A Simple Path to New York Charter Cities

On the unrecognized simplicities of charter village formation in New York

Is it still possible to create new local government in New York State?

Can these local governments set their own zoning + building rules?

What are Villages, Towns, Cities, Charters, Municipalities, and Home Rule?¹

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Home Rule

“Home Rule” refers to the power of a local government to self-govern.

In Article IX, the NYS constitution affords all local governments certain rights:

• a legislature

• the power to adopt a charter

• power to govern land, set (or preferably, do not set) zoning laws² + eminent domain

• protection from other local government’s laws, even if they surround you

So what?

So local governments in New York can:

1. set their own laws

2. build whatever they want*³ on their land

3. collect taxes*

4. and they are (mostly) protected from other local governments.

*read the law first before trying at home

But what IS a local government?

a county, city, town or village

— from New York's Municipal Home Rule Law, Section 2

the definition sections of state laws are exceptional, I highly recommend!

You read that right, a local government is any of: a county, city, town or village.

ALL of these have the rights and privileges granted by Home Rule. They can adopt a charter. They can self-govern. They can up-zone land. Etc.

You've heard of charter city? Meet charter county, charter village, and charter town!

What is a Charter?

1. “Charter.”  A state statute or a local law which establishes or continues a specific county, city or village as a municipal corporation or body politic and includes the fundamental provisions defining, extending or limiting its corporate powers or affecting the framework of its government.

— from New York's Municipal Home Rule Law, Section 2

What’s the difference between local governments?

So what even is a "County", "City", "Town", or "Village"? How are they different? Why?

Here are some relevant laws⁴:

0. Article IX

1. The Municipal Home Rule Law (esp. Section 2)

2. NYS County Law

3. NYS City Law

4. NYS Town Law

5. NYS Village Law⁵

Counties

New York Counties are administrative divisions of the state, often handling general service provision + government of unsettled land.

While originally established to serve as instrumentalities of the state existing for state purposes, counties in New York are now full-service general purpose units of government that provide a vast array of services to their residents.

— Local Government Handbook

Creation: you can't really create new counties, because New York was completely divided into counties long ago, and new counties require state legislation. So you will probably not be seeing a new charter county anytime soon. It’s technically possible by a special act of the state legislature, of course.

Cities

Cities are incorporated, chartered municipalities with more autonomy than towns.

Each of New York State’s 62 cities is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter.

Two — New York and Albany — have charters of colonial origin, and the other 60 were chartered separately by the State Legislature.

Although home rule was a hard-won prize for the cities of New York State, they now have substantial home rule powers, including authority to change their charters and to adopt new charters by local action.

Now New York State contains all of the major forms of city government: council-manager, strong mayor-council, weak mayor-council and commission.

— Local Government Handbook

Creation: Cities are first chartered by the state through a special act of the State Legislature. This can happen if a large village petitions the state and wants to be made a city, which can and does still happen. Cities have the right to re-charter themselves.

Towns

Towns are Special! When New York was first divided, it divided into towns. Every inch of land in New York (outside of a city) is part of a town. In some ways, towns are a bit like counties or territories.

Creation: You can create new towns by splitting them off from old ones, but it still requires the state legislature's involvement, so this rarely happens.

Towns are split into first class (>10000 ppl) and second class (<10000). Towns are governed by the Town Law, but like all other local governments, are subject to home rule, so they can self-govern, pass their own laws, create their own charter, etc…

so what?

well wtf, Andrew. You got my hopes up by saying there could be charter counties, charter cities, and charter towns in New York -- but then you tell me that creating new counties, cities, and towns is really hard? Seems like a let down!

And it would be… but do not forget the mighty Village...

Villages

Villages are incorporated areas within towns, often formed around population centers that want more autonomy.⁶

Creation: Villages can be created by petition of "at least twenty percent of the number of residents of the proposed village who voted in the last gubernatorial election, or 100 of such residents, whichever is less, from territory within a town or towns"

so:

1. You need the LESSER of 100 residents or 20% of residents in your proposed village boundary (which must be around at least 500 people). That is very few people...

2. The vast majority of New York State area is not part of an existing village or city

3. Villages can self-govern, adopt a charter, up-zone...

Again, villages have the rights of home rule, as established by Article IX and by the Municipal Home Rule Law and by the Village Law.

They are quite protected from non-state interference of other local governments, including their encompassing town. A village is allowed to be truly self-governing.

So... if you, for instance, wanted to establish a dense, walkable village in New York State, the Village Law provides for this quite readily. You have "the power to regulate the height, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures..."

You could have this, but in New York State!

this could be YOUR Village Law

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Anyway, all I'm saying is if anyone wants to start a village with me in New York, I'm game. Plus, I have experience.⁷

1. The State Department actually has a brilliant manual on local government that covers everything in this essay. Unfortunately, I only found it after I finished my research, but better late than never!

2. up zoning and building car-free villages might be the single best economic + environmental innovation we could possibly achieve in America. You get massive economic kickbacks due to agglomeration effects of dense, walkable cities. You get massive environmental + health benefits, and lower taxes by avoiding car infrastructure.

3. There are actually specific laws that govern what you can and can’t build and how. For instance, in the General Municipal Law §239-m & §239-n, it mentions when you need to consult the county. HOWEVER, the general principle of home rule is that if it doesn’t break a general law at the state level, like the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, then you can probably get it through no matter what with 2/3 majority at the local level. There are not nearly as many state laws governing local buildings for small villages as you might think.

4. This primer on adopting local laws in New York State is also fantastic.

5. Good names, btw

6. Fun fact: an unincorporated village is called a Hamlet

7. I was the second hire at Culdesac, so I already helped build a car-free village once! : )