Summary
By amending the town law, this legislation would authorize the establishment of a Community Preservation Fund in the Town of Chatham in Columbia County and amend the state tax law to enable the Town of Chatham to preserve community character through acquisition of open space, park lands, and agricultural lands for the preservation of listed historic properties, among other purposes.

Explanation
This legislation would give the Town of Chatham the ability to protect its local heritage, using local resources, and with local control.  The sponsors are proposing to give the residents of the Town of Chatham the same options for preserving their community as enjoyed by six east end towns of Suffolk County on Long Island, Warwick in Orange County, and Red Hook in Dutchess County. The Long Island communities have set aside more than $400 million for conservation efforts since 1998 and have preserved over 7,500 acres of open space.

Once enacted, this legislation will allow Chatham to create a Community Preservation Plan, identifying properties that are important for preserving farmland as well as the community’s natural and historical heritage.  Through a public referendum the citizens of Chatham will decide for themselves whether they wish to create a modest real estate transfer fee of up to 2% to fund the preservation of these properties.  The fee would only apply to that amount over the median real estate price in Columbia County, which is $210,000.  So for a $260,000 home, if the fee were set at the full 2% it would amount to only $1,000. 

Over 70 farmland conservation groups, historic preservation advocates, environmental organizations, and community groups from around the state support the passage of the Community Preservation Act and recognize that the Act would fill a much-needed funding gap. Leading environmental groups, in fact, have declared the Community Preservation Act to be a Super Bill in 2007. This legislation mirrors the statewide Community Preservation Act, but implements it solely in the Town of Chatham.

Passage of this bill would be a great benefit to the residents of Chatham and enable them to preserve their community’s heritage, while guiding development more effectively.

Environmental Advocates of New York supports this bill.