[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Lebanon 9-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-09. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 10-17-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-04]
A.
There is
hereby established a reserve in the General Capital Fund which shall
be known and designated as the "Open Space Trust Fund." A special
bank account shall be opened and maintained for this purpose. Funds
from the Open Space Trust Fund may, as directed by the Mayor and Township
Committee, be utilized for the following purposes, or any combination
thereof:
(1)
Acquisition
of lands for recreation and conservation purposes;
(2)
Acquisition
of farmland for farmland preservation purposes;
(3)
Maintenance
of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
(5)
Development of lands acquired for recreation
and conservation purposes;
[Added 12-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-09]
(6)
Historic preservation of historic properties,
structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects, and the acquisition
of such properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects
for historic preservation; or
[Added 12-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-09]
(7)
Blue Acres projects.
[Added 12-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-09]
B.
Acquisition
shall include by gift, purchase, or by eminent domain proceedings
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq. and shall include development
easements, or other easements, vacant land, as well as land which
has improvements upon it at the time of acquisition, where the principal
purpose of the acquisition is for any or all of the purposes, or any
combination of them, set forth above.
The Mayor and Township Committee, annually, after the holding
of one public hearing thereon, shall apportion and allocate the use
of such tax receipts among the purposes set forth above.
The Open Space Trust Fund shall be funded through the dedication
to the fund of an amount not to exceed $0.04 per $100 of assessed
valuation of each annual tax levy. The fund shall also be permitted
to accept donations and testamentary bequests. The accumulated receipts
and deposits with the fund may be utilized for the purposes set forth
herein. All monies set aside for open space as of the effective date
of this chapter shall be deposited in the fund.
A.
No property acquired with these funds shall be leased or sold, unless
such action has been authorized by the Mayor and Township Committee
in a manner as prescribed by law.
B.
The Mayor and Township Committee, after at least one public hearing
thereon, and upon a finding that the purposes of this chapter might
otherwise be better served or that any land acquired by the Township
pursuant to this chapter is required for another public use, may,
by ordinance, convey, through sale, exchange, transfer or other disposition,
title to, or a lesser interest in, that land, provided that the Township
shall replace any land conveyed under this section by land of at least
equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size
quality and location to the land conveyed. Any money derived from
the conveyance shall be deposited into the fund created hereunder.
C.
Any conveyance made pursuant to this section shall be made in strict
accordance with the Local Lands and Buildings Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:12-1
et seq.). In the event of conveyance by exchange, the land or improvements
thereon to be transferred to the trust shall be at least equal in
fair market value and of reasonable equivalent usefulness, size, quality
and location to the land or improvements transferred from the trust.
