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Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes - May 28, 2015(Approved) Danby Conservation Advisory Council   Minutes of Regular Meeting  M ay 28, 2015 Present: Joel Gagnon (Chair) Mary Woodsen Bill Evans Jenny Caldwell (late) Matt Ulinski (absent) Dan Klein (absent) Don Schauffler (absent) Others Present: C.J. Randal Ronda Roaring Vivian Tejada Lilia Escovedo The Meeting was opened at ~7:15pm Public Comments/Privilege of the floor Ronda asked about the format for natural history inventories of Town properties – a brief discussion ensued. DISCUSSION Orientation to Easements & Process Joel summarized the history of why we are doing what we are doing. The CAC arose out of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan (CP) process. As part of the implementation stage of the CP, a task force was created to look at mechanisms for addressing the goals of the CP, one of which was preserving open space. The Town had the assistance of a Tompkins County Planner who, at a Town meeting, outlined options for the CP’s goals for protecting open space. These actions fell into two broad categories: voluntary approaches vs. regulatory approaches. A vote was taken and there was an overwhelming preference for non-regulatory approaches. Prior to that time only regulatory approaches had been taken (e.g., limiting subdivision size). So, in response to the interest in non-regulatory approaches for preserving open space, the Town Board created the Conservation Advisory Council, which is provided for by the State under General Municipal Law 239-x. There is a provision in this law that outlines the things a conservation advisory council must do, such as creating an inventory of open space and advising the town board on conservation issues. There is also a clause that directs a town CAC to do whatever else the Town Board wants. The Town of Danby took this mandate and added to it a charge that the CAC pursue non-regulatory approaches to saving open space, including (prominently) the conservation easement approach. Joel went on to discuss what a conservation easement is: Voluntary donation of property rights (more specifically - development rights) Given to qualified organization (501c3 or Municipality) Development rights that are ceded are not held, they are extinguished “in perpetuity” Only ways to undo a conservation easement: 1. Eminent domain. 2. Make a case in court that the purpose for which the easement was established no longer exists(i.e. an easement established to protect the habitat of an endangered creature that then becomes extinct, would no longer be capable of fulfilling its mission as that particular conservation easement). Danby easements are oriented around preserving open space, hard to argue that that changes. 3. Action by the State Legislature Joel discussed what has happened since the Danby CAC was created: Set about looking at what the Danby conservation easement program should be. Reviewed easements from other organizations, most notably the Finger Lakes Land Trust. Realized we had limited resources in Danby. Didn’t want to duplicate what FLLT was doing. Primary focus is to acquire development rights so as to reduce development potential in Town. Joel said that we don’t want to constrain land use unnecessarily. (Ronda challenged that this was never decided in a mission statement. Joel agreed but said that was what we came to as a group.) Led to “plain vanilla easement”. Easement template drafted by Guy Krogh, Town Attorney, who volunteered his services. Joel noted that easements for 501c3s must serve a public purpose (to justify the value of the donation to the IRS. Tax credits on going against your taxes for the land (not for improvements on the land) Plain Vanilla Easement (Danby CAC Template): Need to have baseline documentation to verify that the terms of easement have not been violated. Article 1: Generally there are 3 zones, though not necessarily: 1) Residential & Active Use Zone (FLT insists that all of their easements have this) CAC does not insist on this (e.g., for a hunting property). 2) Ag and Forestry Zone 3) Environmental Protection Zone Article 2: Conditions that apply to all of the zones. CAC does easements that cannot be subdivided (due to ease of tracking). Landowners have the option of not putting the entire property in the easement, and/or reserving an area within the easement-protected land for a future residential zone for a house to be constructed later on. The exact location can be spelled out at the time the easement is granted, or it could be indicated that it would fall into some part of a larger area, with the exact location to be determined at a later time, Owners may opt to have this provision for a future development lot to “sunset” (expire) if it isn’t exercised within a specified time -- as in the case of an heir who might want to build something, but if they don't, in x years, the land that could have been built upon no longer can be. Template assumes that you are dealing with a pre-existing dwelling. CAC has dealt with including provisions for building a dwelling on land that does not already have one. The Danby Conservation Easement template contains very few restrictions on agriculture. (Ronda points out pig farms, CAFOs, etc.are not prohibited) Easement proceeds to go through zone delineation, which determines what is allowed and where. Environmental Protection Zone allows practically nothing, and is basically a preserve. This is tough for us because it requires more monitoring. Monitoring and enforcement are something we need to figure out. (Enforcement will not be the steward's responsibility. It falls on the town-- maybe the planning office????). Hope that by keeping restrictions minimal, the need for enforcement is minimized. What is the process for creating a conservation easement with the Town of Danby? 1) Contact is made. People contact us, or we contact people we know or have learned (through the GIS tool or otherwise) own a property 2) Site Visit Landowners get to share what is special about their land, and/or CAC members can show them what is special. Opportunity to assess what is the best way to protect the land. Is an easement appropriate? 3) Negotiation Usually there has been one point person from the CAC for a given easement. 3.1) Gather information (concurrent with negotiation) Take photos of property. Collect documentation of deeds, etc. Documents included with the easement are kept on file by DEC, the attorney's office, and the Town and County Clerk's offices 4) Easement goes to town board for approval. If okay with it, board will authorize the Town Supervisor to sign In meantime, if a charitable deduction is going to be claimed, the value of the easement land must be appraised before or within 60 days of signing the easement. Landowner pays for appraisal (because it's optional) Must update the abstract (includes chain of title, liens that have been put on, mortgages, anything that clouds the title--- mortgagor must be on board with the easement, as it affects the value to them). Time line: For a simple property, a couple months. More complicated property, 18 months? Smallest land for conservation easement-- if it can be subdivided, yes. If special, defer to FLLT, which is better equipped to handle special properties. Easements with the Town of Danby are likely to be less expensive than those with FLLT. (Town of Danby can use tax money to defend an easement against a violation of the terms, whereas FLLT cannot and so needs a substantial stewardship fund.) The NY State Tax credit is a refundable credit against property taxes (taxes on the land value, not the improvements) whereas the Federal tax deduction follows from the charitable donation (might want to choose to itemize) 5) Easement gets filed with the DEC. Talk with C.J. Randal, the new Town Planner Introductions. CJ has good materials for intros to conservation easements, happy to share. Also, a town outside of Buffalo has a lot of data on the effects of easements on development, etc., that we might want to use. State of NY has half million $$ for land purchases. State will chip in half of cost. These lands would become state preserve. ---- Who in Danby is ready to sell?? Deadline by end of July. Tourism looped in with the emerald necklace, etc. CJ will send us the info for this program. CJ wants to talk about transfer of development rights. (Will hinge on Ithaca's comprehensive plan, but there is considerable interest by surrounding towns— Lansing, etc.). Joel: How can your office assist with easement issues and in encouraging people to think conservation and to make enough money from their land so as not to have pressure to sell? CJ plans to come to CAC meetings for a while. Wants to get Sue on the phone with people who we think would be great for the awards mentioned. Money is also available for ag and farm protection plans. Danby doesn’t have an Ag Use Plan. CJ intends to get money to put one together and then go over zoning through that lens. Important to ID prime ag lands. Contact CJ anytime 12-5pm Monday through Thursday cjrandall@townofdanbyny.org Also, Joel's email is up and running: jgagnon@townofdanbyny.org Ethics Policy Joel: Need one, don't need to invent it. Do need to identify potential conflicts of interest and how to deal with them. Mary-- we can look at other groups Bill-- Sue sent some guidance Joel will ask Pamela for Town Board Ethics Policy Mary will look at FLLT, Green Springs Natural Cemetery Ethics Policies Water District Property Jenny will put data for water district inventory into a spreadsheet. Other Items Bill moved that the CAC co-sponsor (with the Danby Community Council) Meena Haribal to come give a talk on dragonflies and damselflies. (At no cost to the CAC.) Mary Seconds. All in favor. Movement passes. Bill will do the coordination involved to get us into the newsletter. Meeting Adjourned! 8:48PM Submitted by Jenny Caldwell and Bill Evans