§ 302 — County agricultural and farmland protection board

§ 302. County agricultural and farmland protection board. 1. (a) A\ncounty legislative body may establish a county agricultural and farmland\nprotection board which shall consist of eleven members, at least four of\nwhom shall be active farmers. At least one member of such board shall\nrepresent agribusiness and one member may represent an organization\ndedicated to agricultural land preservation. These six members of the\nboard shall reside within the county which the respective board serves.\nThe members of the board shall also include the chairperson of the\ncounty soil and water conservation district's board of directors or an\nemployee of the county soil and water conservation district designated\nby the chairperson, a member of the county legislative body, a county\ncooperative extension agent, the county planning director and the county\ndirector of real property tax services. The chairperson shall be chosen\nby majority vote. Such board shall be established in the event no such\nboard exists at the time of receipt by the county legislative body of a\npetition for the creation or review of an agricultural district pursuant\nto section three hundred three of this article, or at the time of\nreceipt by the county of a notice of intent filing pursuant to\nsubdivision four of section three hundred five of this article. The\nmembers of such board shall be appointed by the chairperson of the\ncounty legislative body, who shall solicit nominations from farm\nmembership organizations except for the chairperson of the county soil\nand water conservation district's board of directors or his or her\ndesignee, the county planning director and director of real property tax\nservices, who shall serve ex officio. The members shall serve without\nsalary, but the county legislative body may entitle each such member to\nreimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the\nperformance of official duties.\n (b) After the board has been established, the chairperson of the\ncounty legislative body shall appoint to it two qualified persons for\nterms of two years each, two qualified persons for terms of three years\neach and two qualified persons for a term of four years. Thereafter, the\nappointment of each member shall be for a term of four years.\nAppointment of a member of the county legislative body shall be for a\nterm coterminous with the member's term of office. Appointment of the\ncounty planning director and county director of real property tax\nservices shall be coterminous with their tenure in such office. The\nappointment of the chairperson of the county soil and water conservation\ndistrict's board of directors shall be for a term coterminous with his\nor her designation as chairperson of the county soil and water\nconservation district's board of directors. Any member of the board may\nbe reappointed for a succeeding term on such board without limitations\nas to the number of terms the member may serve.\n (c) The county agricultural and farmland protection board shall advise\nthe county legislative body and work with the county planning board in\nrelation to the proposed establishment, modification, continuation or\ntermination of any agricultural district. The board shall render expert\nadvice relating to the desirability of such action, including advice as\nto the nature of farming and farm resources within any proposed or\nestablished area and the relation of farming in such area to the county\nas a whole. The board may review notice of intent filings pursuant to\nsubdivision four of section three hundred five of this article and make\nfindings and recommendations pursuant to that section as to the effect\nand reasonableness of proposed actions involving the advance of public\nfunds or acquisitions of farmland in agricultural districts by\ngovernmental entities. The board shall also assess and approve county\nagricultural and farmland protection plans.\n (d) A county agricultural and farmland protection board may request\nthe commissioner of agriculture and markets to review any state agency\nrules and regulations which the board identifies as affecting the\nagricultural activities within an existing or proposed agricultural\ndistrict. Upon receipt of any such request, the commissioner of\nagriculture and markets shall, if the necessary funds are available,\nsubmit in writing to the board (i) notice of changes in such rules and\nregulations which he or she deems necessary, (ii) a copy of\ncorrespondence with another agency if such rules and regulations are\noutside his or her jurisdiction, including such rules and regulations\nbeing reviewed, and his or her recommendations for modification, or\n(iii) his or her reasons for determining that existing rules and\nregulations be continued without modification.\n (e) The county agricultural and farmland protection board shall notify\nthe commissioner and the commissioner of the department of environmental\nconservation of any attempts to propose the siting of solid waste\nmanagement facilities upon farmland within an agricultural district.\n 2. Upon the request of one or more owners of land used in agricultural\nproduction the board may review the land classification for such land\nestablished by the department of agriculture and markets, consulting\nwith the district soil and water conservation office, and the county\ncooperative extension service office. After such review, the board may\nrecommend revisions to the classification of specific land areas based\non local soil, land and climatic conditions to the department of\nagriculture and markets.\n