S-1894 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL NO. 5985
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State of Washington 50th Legislature 1987 Regular Session
By Senators Kreidler and Bluechel
Read first time 2/25/87 and referred to Committee on Parks & Ecology.
AN ACT Relating to the reuse of abandoned rail corridors; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that: (a) Public reuse of railroad rights of way no longer maintained for railroad purposes is in the public interest; (b) such reuse for public purposes should recognize all valid and existing property interests in such rights of way and compensation for such interests in the acquisition of such properties for public use; and (c) the linear nature of such properties frequently involves numerous adjacent landowners claiming reversionary interests, and that the public interest will be served by designing procedures for the orderly and fair acquisition of such properties for public use.
(2) The parks and recreation commission shall, no later than December 31, 1987, submit a report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature on the status of public reuse of railroad properties within the state and current procedures for the compensation of existing property rights in such properties. The report shall be prepared with the assistance of an advisory group consisting of representatives from the department of transportation, interagency committee for outdoor recreation, organizations of landowners adjacent to such properties, and local governments and recreational groups and the staffs of the committees on transportation and parks and ecology of the senate and of the committees on transportation and environmental affairs of the house of representatives.
(3) The report shall include: (a) A description of existing projects involving the public reuse of railroad properties and the relationship of such projects to state-wide needs for linear corridors for recreational, utility, and transportation uses; (b) an assessment of state-wide needs for linear recreational facilities, and opportunities for such facilities to link existing park facilities; (c) identification of potential funding sources for acquisition of such properties; and (d) recommendations concerning legislative action to facilitate public reuse of railroad properties for such purposes, for the acquisition by donation or purchase of interests in such properties, and for the resolution of the status of title to such properties in an expeditious and constitutionally valid manner.