[HISTORY: Adopted by the North Hempstead Town Board 12-3-2024 by L.L. No. 11-2024; amended in its entirety 11-19-2025 by L.L. No. 20-2025. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The Board finds that it is in the best interest of the Town of North Hempstead to extend Chapter 76 of the Town Code enacting a "Temporary Moratorium on Battery Energy Storage Systems Facilities" in order to extend the one-year moratorium on all matters concerning battery energy storage systems (hereinafter "BESS") which consist of rows of rechargeable batteries housed in self-contained, interconnected storage units for another calendar year. The Town Board finds that in order to ensure the public health, safety and welfare, a thorough examination of the risks of these facilities must be ascertained prior to the submission of any applications requesting approval for this use.
B. 
The Town Board finds it imperative that the Town undertake a thorough examination of these systems to identify any possible threats to public health, safety and welfare as well as evaluate the potential for environmental degradation.
C. 
The Town Board finds that in order to enact the recommendations of the Governor's Interagency Fire Safety Working Group, a moratorium is necessary to provide volunteer fire departments sufficient time to become "qualified personnel," create an "Emergency Response Plan," and provide "site-specific training."
D. 
The Town requires the moratorium to carefully evaluate the implications of BESS facilities, conform with the proposed recommendations posited by the Governor's Interagency Fire Safety Working Group, and to assess how these facilities may impact the town, its residents, and its fire prevention infrastructure.
E. 
The Town Board of the Town of North Hempstead has determined that in accordance with Section 617.5 of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR), the adoption of a moratorium on applications for building permits and/or certificate of occupancies for land development or construction of battery energy storage system facilities constitutes a Type II action, and further that the proposed moratorium has been identified as an action not having a significant impact on the environment and is not subject to review under SEQR.
BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM FACILITY
A facility, structure, building, or parcel of land that holds or houses electrochemical devices that charge or collect energy from a power grid and are then discharged to provide energy to parcels, structures, facilities, dwellings, or utilities serviced by that grid.
MORATORIUM
A local enactment which temporarily suspends a landowner's right to obtain development approvals while the community considers and potentially adopts changes to its comprehensive plan and/or its land use regulations to address new circumstances not addressed by its current laws.
Until November 18, 2026, after which this chapter shall lapse and be without further force and effect, unless extended pursuant to a resolution of the Town Board of the Town of North Hempstead, no agency, board, board officer or employee of the Town of North Hempstead, including, but not limited to, the Town Board, the Board of Appeals, Planning Board, or Department of Buildings issuing any approval or building permit pursuant to any provision of the Town Code of the Town of North Hempstead, shall accept any application, review any application, or issue, cause to be issued, or allow to be issued any approval, special exception, variance, site plan, or building permit, for any applications requesting that a proposed parcel to be permitted for use as a battery energy systems storage facilities.
The invalidity of any word, section, clause, paragraph, sentence, part or provision of this chapter shall not affect the validity of any other part of this chapter which can be given effect without such invalid part or parts.
All local laws in conflict with the provisions of this chapter are hereby superseded and suspended for the duration of this moratorium and for any additional period that this chapter is extended. This chapter also supersedes, amends and takes precedence over any inconsistent provisions of New York State Town Law, the Town's Municipal Home Rule powers, pursuant to Municipal Home Rule Law §§ 10 and 22. The Town Law provisions intended to be superseded include all of the Article 16 of the Town Law, §§ 261 through 285, inclusive, and any other provisions of law that the Town may supersede pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Law and the Constitution of the State of New York. The courts are directed to take notice of this legislative intent and to apply such intent in the event the Town has failed to specify any provisions of law that may require supersession. The Town Board hereby declares that it would have enacted this chapter and superseded such inconsistent provisions had it been apparent.