[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Monroe 8-6-1973
by Local Law No. 3, 1973. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Town Board does find it necessary to provide a method
of administration for open space required as a condition of subdivision or
planned unit development approval whereby such open space is maintained and
administered in a fashion consistent with its purpose: for the recreation
and enjoyment thereof by the inhabitants of the subdivision and planned unit
developments in which such open space is required, and for the general enhancement
of the Town of Monroe.
B.
The purpose of this local law is to establish a procedure
whereby the residents of such subdivisions and planned unit developments will
contribute to the cost of such administration and partake in the decisions,
along with the developer, concerning its use, maintenance and possible development
in the initial phases of such administration, and will ultimately completely
control and administer such open space. It is also the purpose of this local
law to establish the town as the authority imposing and collecting the residents'
contributions to such control and administration in the form of a special
district assessment.
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms used herein are defined as
follows:
The owner or owners of the real property comprising the entire area
of a subdivision or planned unit development which may be the subject of an
open space requirement.
A not-for-profit or membership corporation formed under the authority
of the New York State Not For Profit Corporation Law, as the same may be amended,
for the purposes, among other things, of maintaining, administering and developing
open space.
Any land required to be left undeveloped for residential or commercial
purposes and intended solely for recreational purposes, as a precondition
of approval of a proposed subdivision plat by the Planning Board or a planned
unit development overall development plan by the Town Board.
Any person, firm, corporation, association or legal representative
acting individually or jointly, including any transportation corporation.
A grouping of residential dwelling units, combined with and serviced
by compatible commercial service establishments constructed as a unified project
in accordance with an overall development plan approved by the Town Board.
The Planning Board of the Town of Monroe.
The duly elected Town Board of the Town of Monroe.
If the Town Board or the Planning Board shall require open space as
a precondition of subdivision or planned unit development approval, the developer
shall, prior to final approval of such subdivision or planned unit development,
petition the Town Board pursuant to the applicable provision of the Town Law,
to form a park district, the boundaries of which shall be coterminous with
the area of the entire subdivision or the planned unit development to be approved.
A.
Prior to final approval of any subdivision or planned
unit development which is the subject of an open space requirement, the developer
shall irrevocably offer to the Town of Monroe good and marketable fee title
to the open space. Such offer shall be in a form acceptable to the Town Attorney
and Town Board and shall be in a form sufficient for recording.
B.
Such offer shall contain a covenant that the developer,
his heirs, successors or assigns shall forever refrain from developing, constructing
upon or physically altering such open space except as may be provided for
in this local law as amended from time to time. The Town of Monroe shall be
deemed the beneficiary of such covenant along with the residents of the subdivision
or planned unit development affected.
A.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent a conveyance
of such open space by the developer, but all such conveyances, including those
to a homeowner's association, shall be subject to the offer of dedication
and restrictive covenants required hereby.
B.
The developer or his successor shall convey the open
space to the homeowner's association required to be established by this
local law, but not until 75% of the dwelling units proposed to be built in
said subdivision or planned unit development are occupied or a period of five
years has elapsed from the time the first such dwelling unit was occupied,
whichever event shall first occur. Any such conveyance to the homeowner's
association shall be at no cost to the association.
A.
Prior to final approval of any subdivision or planned
unit development which is the subject of an open space requirement, the developer
shall form a homeowner's association. Such corporation need not be designed
exclusively to administer open space, but its certificate of incorporation
and/or bylaws shall contain at least the following provisions:
(1)
All owners, unit owners, lessees or tenants of any dwelling
units in such subdivision or planned unit development shall automatically
become members of the homeowner's association upon becoming vested with
their legal interest in such units, notwithstanding that such interest may
be in common or jointly held with others.
(2)
The developer or his successor shall be a member until
the open space is conveyed to the homeowner's association as required
by this local law.
(3)
The homeowner's association shall have the primary
duty of controlling and maintaining the open space and any subsequent improvements
thereon and shall contract with the Town of Monroe to provide park district
services in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Town Law.
(4)
Directors of the homeowner's association need not
be residents of the affected subdivision or planned unit development or of
the Town of Monroe.
(5)
In voting for directors, each member shall have one vote
except that until the developer conveys the open space as required by this
local law, he shall have 1 1/2 votes for every member's vote in
such election.
(6)
The Board of Directors shall consist of five directors,
the terms of which shall be three years.
(7)
The terms of the first-elected directors shall be staggered
so that one such director shall have a term of one year; two for a term of
two years; and two for a term of three years. All subsequent elections for
directors shall be for a term of three years.
(8)
The books and records of the homeowner's association
shall be subject to visitation without prior notice by the Town Board or anyone
designated by the Town Board for that purpose.
(9)
The directors shall render to every member and to the
Town Board an annual accounting of receipts and expenditures, prepared in
accordance with generally acceptable accounting principles.
(10)
The first election for directors shall take place not
earlier than nine months after the first dwelling unit in the affected subdivision
or planned unit development is occupied. Until such election, the developer
shall upon formation of the corporation, nominate three directors who shall
act as a Board of Directors.
(11)
The primary, but not sole, function of the homeowner's
association will be the administration, maintenance and control of the open
space and any facilities located thereon.
B.
The Town Attorney shall review and be satisfied with
the terms of all proposed certificates of incorporation and bylaws for such
homeowner's association prior to final approval of the affected subdivision
or planned unit development. Such review shall be for the purpose of seeing
that the certificate of incorporation and the bylaws conform with the provisions
of this local law.
C.
Upon sale or lease of any dwelling or unit, the developer
shall inform the owner, unit owner, tenant or lessee of the existence of such
homeowner's association and shall provide him, without cost, a copy of
the certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the names and addresses of the
directors and officers of such association.
A.
The homeowner's association shall, upon its formation,
enter into an agreement with the town whereby it agrees to maintain, control
and administer the open space on behalf of the park district in which the
open space is located. Such agreement shall provide that the open space shall
not be further developed except as provided for in this local law.
B.
In return for such services, the town will pay the homeowner's
association an annual sum agreed upon as necessary to maintain, control, and
administer said open space.
C.
Such contract shall be deemed renewable as to all its
terms and provisions unless the town or the homeowner's association shall
notify the other of any desired change prior to September 15 of the current
year. If the homeowner's association shall desire a change in the amount
of the sum to be paid by the town under the agreement for the next ensuing
calendar year, it shall prepare and submit a proposed budget to the Town Board
by September 15 of the current year. Such budget shall include a detailed
estimate of actual and potential revenues and expenditures.
A.
The sum of money to be paid annually to the homeowner's
association for maintenance, control and administration by the town shall
be charged back to the district as a park district tax and shall be collected
at the same time and in the same manner as other town charges on an ad valorem
basis.
B.
The preparation of the budget for the park district and
the public hearing required before the final adoption thereof shall be in
the same manner and at the same time as that of the annual budget for the
town as a whole.
A.
No structure or building shall be constructed, stream
or water body altered or other major physical or topographical alteration
made except with consent of the Town Board. No such consent shall be given
unless it appears that the proposal to so develop the open space is consistent
with the concept of open space for recreational use and is agreed upon by
a majority of the directors of the homeowner's association who have made
their decision after holding a meeting of the membership of the homeowner's
association called for such purpose after giving written notice thereof to
each member.
B.
All such structures or buildings shall conform with all
other provisions of law except the yard requirements of the Town of Monroe
Zoning Law. In giving such consent, the Town Board shall determine if the
spatial separation of such structures or buildings from other buildings or
structures or property lines is sufficient.
C.
The cost of any such improvement shall be a district
charge and shall be charged back to the district and collected as a district
tax in the same manner as the annual cost for the contract of maintenance
with the town.
In regard to any development of the open space or any item of maintenance,
control or administration that shall require the sale of obligations of the
Town of Monroe, all such sales shall be made in accordance with the applicable
provisions of the Local Finance Law and Town Law, and the annual installments
of principal and interest thereon shall be a district charge collected as
a district tax beginning the next ensuing calendar year.
If in the opinion of the Town Board, the homeowner's association
defaults under its contract with the town and does not control, maintain or
administer the open space, the town shall adopt one or all of the following
procedures:
A.
Accept the offer of dedication and go into actual control
and possession of the open space.
B.
Correct any specific defect or perform any specific task
necessary for proper maintenance and control of said open space and charge
the cost thereof to the park district as a district tax for the next ensuing
year.
A.
Unless the town shall accept the offer of dedication
required by this local law, it shall be unlawful for any person who is not
a resident of the park district in which such open space is located to use
such open space or the facilities located thereon in any manner except by
permission and upon such conditions as may be required by the homeowner's
association. Such conditions may include a reasonable charge or a fee for
such use. All such conditions shall be reviewed and approved by the Town Board
prior to being applicable.
B.
Any violation of this restriction shall be deemed to
be a trespass in the third degree and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding
$250 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or both, for each such
violation.
