Establishes criteria for the location of state facilities and creates the NYS equitable land use commission to establish guidelines for the proper implementation of such criteria; such commission will further establish a definition for the term "oversaturation" and develop policies to guard against oversaturation in communities of this state; requires public hearings to take place prior to the search for siting a facility in a given community.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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600
2007-2008 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 3, 2007
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing criteria
for the location of state facilities and creating the New York state
equitable land use commission
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 41-A
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 41-A
4 LOCATION OF STATE FACILITIES
5 Section 908-a. Declaration of purpose.
6 908-b. Definitions.
7 908-c. Criteria for siting or expanding state facilities.
8 908-d. Criteria for closing or reducing state facilities.
9 908-e. Minority and women-owned business enterprise program.
10 908-f. The New York state equitable land use commission.
11 § 908-a. Declaration of purpose. The purpose of this article is to
12 further the fair distribution among communities of state facilities.
13 Toward this end, the state of New York shall seek to:
14 1. Site facilities equitably by balancing the considerations of commu-
15 nity needs for services, efficient and cost-effective service delivery,
16 and the social, economic, and environmental impacts of state facilities
17 upon surrounding areas;
18 2. Base its siting and service allocation proposals on the state's
19 long-range policies and strategies, sound planning, zoning, budgetary
20 principles, and state land use and service delivery plans;
21 3. Expand public participation by creating an open and systematic
22 planning process in which communities are fully informed, early in the
23 process, of the state's specific criteria for determining the need for a
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01344-01-7
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1 given facility and its proposed location, the consequences of not taking
2 the proposed action, and the alternatives for satisfying the identified
3 need;
4 4. Foster consensus building to avoid undue delay or conflict in
5 siting facilities providing essential state services;
6 5. Plan for the fair distribution among communities of facilities
7 providing state services in accordance with relative needs among commu-
8 nities for those services;
9 6. Lessen disparities among communities in the level of responsibility
10 each bears for facilities serving citywide, regional or statewide needs;
11 7. Preserve the social fabric of certain diverse neighborhoods by
12 avoiding undue concentrations of institutional uses in residential
13 areas; and
14 8. Promote government accountability by fully considering all poten-
15 tial negative effects, mitigating them as much as possible, and monitor-
16 ing the impacts of facilities once they are built.
17 § 908-b. Definitions. When used in this article:
18 1. "State facility" means a facility providing state services whose
19 location, expansion, closing, or reduction in size is subject to control
20 and supervision by a state agency and which is:
21 (a) operated by the state on property owned or leased by the state
22 which is greater than five hundred square feet in total floor area; or
23 (b) used primarily for a program or programs operated pursuant to a
24 written agreement on behalf of the state which derives at least fifty
25 percent of its annual funding from the state.
26 2. "State service" or "state services" means services provided by the
27 state for the benefit of its residents, including but not limited to,
28 residential facilities, community residences, services for the aged,
29 blind or disabled, community centers and services for seniors, homeless
30 housing and assistance programs, child care resources and referral
31 programs, drug rehabilitation services and youth centers.
32 3. "Significant expansion" means an addition of real property by
33 purchase, lease or interagency transfer, or construction of an enlarge-
34 ment, which would expand the lot area, floor area or capacity of a state
35 facility by twenty-five percent or more and by at least two hundred
36 fifty square feet. An expansion of less than twenty-five percent shall
37 be deemed significant if it, together with expansions made in the prior
38 three-year period, would expand the facility by twenty-five percent or
39 more and by at least two hundred fifty square feet.
40 4. "Significant reduction" means a surrender or discontinuance of the
41 use of real property that would reduce the size or capacity to deliver
42 service of a state facility by twenty-five percent or more. A reduction
43 of less than twenty-five percent shall be deemed significant if it,
44 together with reductions made in the prior three-year period, would
45 reduce the facility by twenty-five percent or more.
46 § 908-c. Criteria for siting or expanding state facilities. The
47 following criteria and procedures shall apply to the siting of all new
48 state facilities and the significant expansion of such facilities.
49 1. The sponsoring agency shall consider the following criteria:
50 (a) Compatibility of the facility with existing facilities and
51 programs in the immediate vicinity of the site.
52 (b) Extent to which neighborhood character would be adversely affected
53 by a concentration of state facilities.
54 (c) Suitability of the site to provide cost-effective delivery of the
55 intended services. Consideration of sites shall include properties not
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1 under state ownership, unless the agency provides a written explanation
2 of why it is not reasonable to do so in a particular instance.
3 (d) The benefit or cost to the community based upon a cost/benefit
4 analysis, including but not limited to a consideration of long term and
5 short term costs and benefits and social, economic and environmental
6 factors.
7 2. (a) In formulating its facility proposals, the sponsoring agency
8 shall consider any comments received from local community boards and any
9 alternative sites proposed, as well as any comments or recommendations
10 received in any public hearings, meetings, consultations or communi-
11 cations with local community boards and any recommendations received
12 from the New York state equitable land use commission. Upon the written
13 request of the affected local community board, the sponsoring agency
14 shall attend such board's hearing on the proposed siting of a state
15 facility.
16 (b) Prior to the siting of any state facility the sponsoring agency
17 shall hold a public hearing to determine the suitability of such site.
18 § 908-d. Criteria for closing or reducing state facilities. 1. The
19 sponsoring agency shall consider the extent to which the closing or
20 reduction of existing state facilities would create or significantly
21 increase any existing imbalance among communities of service levels
22 relative to need. Wherever possible, such actions should be proposed
23 for areas with high ratios of service supply to service demand.
24 2. In proposing state facility closings or reductions, the sponsoring
25 agency shall consult with the affected local community boards about the
26 alternatives within the district, if any, for achieving the planned
27 reduction and the measures to be taken to ensure adequate levels of
28 service.
29 § 908-e. Minority and women-owned business enterprise program. 1. (a)
30 In the performance of projects pursuant to this article minority and
31 women-owned business enterprises shall be given the opportunity for
32 meaningful participation especially in the construction area. So as to
33 alleviate and rectify the pattern of gross discrimination in the
34 construction area at least fifty percent of all construction or rehabil-
35 itation contracts shall be awarded to minority and women-owned business
36 enterprises. The department or the agency shall establish measures and
37 procedures to secure meaningful participation and identify those
38 contracts and items of work for which minority and women-owned business
39 enterprises may best bid to actively and affirmatively promote and
40 assist their participation in the projects, so as to facilitate the
41 award of a fair share of contracts to such enterprises; provided, howev-
42 er, that nothing in this article shall be construed to limit the ability
43 of the department or agency to assure that qualified minority and
44 women-owned business enterprises may participate in the program. For
45 purposes hereof, minority business enterprise shall mean any business
46 enterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the
47 case of a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the
48 stock of which is owned by citizens or permanent resident aliens who are
49 Black, Hispanic, Asian or American Indian, Pacific Islander or Alaskan
50 natives and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing
51 and have the authority to independently control the day to day business
52 decisions of the entity for at least one year; and women-owned business
53 enterprise shall mean any business enterprise which is at least fifty-
54 one per centum owned by, or in the case of a publicly owned business, at
55 least fifty-one per centum of the stock of which is owned by citizens or
56 permanent resident aliens who are women, and such ownership interest is
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1 real, substantial and continuing and have the authority to independently
2 control the day to day business decisions of the entity for at least one
3 year. The provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to limit
4 the ability of any minority or women-owned business enterprise to bid on
5 any contract.
6 (b) In the implementation of this section, the department or the agen-
7 cy shall consider compliance by any contractor with the requirements of
8 any federal, state, or local law concerning minority and women-owned
9 business enterprises, which may effectuate the requirements of this
10 section. If the department or the agency determines that by virtue of
11 the imposition of the requirements of any such law, in respect to capi-
12 tal project contracts, the provisions thereof duplicate or conflict with
13 such law, the department may waive the applicability of this section to
14 the extent of such duplication or conflict.
15 (c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require that overall
16 state and federal requirements for participation of minority and women-
17 owned business enterprises in programs authorized under this article be
18 applied without regard to local circumstances to all projects or in all
19 communities.
20 2. In order to implement the requirements and objectives of this
21 section, the department and the agency shall establish procedures to
22 monitor the contractors' compliance with provisions hereof, provide
23 assistance in obtaining competing qualified minority and women-owned
24 business enterprises to perform contracts proposed to be awarded, and
25 take other appropriate measures to improve the access of minority and
26 women-owned business enterprises to these contracts.
27 § 908-f. The New York state equitable land use commission. 1.
28 Creation of the New York state equitable land use commission. The
29 commissioner of economic development shall establish within the execu-
30 tive department a New York state equitable land use commission to estab-
31 lish guidelines for the proper implementation of criteria for the
32 location of state facilities.
33 2. Powers of the commission. The commission shall have the following
34 powers and responsibilities:
35 (a) study all aspects of the siting of state facilities;
36 (b) establish guidelines by which the siting of state facilities is
37 accomplished in accordance with the criteria set forth in sections nine
38 hundred eight-c and nine hundred eight-d of this article;
39 (c) establish guidelines within which to define the terms "satu-
40 ration", "over saturation" and "fair share" by creating a threshold
41 index against which to measure the following factors including, but not
42 limited to, the number of residential beds per one thousand persons, the
43 amount of traffic caused by the siting, the number of persons sought to
44 be served by such facility, the volume in tonnage of solid waste
45 produced and any factors which may have an impact on the environment;
46 (d) request and obtain from any state or local officer or agency any
47 information necessary to the commission for the exercise of its respon-
48 sibilities;
49 (e) hold public hearings in cities with a population of seven hundred
50 fifty thousand or more relating to the siting of state facilities there-
51 in;
52 (f) require the filing of an environmental impact statement; and
53 (g) approve all proposed construction of state facilities.
54 3. Membership of the commission. The commission shall be composed of
55 eleven members; three to be appointed by the governor, three to be
56 appointed by the majority leader of the senate, three to be appointed by
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1 the speaker of the assembly and one each shall be appointed by the
2 commissioner of the office of temporary and disability assistance and
3 the commissioner of economic development. Each member shall be a resi-
4 dent of the state of New York. From among the membership of the commis-
5 sion, the governor shall appoint a chairperson who shall serve for a
6 term of one year.
7 4. Term of appointment. All members of the commission shall serve
8 terms of two years.
9 5. Agenda and quorum requirements. The commission shall meet at least
10 biannually. The agenda and meeting place of all regular meetings shall
11 be made available to the public in advance of such meetings and all such
12 meetings shall be open to the public. The commission shall establish
13 quorum requirements and other rules and procedures regarding conduct of
14 its meetings and other affairs.
15 6. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of law, general,
16 special or local, no officer or employee of the state, of any political
17 subdivision of the state, of any governmental entity operating any
18 public school or college or of any other public agency or instrumentali-
19 ty or unit of government which exercises governmental powers under the
20 laws of the state, shall forfeit such office or employment by reason of
21 acceptance or appointment as a member, representative, officer, employee
22 or agent of the commission nor shall service as such member, represen-
23 tative, officer, employee or agent of the commission be deemed incompat-
24 ible or in conflict with such office or employment. The members, their
25 representatives, officers and staff to the commission shall be deemed
26 employees within the meaning of section seventeen of the public officers
27 law.
28 7. The members of the commission shall serve without salary or per
29 diem allowance but shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual and
30 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties pursu-
31 ant to this section or other provision of law, provided however that
32 such members and representatives are not, at the time such expenses are
33 incurred, public employees otherwise entitled to such reimbursement.
34 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
