§ 303 — Agricultural districts; creation

§ 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 two hundred fifty acres of the land\nproposed to be included in the district. Such proposal shall be\nsubmitted in such manner and form as may be prescribed by the\ncommissioner, shall include a description of the proposed district,\nincluding a map delineating the exterior boundaries of the district\nwhich shall conform to tax parcel boundaries, and the tax map\nidentification numbers for every parcel in the proposed district. The\nproposal shall include a review period of eight years.\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 a notice on the home page of the county's\nwebsite; posting such notice in five conspicuous places within the\nproposed district; and providing such notice in writing by first class\nmail to those municipalities whose territory encompasses the proposed\ndistrict. The notice shall contain the following information:\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 county landowner or municipality whose\nterritory encompasses the proposed district may propose a modification\nof the proposed district in such form and manner as may be prescribed by\nthe commissioner;\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\nof the publication and posting and mailing of such notice; and\n (5) a statement that at the termination of the thirty day period, the\nproposal and proposed modifications will be submitted to the county\nagricultural and farmland protection board and that thereafter a public\nhearing will be held on the proposal, proposed modifications, and\nrecommendations of the county agricultural and farmland protection\nboard;\n b. shall receive any proposals for modifications of such proposal\nwhich may be submitted by proponents of the district, any county\nlandowners or municipalities within thirty days of the publication and\nposting and mailing of such notice;\n c. shall, upon the termination of such thirty day period, refer such\nproposal and proposed modifications to the county agricultural and\nfarmland protection board, which shall, after consultation with the\ncounty planning board, within forty-five days report to the county\nlegislative body its recommendations concerning the proposal and\nproposed modifications; and\n d. 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 agricultural and farmland protection\nboard; and\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; and\n (iii) any recommendations proposed by the county agricultural and\nfarmland protection board;\n (3) The notice shall be published in a newspaper having a general\ncirculation within the proposed district and posted on the home page of\nthe county's website and shall be given in writing by first class mail\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 and the advisory\ncouncil on agriculture.\n 3. The following factors shall be considered by the county\nagricultural and farmland protection board and identified as issues for\ncomment at the public hearing:\n a. the viability of active farming within the proposed district and in\nareas adjacent thereto;\n b. the presence of any viable farm lands within the proposed district\nand adjacent thereto that are not now in active farming;\n c. the nature and extent of land uses other than active farming within\nthe proposed district and adjacent thereto;\n d. county developmental patterns and needs; and\n e. any other matters which the county legislative body deems to be\nrelevant.\n In judging viability, any relevant agricultural viability maps\nprepared by the commissioner shall be considered, as well as soil,\nclimate, topography, other natural factors, markets for farm products,\nthe extent and nature of farm improvements, the present status of\nfarming, anticipated trends in agricultural economic conditions and\ntechnology, and such other factors as may be relevant.\n 4. The county legislative body, after receiving the report and\nrecommendations, including any recommendations of the county planning\nboard, of the county agricultural and farmland protection board and\nafter such public hearing, may adopt as a plan the proposal or any\nmodification of the proposal it deems appropriate or may act to reject\nthe proposal.\n 5. All plans that are adopted shall include: (a) a review period of\neight years; (b) only whole tax parcels in the proposed district; and\n(c) to the extent feasible, include adjacent viable farm lands, and\nexclude, to the extent feasible, nonviable farm land and non-farm land.\n 6. Upon the adoption of a plan, the county legislative body shall\nsubmit it to the commissioner. Adopted plans shall be submitted within\none year after receipt of a complete proposal as described in\nsubdivision one of this section. The commissioner may, upon application\nby the county legislative body and for good cause shown, extend the\nperiod for submission once for up to six additional months.\n 7. The commissioner shall have sixty days after receipt of the plan\nwithin which to certify to the county legislative body whether the plan\nis eligible for districting, whether the area to be districted consists\npredominantly of viable agricultural land, and whether the plan of the\nproposed district is feasible, and will serve the public interest by\nassisting in maintaining a viable agricultural industry within the\ndistrict and the state. The commissioner shall submit a copy of such\nplan to the advisory council on agriculture.\n 8. If the commissioner certifies the plan of the proposed district\npursuant to subdivision seven of this section, the district shall be\ncreated immediately upon certification.\n 9. 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. The\ncommissioner, on petition of the county legislative body, may, for good\ncause shown, approve the correction of any errors in materials filed\npursuant to a district creation at any time subsequent to the creation\nof any agricultural district.\n