§ 67-1. Legislative findings, intent and purpose.

A. 

The Town Board hereby finds and determines that in order to protect and safeguard the Town of Greenport, its residents and their property, with respect to certain land developments within the Town, all buildings, highways, drainage facilities, sanitary sewer facilities, other utilities and parks within said developments should be designed and constructed in a competent and workmanlike manner and in conformity with all applicable governmental codes, rules and regulations and dedicated and conveyed to the Town in a legally sufficient manner. In order to assure the foregoing, it is essential for the Town to have Town staff and competent engineers and planners retained by the Town to review applications, plans and designs, make recommendations to the Town Board and Planning Board and to recommend their acceptance by the Town. It is also essential to have competent attorneys retained by the Town, to negotiate and draft appropriate agreements with developers, to obtain, review and approve necessary securities, insurance and other legal documents, to review proposed deeds and easements to assure the Town that it is obtaining good and proper title and to generally represent the Town with respect to legal disputes and issues concerning these development projects. The cost of staff time and retaining competent engineers, planners and attorneys should be ultimately paid by those who seek to profit from such developments rather than from general Town funds paid by taxpayers of the Town.

B. 

This article is enacted under the authority of Subparagraphs (a)(12) and (d)(3) of Municipal Home Rule Law §  10(1)(ii) and Municipal Home Rule Law § 22. To the extent Town Law §§  274-a, 276 and 277 do not authorize the Town Board or Planning Board to require the reimbursement to the Town of legal, planning, and engineering expenses incurred by the Town in connection with review and consideration of development applications, it is the expressed intent of the Town Board to supersede such statutes. To the extent that such statutes do not authorize the deferral or withholding of such approvals in the event such expenses are not paid to the Town, it is the expressed intent of the Town Board to change and supersede Town Law §§  274-a, 276, and 277 to empower the Town to require such payment as a condition to such approvals.