Assemblyman Fred Thiele today announced that his legislation allowing the Village of Sagaponack, through its governing board, to enforce interests in real property acquired for the purposes of open space or open areas has been signed into law (Ch. 247 of the laws of 2021). This legislation passed both houses of the legislature unanimously earlier this year.

Section 247 of the State General Municipal Law grants municipalities the authority to institute programs to preserve open space. In the Village of Sagaponack, this is particularly important for the preservation of agricultural lands. The towns protect agricultural lands by purchasing "development rights" from the landowner, which prohibits the land from being developed for residential purposes, while permitting the land to continue to be used for agricultural purposes, as defined in Section 301 of the State Agriculture and Markets Law. The towns either hold such development rights or extinguish those rights. Fee title to land remains in private ownership to be used for agriculture.

This legislation would allow the Village of Sagaponack to enforce any interest acquired by a municipal corporation within the boundaries of the incorporated village pursuant to section 247 of the General Municipal Law. This new law goes into effect immediately.

Assemblyman Thiele stated, “I am pleased that after several years of sponsorship, this important legislation has finally become law. Authorizing the Village of Sagaponack to enforce easements is a necessary step toward protecting, and preventing the over-development of, our precious open space and other natural resources. I thank my colleagues in the Legislature and the Governor for recognizing the importance of this measure.”