[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of North
Castle as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-28-1990 by L.L. No. 4-1990 (Ch. 143, Art. I, of
the 1987 Code)]
This article shall be known and cited as the "Parkland Reservations
Law of North Castle for Multifamily Housing Requiring Site Plan Approval
Only."
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority of the Town
to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizenry
under the New York State Municipal Home Rule Law.
Pursuant to the authority duly vested in it, it is the intention
of the Town Board to require the provision of parkland and recreation
land in conjunction with the granting of site development plan approval
for multifamily uses (such as the construction of condominiums and/or
cooperative apartments which require site plan approval only and do
not require subdivision plan approval) in all zoning districts of
the Town of North Castle where such uses are permitted. The Town of
North Castle finds that multifamily housing places an added burden
on the Town of North Castle in regard to providing adequate park and
recreation areas to service the needs of the inhabitants of such housing.
In the event that it is not practical, in the opinion of the Planning
Board, for a particular development to provide park and recreation
areas adequate to service all of those needs, then such housing shall
be required to pay funds to the Town so that it can provide for these
added needs as it is in the best interests of the Town and future
inhabitants. Such funds shall be used exclusively for neighborhood
parks, playgrounds or any other recreational purposes, including the
acquisition of property, which are intended to benefit primarily,
but not exclusively, the residents of the development subject to the
fee.
A.
Recreation areas. Except as provided in § 225-5 below, each multifamily development shall include a park and/or recreation area ("recreation area") which is planned, designed, improved and maintained for the use of the residents of such development and their nonpaying guests. Such recreation area shall comprise not less than 12% of the total site area or an area of one acre, whichever is greater, and shall be improved with facilities as determined necessary and appropriate by the Planning Board in consultation with the Parks and Recreation Board to meet the anticipated neighborhood recreational needs of the population expected to reside there. Environmentally sensitive lands, such as wetlands and steep slopes, shall not be included in the required minimum percentage of recreation land. The specific plan for the recreation area shall be subject to Planning Board approval as to location, design and adequacy, taking into consideration the size of the development and the anticipated occupancy of the units.
B.
Ownership. The ownership of reservations for park and/or recreation
areas shall be clearly indicated on the site development plan and
established in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board and Town
Attorney so as to assure their proper future continuation and maintenance.
A.
Where the Planning Board determines that a suitable recreation area
cannot be properly located in any such development or is otherwise
not practical, the Board may require, as a condition of approval of
any such site plan, a payment to the Town of a sum which shall be
placed in a trust fund to be used by the Town Board exclusively for
neighborhood park, playground or recreation purposes, including the
acquisition of property. Alternatively, where such Planning Board
determines that only a smaller-sized recreation area and/or one with
less than the full range of facilities required to serve the neighborhood
recreational needs of the projected residents can be provided, said
Board may require the payment of only such proportion of the applicable
fees as it determines is appropriate in consideration of the unmet
needs resulting from the lesser-sized recreation area and/or lesser
facilities actually to be provided.
B.
The recreation fee paid to the Town shall be $3,000 per dwelling
unit for a multifamily development (or other form of residential development)
requiring only a site plan or special permit approval, except that
assisted-living units shall have a recreation fee of $1,000 per unit.
[Amended 7-25-2007 by L.L. No. 16-2007; 2-16-2011 by L.L. No.
1-2011]
C.
In all cases where a middle-income unit or an affordable affirmatively
furthering fair housing (AFFH) unit is developed, the recreation fee
shall be $1,000 per dwelling unit for a multifamily development (or
other form of residential development) requiring only a site plan
or special permit approval.
[Added 7-25-2007 by L.L. No. 16-2007; amended 2-16-2011 by L.L. No.
1-2011; 5-14-2014 by L.L. No. 1-2014]
This article shall be enforceable at the time of a site plan
approval against those tracts of land proposed to be developed for
multifamily use which require site plan approval only, where such
development contemplates the division of the development into individual
ownership vis-a-vis fee ownership of a unit or a proprietary lease.
Any property for which a recreation area has been provided or
a fee paid pursuant to this article or pursuant to the requirements
of the Town of North Castle's land subdivision regulations[1] shall be responsible only for the reservation of such
area or the payment of such fee which is in excess of that previously
provided.
Supersession. This article shall supersede inconsistent provisions
of Town Law §§ 274-a and 277(1), Article 16.
