Elma City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XVII
Transfer of Permitted Development Rights
§ 144-143 Purpose; objectives.
A.
These provisions are enacted to implement the goals and standards as stated herein, and the environmental conditions on any particular site by providing the means of achieving elements of the Town planning objective 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.
B.
Further, land from which the development rights are to be transferred must have such characteristics that their open space preservation will fulfill at least one 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 resource.
§ 144-144 Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The Planning Board of the Town of Elma.
A district or lot to which development rights are transferred.
The district or lot from which development rights are transferred.
The Town of Elma.
The Town Board of Elma.
§ 144-145 Authorization for transfer.
In pursuit of these purposes, the Town Board of the Town of Elma may authorize the transfer of permitted development rights from one parcel of land to another parcel where such authorization shall be found to be beneficial to the Town through serving the interests enumerated in § 144-143 of this article and to be in accordance with the provisions of this article.
§ 144-146 Procedure; fee.
A.
An applicant for the transfer of permitted development rights shall present ownership and description documentation satisfactory to the Town Board. An applicant may be an individual, a corporation, a partnership, a subdivision of the government of the Town of Elma or the Town Board itself. Such application shall indicate:
(1)
The location, land area and related development rights permitted under the applicable provisions of this chapter which the applicant proposes to transfer.
(2)
The location and land area of the site to which such rights are to be transferred, mapped with sufficient specificity; the location of the number of units that would result on the site from such a transfer and a statement of the character of the projected development.
(3)
A presentation as to the reasonable and beneficial results anticipated from the authorization applied for by the applicant.
B.
If the Town Board agrees to consider the applicant's 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, upon payment of an application fee of $250. Governmental subdivisions of the Town of Elma and the Town Board itself shall be exempt from payment of such fee, and transfers from or to the Town shall be exempt from payment of such fee.
C.
The Planning Board report to the Town Board shall consider all aspects of the proposal. Said report shall also indicate whether a generic environmental impact statement pursuant to Article 8 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 Planning 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 is designated a "sending district."
D.
Upon receipt of the Planning Board report with any necessary attachments, the Town Board shall address the application. Said application shall be returned to the Town Board by the Planning Board within 60 days of presentation of the application to the Town Board. The Planning Board may apply to the Town Board for one and no more extension of 60 days in order to complete its work. 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 and the Planning Board shall be: whether the location from which the development rights are being transferred consists of natural, scenic, recreations, 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 increased development is compatible with the development otherwise permitted by the Town within the receiving district.
E.
Upon favorable review of the Town Board, such an application shall be approved subject to completion of the following actions:
(1)
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 which the development rights were transferred.
(2)
Conservation easements.
(a)
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 Elma as the Town shall designate for use as open space.
(b)
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 Erie 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.
(c)
Such other requirements as the Town Board shall establish in any particular instance.
§ 144-147 General standards.
A.
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 other environmentally sensitive areas and other purposes which serve to implement the purposes of this article.