Pursuant to Section 179-1 of the Village Law,[1] before the Board shall approve a subdivision plat or plan of development,
it may require such plat or plan to show in proper cases a park or parks suitably
located for playground or other recreation purposes. Reservation of the title
to any streets, drainage facilities or easements reserved for public use shown
on the plat is prohibited. All land offered for dedication or reserved by
the owner for a particular purpose and all easements shall be shown and appropriately
marked on the plat or plan of development.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Village Law § 7-730.
A.
Features shown on Master Plan. Where a proposed park,
playground, school or other public use is shown on the Master Plan, if any,
in a location which is entirely or partially within the area of a proposed
subdivision or development, the Board shall require the dedication or reservation
of such area.
B.
Recreation area not shown on Master Plan. In cases where
the Master Plan, if any, does not show a recreation area within a proposed
subdivision and the Board deems that recreation space would be desirable and
appropriate, the Board may require the dedication or reservation of designated
sites for park, playground or other recreation purposes. Such sites shall
be of suitable size, dimension, topography, location and general character
for particular purposes envisioned by the Board. In no case shall the Board
require that more than 10% of the gross area of the subdivision be dedicated
or reserved for recreation purposes. In calculating such percentage, the Board
may give due credit for open areas reserved, by covenants in all deeds, for
the common use of all property owners in the area proposed to be subdivided.
(1)
Minimum size of recreation area. Land in subdivisions
dedicated or reserved for recreation purposes, generally, shall have an area
of at least five acres. When a proposed subdivision is too small to require
such an area, the Board may require that the recreation areas be located on
the edge of the subdivision so that additional land may be added at such time
as the adjacent land is subdivided. In no case shall an area of less than
three acres be dedicated or reserved for recreation purposes if the Board
deems it unlikely that additional lands can be secured to increase such area.
(2)
Recreation sites. Land offered for dedication or reservation
for recreation purposes shall be of a character, shape and location suitable
for such purposes. In the case of a play field or playground, the land shall
be relatively level and dry, and no dimension of the site shall be less than
200 feet. Generally, a recreation site shall have a frontage of at least 200
feet on one or more streets.
C.
Waiver on land for recreation. In cases where the Board
finds that, due to the size, topography or location of the subdivision, or
for other reasons, a requirement that land be dedicated or reserved for recreation
would be unreasonable or undesirable, the Board may wave such requirement
subject to the condition that the subdivider shall, in lieu of such dedication
or reservation, pay to the Village in cash an amount as provided herein for
each proposed lot in the subdivision. Such moneys shall be deposited in a
special Village Recreation Site and Improvement Fund.
[Amended by 4-5-2001 by L.L. No. 4-2001]
(1)
The park/recreational fee to be charged in lieu of the
dedication of land, where applicable, shall be determined on a case-by-case
basis by the Board of Trustees in accordance with Village Law § 7-725-a,
Subdivision 6, and § 7-730, Subdivision 4, but shall in no event
be more than 3% of the value of the lots created.
(2)
Any park/recreational fee collected pursuant hereto shall
be deposited in a trust fund to be used by the Village exclusively for park,
playground or other recreational purposes, including the acquisition of property.
D.
Public use not shown on Master Plan. The Board may require
that land in a subdivision be temporarily reserved for a public school or
other essential community facility although not shown on the Master Plan,
if any, when the Board seems it desirable and appropriate. In such cases,
if the agency having jurisdiction does not acquire such land within two years
after the date of the signing of the plat by the Board, the subdivider, upon
written notice to the Board, shall, 30 days after such notice, be relieved
of the responsibility of further reservation of said land for said public
purpose.
A.
General. All streets shown upon the plat may be offered
for dedication or reserved for such purposes. When a street is not offered
for dedication, the reservation shall ensure to abutting owners title to the
street and a perpetual unobstructed right of access, air and light therein.
B.
Widening or realignment of existing streets. Where a
subdivision borders an existing narrow street, or when the Master Plan, if
any, indicates a realignment and/or widening of a street that would require
use of some of the land in a subdivision or development, the Board may require
the subdivider to offer to dedicate or reserve areas for such widening and/or
realignment.
A.
Storage basins and easements. Where land is required
by the county or Village for storage basins and easements, such land shall
be offered for dedication to Nassau County or the Village, as the case may
be.
B.
Easements. Easements for drainageways, utilities, pedestrian
and/or emergency access, and for planting strips shall be provided by the
subdivider in the locations and at the widths required by the Board. Generally
easements for drainage and utilities shall be unobstructed and perpetual;
easements for planting strips shall be perpetual.
C.
Preservation of natural fixtures. The subdivider shall reserve, and may offer for dedication for open recreational purposes, existing natural features when the Board finds that features, such as large trees, wooded areas, watercourses, ponds, historic sites, vistas or other irreplaceable assets, enhance the attractiveness of the site and will add value to the residential or other development or to the Village as a whole. Whatever of such natural features, in the opinion of the Board, should be offered for dedication to public uses shall be offered for dedication to the Village or other appropriate authority, except when, after approval of the Board pursuant to § 232-47A, such features are deeded to a property owners' association having membership running with all of the land in the subdivision and preserving such features.
A.
Responsibility for reservations. In any case where title
to streets or other reservations is not offered for dedication to the Village,
the ownership shall be clearly established in a manner satisfactory to the
Board in order to ensure the continued maintenance and responsibility for
such reservation.
B.
Offers of cession. Pursuant to Section 179-m of the Village
Law[1] with respect to parks, the subdividing owner may add, as a part
of the plat, a notation to the effect that no offer of dedication of such
parks or any of them is made to the public. A formal offer of cession to the
Village together with appropriate deeds or other instruments for each street
and each park not so marked with such notation shall be filed by the owner
with Clerk as part of the application for approval of the subdivision plat.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Village Law § 7-732.
C.
Acceptance by the Village. Acceptance of any offer of
streets, parks, recreation or other land shall rest with the Village Board
of Trustees. In the event that the subdivider elects not to file the subdivision
plat in the office of the County Clerk within the ninety-day period required
by law, then such formal offer of cession shall be deemed to be void. The
approval by the Board of a plat shall not be deemed to constitute or imply
acceptance by the Village of any street, park or other open space shown on
said plat. The Board may require said plat to be endorsed with appropriate
notes to this effect.
If the subdivider intends to place restrictions on any of the land contained
in a subdivision plat, such restrictions shall be clearly indicated or referred
to on the plat. As part of the application for approval of the subdivision
plat, the subdivider shall submit to the Board for its approval a copy of
any such restrictions as may be imposed upon the property as a condition of
sale, together with a statement of any restrictions previously imposed which
may affect title to the land to be subdivided.
