_______________________________________________
HOUSE
BILL 2355
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Passed
Legislature - 1998 Regular Session
State
of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By
Read
first time 01/12/98. Referred to Committee on Appropriations.
Managing state park lands.
AN
ACT Relating to state park lands; and amending RCW 43.51.210 and 43.51.215.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.51.210 and 1984 c 87 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Whenever the state parks and recreation commission finds that any
land under its control cannot advantageously be used for park purposes, it is
authorized to dispose of such land. If such lands are school or other grant
lands, control thereof shall be relinquished by resolution of the commission to
the proper state officials. If such lands were acquired under restrictive
conveyances by which the state may hold them only so long as they are used for
park purposes, they may be returned to the donor or grantors by the
commission. All other such lands may be either sold by the commission to the
highest bidder or exchanged for other lands of equal value by the commission,
and all conveyance documents shall be executed by the governor. All such
exchanges shall be accompanied by a transfer fee, to be set by the commission
and paid by the other party to the transfer; such fee shall be paid into the
parkland acquisition account established under RCW 43.51.200. Sealed bids on
all sales shall be solicited at least twenty days in advance of the sale date
by an advertisement appearing at least in three consecutive issues of a
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land to be sold is
located. If the commission feels that no bid received adequately reflects the
fair value of the land to be sold, it may reject all bids, and may call for new
bids. All proceeds derived from the sale of such park property shall be paid
into the ((state general fund)) park land acquisition account.
All land considered for exchange shall be evaluated by the commission to
determine its adaptability to park usage. The equal value of all lands
exchanged shall first be determined by the appraisals to the satisfaction of
the commission: PROVIDED, That no sale or exchange of state park lands shall
be made without the unanimous consent of the commission.
Sec.
2. RCW
43.51.215 and 1975 1st ex.s. c 107 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
((At
least ten days but not more than twenty-five days)) Before the
director of parks and recreation presents a proposed exchange to the parks and
recreation commission involving an exchange of state land pursuant to this
chapter, the director shall hold a public hearing on the proposal in the county
where the state lands or the greatest proportion thereof is located. Ten days
but not more than twenty-five days prior to such hearing, the director shall
publish a paid public notice of reasonable size in display advertising form,
setting forth the date, time, and place of the hearing, at least once in one or
more daily newspapers of general circulation in the county and at least once in
one or more weekly newspapers circulated in the area where the state owned land
is located. A news release pertaining to the hearing shall be disseminated
among printed and electronic media in the area where the state land is
located. The public notice and news release also shall identify lands involved
in the proposed exchange and describe the purposes of the exchange and proposed
use of the lands involved. A summary of the testimony presented at the
hearings shall be prepared for the commission's consideration when reviewing
the director's exchange proposal. If there is a failure to substantially
comply with the procedures set forth in this section, then the exchange
agreement shall be subject to being declared invalid by a court. Any such suit
must be brought within one year from the date of the exchange agreement.
Passed the House February 13, 1998.
Passed the Senate March 4, 1998.
Approved by the Governor
March 18, 1998.
Filed
in Office of Secretary of State March 18, 1998.
