[Adopted 10-14-1997 by L.L. No. 14-1997 (Ch. 44, § 44-6,
of the 1976 Code)]
[Amended 2-6-2008 by L.L. No. 3-2008]
The Farmland Preservation Committee shall be composed of seven
members appointed by the Town Board for staggered two-year terms as
follows:
A.
Four members of the agricultural community of the Town who are actively
engaged in the ownership and/or operation of a farm located on the
agricultural lands within the Town of Riverhead, as appointed by the
Town Board.
[Amended 11-18-2008 by L.L. No. 45-2008; 8-18-2009 by L.L. No.
43-2009]
B.
A member of the Riverhead Planning Board.
C.
Two at-large members as appointed by the Town Board.
The Farmland Preservation Committee shall:
A.
Review and approve an inventory of agricultural lands within the
Town of Riverhead, as prepared by the Planning Board, to be employed
as a resource in the decisionmaking process of the Committee in the
prioritization of agricultural lands to be preserved or acquired.
B.
Recommend agricultural lands from which development rights should
be purchased by the Town Board or the County of Suffolk.
C.
Review applications for construction permits to allow the erection
of structures upon agricultural lands from which development rights
have been severed and acquired by the Town.
D.
Propose rules and regulations, subject to the approval of the Town
Board, governing its own activities and procedures for review of permit
applications.
E.
Review any matters relevant to development issues being considered
by any agency of the Town with regard to agricultural lands or the
agricultural industry.
F.
Report annually to the Town Board in the month of January. The annual
report shall provide information pertinent to the agricultural lands
from which development rights have been acquired, the construction
permits reviewed, the major decisions reached by the Committee and
an outline of its rationale, as well as any other information the
Committee deems relevant.
G.
Act as the clearinghouse advisory board.
The Committee shall consider the following criteria in its recommendations
to the Town Board with respect to the acquisition of development rights:
Erection of structure subsequent to purchase of development
rights. No structures of any kind shall be permitted to be erected
or maintained, except for structures legally existing on the date
of transfer subsequent to the purchase of development rights by the
Town, except as specifically set forth as follows:
A.
The Farmland Preservation Committee shall be empowered to authorize
construction by the issuance of a waiver letter for the following
specified items:
(1)
Repair or replacement in kind of structures lawfully existing as
of the date of purchase.
(2)
Installation of fences, irrigation wells and pumps.
(3)
Special events of a recreational or charitable nature for a term
of no more than 90 days which require no permanent structures other
than those specifically permitted in this subsection.
B.
The Committee shall be empowered to issue a permit for the construction
of buildings and other structures customarily accessory and incidental
to agricultural production as the same is or shall hereafter be defined
in § 301 of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law,
in accordance with the following procedure:
(1)
An application, in a form approved by the Committee, and a survey
or plot plan outlining the proposed construction shall be submitted
to the Town Clerk for transmittal to the Committee for review.
(2)
The Committee shall by formal resolution grant or deny the construction
permit. The Committee shall, in granting the construction permit,
have authority to impose such conditions and restrictions as it shall
see fit in the reasonable exercise of its discretion to impose; provided,
however, that no permit shall be issued for the erection or maintenance
of any building or other structure intended for human habitation.
(3)
Notwithstanding the provisions of this article or Chapter 201, Agricultural Lands, to the contrary, the granting of a construction permit by the Committee shall enable the applicant to apply for a building permit without further site plan review by the Town Board.
(4)
No structures of any kind whatsoever shall be permitted to be erected
or maintained on lands which have been preserved for agricultural
purposes as a condition of subdivision or site plan approval by grant
of easement, covenant, deed of developmental rights, lease or other
property interest granted to the Town, except those structures that
may be permitted by the Farmland Preservation Committee pursuant to
the same procedural requirements as set forth herein.
