Planning Board for review pursuant to § 505 of the
General Municipal Law. The Planning Board shall hold a public hearing
on said urban renewal plan, on not less than 10 days' notice, and
shall thereafter certify that the urban renewal plan, with or without
amendments, complies with the provisions of § 502, Subdivision
7, of the General Municipal Law and is appropriate for urban renewal
pursuant to § 504 of the General Municipal Law. Said certification
of the Planning Board may include an unqualified approval of the urban
renewal plan, a disapproval of the plan, or a qualified or conditional
approval of the plan, and shall be submitted to the Town Board not
more than 10 weeks following the date of referral of said plan to
the Planning Board. The Planning Board shall include with its certification
a report with such findings and recommendations as the Planning Board
may choose to make.
C. Town Board adoption or rejection of urban renewal
plan. The Town Board may adopt the urban renewal plan for the designated
area, or may reject the same, in accordance with the following procedures:
(1)
The Town Board shall hold a public hearing on the urban renewal plan, on not less than seven days' notice, said public hearing to be held not more than four weeks following the date on which the Planning Board's certification and report is received or is due to be received, pursuant to Subsection
B above.
(2)
After public hearing, the Town Board may adopt
the urban renewal plan in the following manner:
(a)
If the Planning Board has given the plan an
unqualified certification of approval, by a majority vote of the Town
Board.
(b)
If the Planning Board has given the plan a certification
of disapproval, or has failed to make its certification and report
within 10 weeks of the date of referral to said Board, by a majority
plus one vote of the Town Board.
(c)
If the Planning Board has given the plan a qualified
certification of approval, containing recommendations for modification,
without said modifications by a majority plus one vote of the Town
Board or, with said modifications, by a majority vote of the Town
Board.
(3)
In its adoption of an urban renewal plan pursuant
to this section, with or without modifications recommended by the
Planning Board, the Town Board shall find and fully set forth in its
resolution:
(a)
That the designated area is a substandard or
insanitary area and tends to impair or arrest the sound growth and
development of the town.
(b)
That any financial assistance to be provided
to the town is necessary to enable the project to be undertaken in
accordance with the urban renewal plan.
(c)
That the plan affords maximum opportunity to
private enterprise, consistent with the sound needs of the town, for
the undertaking of said plan.
(d)
That the plan conforms to the Town Comprehensive
Plan.
(e)
That there exists a feasible method for the
relocation of families and individuals displaced from the designated
area by the urban renewal plan into decent, safe and sanitary dwellings
which exist or will be provided or made available elsewhere in the
town, at rents or prices within the financial means of the families
or individuals so displaced and reasonably accessible to their places
of employment.
In accordance with the powers conferred herein
on the Town Board, said Board may reconvey all or part of the Three
Mile Harbor Senior Citizens Trailer Park property in order to effectuate
the purposes of this article. Any disposition or reconveyance of such
property shall comply with the provisions of § 507 of the
General Municipal Law.