§ 281. Procedure. 1. Petition. Such petition for the establishment of
a residential or a residential and recreational area for such purpose or
purposes shall be signed by at least twenty owners of taxable real
property situate within the proposed area owning in the aggregate at
least two-thirds of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real
property in the proposed area as shown on the last completed assessment
role of said village or town; provided, however, that if there be any
resident owners, the petition shall also include the signatures of
resident owners owning taxable real property aggregating at least
two-thirds of the assessed valuation of all taxable real property in the
proposed area owned by such resident owners, according to the last
completed assessment roll of the village or town. If a portion only of a
parcel of such real property appearing upon the assessment roll is
situate within the proposed area then the village board or the town
board may determine the relative value of the part thereof within the
proposed area based upon the valuation of the entire parcel as the same
appears upon such assessment roll.

A proposal to extend such an existing area may relate to any area of
land adjoining such an existing area and may be made by petition signed
by any number of owners of taxable real property situate within the area
of the proposed extension provided that such owners own in the aggregate
at least two-thirds of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real
property in the proposed extension as shown on the last completed
assessment roll of said village or town; and further provided, that if
there be any resident owners, the petition shall also include the
signatures of resident owners owning taxable real property aggregating
at least two-thirds of the assessed valuation of all taxable real
property in the proposed extension owned by such resident owners,
according to the last completed assessment roll of the village or town.
The petition requesting the extension of an existing area shall contain
a statement requesting that the village board or the town board adopt an
ordinance or local law containing the same terms and provisions as
contained in the ordinance or local law for the existing area. The
ordinance or local law adopted by the village board and the town board
effecting such extension shall contain the same terms and provisions as
the ordinance or local law which established the existing area and any
amendments thereof shall apply to both the existing area and to such
areas as are extended from time to time.

A petition shall describe the boundaries of the proposed area or
proposed extension of an existing area in a manner sufficient to
identify the lands included therein as in a deed of conveyance, and
shall be signed by the petitioners and acknowledged or proved in the
same manner as a deed to be recorded. Such petition shall contain a
statement of the uses of real property for industrial and commercial
purposes which petitioners seek to have prohibited, restricted,
regulated or controlled in the proposed area or proposed extension of an
existing area, or, in the alternative, a statement that petitioners seek
to limit the use of all real property within the proposed area or
proposed extension of an existing area to use for one or two family
residential purposes, or to use for one or two family residential and
non-profit recreational purposes.

2. Notice of hearing on petition. Whenever a petition shall be
presented to the village board or to the town board pursuant to this
article for the establishment or extension of a residential or
residential and recreational area, the board shall adopt a resolution
and enter the same in the minutes of its proceedings, reciting in
general terms the filing of such petition, the boundaries of the
proposed area or proposed extension, a statement of the uses of real
property for industrial and commercial purposes which are proposed to be
prohibited, restricted, regulated and controlled, or, a statement that
it is proposed to limit the use of all real property to use for one or
two family residential purposes, or to use for one or two family
residential and non-profit recreational purposes, within said proposed
area or proposed extension and specifying the time when and place where
said board will meet to consider the petition and to hear all persons
interested in the subject thereof. The board shall cause a copy of such
resolution, certified by the clerk, to be published at least once in the
official newspaper of the village or town, as the case may be, the first
publication thereof to be not less than ten nor more than twenty days
before the date set therein for the hearing as aforesaid, and shall also
cause a copy thereof to be posted conspicuously in the office of the
village clerk or on the signboard maintained by the town clerk pursuant
to subdivision six of section thirty of the town law, as the case may
be, not less than ten nor more than twenty days before the day
designated for the hearing as aforesaid. In the event that the village
or the town maintains a website, such information may also be provided
on the website. The board also shall cause a copy of such resolution to
be mailed by registered mail, return receipt requested, to each resident
owner of real property within the proposed area or extension who or
which has not signed the petition and to each non-resident owner of real
property therein who or which has not signed the petition and who or
which in the case of a town has filed with the town clerk a written
demand pursuant to section five hundred eight of the real property tax
law or a notice pursuant to section nine hundred eighty-two of the real
property tax law, or who or which in the case of a village has filed
with the village clerk a written demand pursuant to section fourteen
hundred four of the real property tax law. The copy of such resolution
shall be so mailed not less than ten nor more than twenty days before
the day designated for the hearing as aforesaid, to such resident and
non-resident owner at the address designated in such written demand or
in such notice.

3. Establishment or extension of areas. (a) After a hearing held upon
notice as hereinbefore provided, the board shall determine by
resolution:

(1) Whether the petition is signed and acknowledged or proved as
required by law and is otherwise sufficient.

(2) Whether any part or portion of the real property within the
proposed area or proposed extension should not be included therein.

(3) Whether it is in the overall public interest to grant the relief
sought.

(b) (1) If the board shall determine that the petition is not signed
and acknowledged or proved as required by law or that it is otherwise
insufficient, or if it is determined that it be not in the overall
public interest to grant the relief sought, the board shall deny the
petition.

(2) If the board shall determine that the petition is signed and
acknowledged or proved as required by law and is otherwise sufficient
and that it is in the overall public interest to grant the relief sought
but shall find that any part or portion of the real property within the
proposed area or proposed extension should not be included therein, the
board shall alter and revise the boundaries of the originally proposed
area or originally proposed extension of an existing area so as to
exclude therefrom any real property which it finds should not be
included in such proposed area or proposed extension.

(3) If and when the board shall make such an affirmative
determination, the board may adopt an ordinance or local law
establishing an area or extending an existing area as the boundaries
thereof shall have been finally determined by said board. Such ordinance
or local law may prohibit, restrict, regulate and control the use of all
buildings, structures and land within such area as established or
extended for any industrial or commercial purpose, or, in the
alternative, may limit the use of all buildings, structures and land
within such area as established or extended to use for one or two family
residential purposes, or to use for one or two family residential and
non-profit recreational purposes; provided, however, that no such
ordinance or local law shall be adopted unless the petition shall comply
with the requirements of this article as to the sufficiency of the area
proposed to be zoned and of signers within the boundaries of the
proposed area or proposed extension as finally determined by the board.
Such ordinance or local law shall not apply to a non-conforming use in
existence at the time of the effective date of such ordinance or local
law.