N.Y. Village Law § 7-701 Transfer of Development Rights; Definitions; Conditions; Procedures

• Library: New York Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through 2023 NY Law Chapter 777
• Year: 2023
• Citation: N.Y. Village Law § 7-701

1. As used in this section:

a. "Development rights" shall mean the rights permitted to a lot, parcel, or area of land under a zoning law respecting permissible use, area, density, bulk or height of improvements executed thereon. Development rights may be calculated and allocated in accordance with such factors as area, floor area, floor area ratios, density, height limitations, or any other criteria that will effectively quantify a value for the development right in a reasonable and uniform manner that will carry out the objectives of this section.

b. "Receiving district" shall mean one or more designated districts or areas of land to which development rights generated from one or more sending districts may be transferred and in which increased development is permitted to occur by reason of such transfer.

c. "Sending district" shall mean one or more designated districts or areas of land in which development rights are designated for use in one or more receiving districts.

d. "Transfer of development rights" shall mean the process by which development rights are transferred from one lot, parcel, or area of land in any sending district to another lot, parcel, or area of land in one or more receiving districts.

2. In addition to existing powers and authorities to regulate by planning or zoning, including authorization to provide for transfer of development rights pursuant to other enabling law, a board of trustees is hereby empowered to provide for transfer of development rights subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth and such other conditions as a village board of trustees deems necessary and appropriate that are consistent with the purposes of this section. The purpose of providing for transfer of development rights shall be to protect the natural, scenic or agricultural qualities of open lands, to enhance sites and areas of special character or special historical, cultural, aesthetic or economic interest or value, to protect lands at risk from sea level rise, storm surge or flooding, and to enable and encourage flexibility of design and careful management of land in recognition of land as a basic and valuable natural resource. The conditions hereinabove referred to are as follows:

a. That the transfer of development rights, and the sending and receiving districts, shall be established in accordance with a comprehensive master plan within the meaning of section 7-722 of this article.The sending district from which transfer of development rights may be authorized shall consist of natural, scenic, recreational, agricultural or open land or sites of special historical, cultural, aesthetic or economic values sought to be protected or lands at risk from sea level rise, storm surge or flooding. Every receiving district, to which transfer of development rights may be authorized shall have been found by the board of trustees, after evaluating the effects of potential increased development which is possible under the transfer of development rights provisions to contain 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 village and by the federal, state, and county agencies having jurisdiction to approve permissible development within the district. A generic environmental impact statement pursuant to the provisions of article eight of the environmental conservation law shall be prepared by the village for the receiving district before any such district, or any sending district, is designated, and such statement shall be amended from time to time by the village, if there are material changes in circumstances. Where a transfer of development rights affects districts in two or more school, special assessment or tax districts, it may not unreasonably transfer the tax burden between the taxpayers of such districts. The receiving and sending districts need not be coterminous with zoning districts.