N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 303

§ 303. Agricultural districts; creation. * 1. Any owner or owners of\nland may submit a proposal to the county legislative body for the\ncreation of an agricultural district within such county, provided that\nsuch owner or owners own at least five hundred acres or at least ten per\ncent of the land proposed to be included in the district, whichever is\ngreater. Such proposal shall be submitted in such manner and form as may\nbe prescribed by the commissioner, shall include a description of the\nproposed district, including a map delineating the exterior boundaries\nof the district which shall conform to tax parcel boundaries, and the\ntax map identification numbers for every parcel in the proposed\ndistrict. The proposal may recommend an appropriate review period of\neither eight, twelve or twenty years.\n * NB Effective until January 20, 2015\n * 1. Any owner or owners of land may submit a proposal to the county\nlegislative body for the creation of an agricultural district within\nsuch county, provided that such owner or owners own at least two hundred\nfifty acres or at least ten per cent of the land proposed to be included\nin the district, whichever is greater. Such proposal shall be submitted\nin such manner and form as may be prescribed by the commissioner, shall\ninclude a description of the proposed district, including a map\ndelineating the exterior boundaries of the district which shall conform\nto tax parcel boundaries, and the tax map identification numbers for\nevery parcel in the proposed district. The proposal may recommend an\nappropriate review period of either eight, twelve or twenty years.\n * NB Effective January 20, 2015\n 2. Upon the receipt of such a proposal, the county legislative body:\n a. shall thereupon provide notice of such proposal by publishing a\nnotice in a newspaper having general circulation within the proposed\ndistrict and by posting such notice in five conspicuous places within\nthe proposed district. The notice shall contain the following\ninformation:\n (1) a statement that a proposal for an agricultural district has been\nfiled with the county legislative body pursuant to this article;\n (2) a statement that the proposal will be on file open to public\ninspection in the county clerk's office;\n (3) a statement that any municipality whose territory encompasses the\nproposed district or any landowner who owns at least ten per cent of the\nland proposed to be included within the proposed modification of the\nproposed district may propose a modification of the proposed district in\nsuch form and manner as may be prescribed by the commissioner of\nagriculture and markets;\n (4) a statement that the proposed modification must be filed with the\ncounty clerk and the clerk of the county legislature within thirty days\nafter the publication of such notice;\n (5) a statement that at the termination of the thirty day period, the\nproposal and proposed modifications will be submitted to the county\nplanning board and county agricultural and farmland protection board and\nthat thereafter a public hearing will be held on the proposal, proposed\nmodifications and recommendations of the planning board and county\nagricultural and farmland protection board;\n b. shall receive any proposals for modifications of such proposal\nwhich may be submitted by such landowners or municipalities within\nthirty days after the publication of such notice;\n c. shall, upon the termination of such thirty day period, refer such\nproposal and proposed modifications to the county planning board, which\nshall, within forty-five days, report to the county legislative body the\npotential effect of such proposal and proposed modifications upon the\ncounty's planning policies and objectives;\n d. shall simultaneously, upon the termination of such thirty day\nperiod, refer such proposal and proposed modifications to the county\nagricultural and farmland protection board, which shall, within\nforty-five days report to the county legislative body its\nrecommendations concerning the proposal and proposed modifications, and;\n e. shall hold a public hearing in the following manner:\n (1) The hearing shall be held at a place within the proposed district\nor otherwise readily accessible to the proposed district;\n (2) The notice shall contain the following information:\n (a) a statement of the time, date and place of the public hearing;\n (b) a description of the proposed district, any proposed additions and\nany recommendations of the county planning board or county agricultural\nand farmland protection board;\n (c) a statement that the public hearing will be held concerning:\n (i) the original proposal;\n (ii) any written amendments proposed during the thirty day review\nperiod;\n (iii) any recommendations proposed by the county agricultural and\nfarmland protection board and/or the county planning board.\n (3) The notice shall be published in a newspaper having a general\ncirculation within the proposed district and shall be given in writing\nto those municipalities whose territory encompasses the proposed\ndistrict and any proposed modifications, owners of real property within\nsuch a proposed district or any proposed modifications who are listed on\nthe most recent assessment roll, the commissioner, the commissioner of\nenvironmental conservation and the advisory council on agriculture.\n 3. The following factors shall be considered by the county planning\nboard, the county agricultural and farmland protection board, and at any\npublic hearing:\n i. the viability of active farming within the proposed district and in\nareas adjacent thereto;\n ii. the presence of any viable farm lands within the proposed district\nand adjacent thereto that are not now in active farming;\n iii. the nature and extent of land uses other than active farming\nwithin the proposed district and adjacent thereto;\n iv. county developmental patterns and needs; and\n v. any other matters which may be relevant.\n In judging viability, any relevant agricultural viability maps\nprepared by the commissioner of agriculture and markets shall be\nconsidered, as well as soil, climate, topography, other natural factors,\nmarkets for farm products, the extent and nature of farm improvements,\nthe present status of farming, anticipated trends in agricultural\neconomic conditions and technology, and such other factors as may be\nrelevant.\n 4. The county legislative body, after receiving the reports of the\ncounty planning board and the county agricultural and farmland\nprotection board and after such public hearing, may adopt as a plan the\nproposal or any modification of the proposal it deems appropriate, and\nshall adopt as part of the plan an appropriate review period of either\neight, twelve or twenty years. The plan as adopted shall, to the extent\nfeasible, include adjacent viable farm lands, and exclude, to the extent\nfeasible, nonviable farm land and non-farm land. The plan shall include\nonly whole tax parcels in the proposed district. The county legislative\nbody shall act to adopt or reject the proposal, or any modification of\nit, no later than one hundred eighty days from the date the proposal was\nsubmitted to this body. Upon the adoption of a plan, the county\nlegislative body shall submit it to the commissioner. The commissioner\nmay, upon application by the county legislative body and for good cause\nshown, extend the period for adoption and submission once for an\nadditional thirty days. Where he or she does so, the county legislative\nbody may extend the period for the report from the county planning board\nand/or the period for the report from the county agricultural and\nfarmland protection board.\n 5. a. The commissioner shall have sixty days after receipt of the plan\nwithin which to certify to the county legislative body whether the\nproposal, or a modification of the proposal, is eligible for\ndistricting, whether the area to be districted consists predominantly of\nviable agricultural land, and whether the plan of the proposed district\nis feasible, and will serve the public interest by assisting in\nmaintaining a viable agricultural industry within the district and the\nstate. The commissioner shall submit a copy of such plan to the\ncommissioner of environmental conservation, who shall have thirty days\nwithin which to report his or her determination to the commissioner. A\ncopy of such plan shall also be provided to the advisory council on\nagriculture. The commissioner shall not certify the plan as eligible for\ndistricting unless the commissioner of environmental conservation has\ndetermined that the area to be districted is consistent with state\nenvironmental plans, policies and objectives.\n 6. a. Within sixty days after the certification by the commissioner\nthat the proposed area is eligible for districting, and that districting\nwould be consistent with state environmental plans, policies and\nobjectives, the county legislative body may hold a public hearing on the\nplan, except that it shall hold a public hearing if the plan was\nmodified by the commissioner or was modified by the county legislative\nbody after they held the public hearing required by paragraph e of\nsubdivision two of this section and such modification was not considered\nat the original hearing. Notice of any such hearing shall be in a\nnewspaper having general circulation in the area of the proposed\ndistrict and individual notice, in writing, to those municipalities\nwhose territories encompass the proposed district modifications, the\npersons owning land directly affected by the proposed district\nmodifications, the commissioner, the commissioner of environmental\nconservation and the advisory council on agriculture. The proposed\ndistrict, if certified without modification by the commissioner, shall\nbecome effective thirty days after the termination of such public\nhearing or, if there is no public hearing, ninety days after such\ncertification unless its creation is disapproved by the county\nlegislative body within such period. Provided, however, that if, on a\ndate within the thirty days after the termination of such public hearing\nor, if there is no public hearing, within the ninety days after such\ncertification, the county legislative body approves creation of the\ndistrict, such district shall become effective on such date. Provided\nfurther, that notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision,\nif the commissioner modified the proposal, the district shall not become\neffective unless the county legislative body approves the modified\ndistrict; such approval must be given on a date within the thirty days\nafter the termination of the public hearing; and the district, if\napproved, shall become effective on such date. Before approving or\ndisapproving any proposal modified by the commissioner, the county\nlegislative body may request reports on such modified proposal, from the\ncounty planning board and the county agricultural and farmland\nprotection board.\n 7. Upon the creation of an agricultural district, the description\nthereof, which shall include tax map identification numbers for all\nparcels within the district, plus a map delineating the exterior\nboundaries of the district in relation to tax parcel boundaries, shall\nbe filed by the county legislative body with the county clerk, the\ncounty director of real property tax services, and the commissioner. For\nall existing agricultural districts, the county clerk shall also file\nwith the commissioner upon request the tax map identification numbers\nfor tax parcels within those districts. The commissioner, on petition of\nthe county legislative body, may, for good cause shown, approve the\ncorrection of any errors in materials filed pursuant to a district\ncreation at any time subsequent to the creation of any agricultural\ndistrict.\n