BILL NUMBER: S5041

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the Westchester county administrative
code, in relation to the lease or sale of real property for park
purposes

 
PURPOSE:

To amend the sections of the Westchester County Administrative Code
related to the lease or sale of real property for park purposes, in
order to prevent the county from alienating parkland without action by
the State Legislature.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one strikes subdivision two of section 249.101 of the Westches-
ter County Administrative Code. This subdivision states that the Board
of Acquisition and Contract, upon the recommendation of the board, may
authorize the sale of any building, improvement and other materials
within the boundary line of the lands so taken and belonging to the
              

county, which the board shall certify is not required for the purposes
of this chapter, and the proceeds of such leases and sales shall be
deposited with the Commissioner of Finance to the credit of the county.

Section two amends section 249.111 of the Westchester County Administra-
tive Code, to provide that for parcels under two acres and not used as
parks, the county, upon the recommendation of the board, is hereby
authorized to sell and convey, by either public or private sale, any
real estate which may have been acquired by purchase, condemnation or
otherwise for park purposes, and which is determined by the County Board
to be no longer required for such purposes, or to grant rights or inter-
ests in, over, under and across any real estate acquired for park
purposes, such sale and conveyance or grant to be in accordance with the
provisions of the County Charter and Administrative Code.

Section three provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current state law, parkland can only be alienated through legisla-
tive action. Westchester County is unique from other jurisdictions in
that a sale of parklands is essentially possible without action by the
State Legislature, pursuant to the county's Administrative Code. The
adoption of Westchester's Administrative Code in 1961 removed the
protections for parklands set out in our state law.  According to the
County Attorney, a sale proposed by the County Executive could have been
possible with simply a two-thirds vote of t he Westchester County Board
of Legislators and a statement that the land in question was no longer
needed for park purposes.  This legislation would ensure that Westches-
ter County would only retain this ability for parcels under two acres
which are not used a s parks. It amends sections 249.101 and 249.111 of
the Westchester County Administrative Code, which the County Attorney
believed would have given the county the authority to complete the sale
proposed by the Executive, as well as any future sales of parklands.

Westchester County must be aligned with the other jurisdictions in the
state and should not be able to sell parklands without the approval of
the State Legislature. If the sale of parking lots as proposed was in
fact executed, this would set a very dangerous precedent and could mean
that other areas deemed as parkland could be next.  Amending these rele-
vant sections of the Westchester Administrative Code will protect the
county's precious parkland from future threats.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.