Town of Huntington, NY Transfer of Development Rights

These provisions are enacted to implement the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Huntington of 1965 and the proposed update to said plan of 1990 by providing the means of achieving elements of the Town planning objectives with reference to natural resources, population, utilities, business and housing and, more particularly, to do so while maintaining the overall balance established between population capacity and ultimate commercial and business development. Further, land from which the development rights are to be transferred must have such characteristics that their open space preservation will fulfill one (1) of the following objectives:

(1)

To protect the natural, scenic or agricultural qualities of open land.

(2)

To enhance sites and areas of special character or special historical, cultural, aesthetic or economic interest or value.

(3)

To enable and encourage flexibility of design and careful management of land in recognition of land as a basic and valuable natural resources.

In pursuit of these purposes, the Town Board of the Town of Huntington may authorize the transfer of permitted development rights from one (1) parcel of land to another parcel of land where such authorization shall be found to be beneficial to the Town through serving to implement the Comprehensive Plan and its update and to be in accordance with the provisions of this section.

Procedure.

(1)

The Town Board may from time to time propose a transfer of development rights on its own motion or on petition, application or on recommendation of the Planning Board. The submission for the transfer of permitted development rights shall present documentation satisfactory to the Town Board, indicating:

(a)

The location and land area, mapped with specificity, and the related development rights permitted under the applicable provisions of this article which the applicant proposes to transfer.

(b)

The location and land area, mapped with specificity, of the site to which such rights are to be transferred, the projected use and intensification that would result on the site from such a transfer and a statement of the character of the area in which the location is situated.

(c)

A presentation as to the reasonable and beneficial result anticipated from the authorization applied for with respect to the implementation of the Town's Comprehensive Plan and update.

(2)

If the Town Board decides to consider the proposal, it shall proceed to request that the Planning Board evaluate the proposed transfer of development rights and prepare a report to the Town Board.

(3)

The Planning Board report to the Town Board shall consider all aspects of the proposal, particularly that of the degree to which the proposal implements the Town's Comprehensive Plan. Said report shall also indicate whether a generic environmental impact statement pursuant to the provisions of Article VIII of the Environmental Conservation Law has been prepared for the location which is to receive the transferred development rights. In the event that none exists, a generic environmental impact statement shall be prepared by the Town Board for said location before any such location is designated as a receiving district or the location from which the development rights shall be transferred from is designated a sending district.

(4)

Upon receipt of the Planning Board report and after the preparation of a generic environmental impact statement, where necessary, the Town Board may address the application. In accordance with the other provisions of this article, the Town Board shall schedule a public hearing to consider the application and provide notice of said hearing. Among the factors to be considered by the Town Board shall be: whether the location from which the development rights are being transferred consists of natural, scenic, recreational, agricultural, forest or open land or sites of special historical, cultural, aesthetic or economic values sought to be protected; and whether the location to which the development rights are to be transferred contains adequate resources, environmental quality and public facilities, including adequate transportation, water supply, waste disposal and fire protection and that there will be no significant environmentally damaging consequences and such increase development is compatible with the development otherwise permitted by the Town within the district.

(5)

Upon favorable review of the Town Board, such an application shall be approved subject to completion of the following actions:

(a)

Approval by the Planning Board of a detailed site development plan for the property to which the development rights are to be transferred and recommendation with regard to the disposition of property from whence the development rights were transferred.

(b)

Execution of an instrument in the form of a conservation easement, the form and content of which shall effect such transfer and the transmittal of the fee title for the property for which the development rights to be transferred to the Town of Huntington or such other governmental agency as the Town shall designate for use as open space.

(c)

Filing copies of the executed conservation easement in the office of the Town Clerk, the Planning Board, the Building Inspector and with the Clerk of the County of Suffolk as a notice of such transfer incorporated in the deed of each property affected by the transfer. Such instrument shall specifically set forth the rights transferred and the resulting total development rights in each property.

(d)

Such other requirements as the Town Board shall establish.

General standards.

(1)

The extent to which a location receiving transferred development rights may be developed in terms of its use, the intensity of said use, the land area on the site to be permitted for such use, the size of the structures on the site and/or the appropriate lot yield for the location shall be left to the discretion of the Town Board to promote the important public policy of the preservation of open space, important agricultural lands and environmentally sensitive areas and other purposes which serve to implement the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Huntington.

(2)

Nothing in this section shall abrogate the requirements of other codes and regulations, including the Town of Huntington Planning Board Subdivision Regulations and site plan requirements, when they are applicable.