HB 318: "An Act limiting the exercise of eminent domain."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 318 01 "An Act limiting the exercise of eminent domain." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 09.55.240(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) Except as provided in (d) of this section, the [THE] right of eminent 05 domain may be exercised for the following public uses: 06 (1) all public uses authorized by the government of the United States; 07 (2) public buildings and grounds for the use of the state and all other 08 public uses authorized by the legislature of the state; 09 (3) public buildings and grounds for the use of an organized or 10 unorganized borough, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal division, 11 whether incorporated or unincorporated; canals, aqueducts, flumes, ditches, or pipes 12 conducting water, heat, or gas for the use of the inhabitants of an organized or 13 unorganized borough, city, town, or other municipal division, whether incorporated or 14 unincorporated; raising the banks of streams, removing obstructions from them, and 15 widening, deepening, or straightening their channels; and roads, streets, and alleys,
01 and all other public uses for the benefit of an organized or unorganized borough, city, 02 town, or other municipal division whether incorporated or unincorporated, or its 03 inhabitants, which may be authorized by the legislature; 04 (4) wharves, docks, piers, chutes, booms, ferries, bridges of all kinds, 05 private roads, plant and turnpike roads, railroads, canals, ditches, flumes, aqueducts, 06 and pipes for public transportation, supplying mines and farming neighborhoods with 07 water, and draining and reclaiming land, and for floating logs and lumber on streams 08 not navigable, and sites for reservoirs necessary for collecting and storing water; 09 (5) roads, tunnels, ditches, flumes, pipes, and dumping places for 10 working mines; also outlets, natural or otherwise, for the flow, deposit, or conduct of 11 tailings or refuse matter from mines; also an occupancy in common by the owners or 12 possessors of different mines of any place for the flow, deposit, or conduct of tailings 13 or refuse matter from their several mines, and sites for reservoirs necessary for 14 collecting and storing water; 15 (6) private roads leading from highways to residences, mines, or farms; 16 (7) telephone lines; 17 (8) telegraph lines; 18 (9) sewerage of an organized or unorganized borough, city, town, 19 village, or other municipal division, whether incorporated or unincorporated, or a 20 subdivision of it, or of a settlement consisting of not less than 10 families, or of public 21 buildings belonging to the state or to a college or university; 22 (10) tramway lines; 23 (11) electric power lines; 24 (12) for the location of pipelines for gathering, transmitting, 25 transporting, storing, or delivering natural or artificial gas or oil or any liquid or 26 gaseous hydrocarbons, including, but not limited to, pumping stations, terminals, 27 storage tanks, or reservoirs, and related installations. 28 * Sec. 2. AS 09.55.240 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29 (d) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, 30 (1) the right of eminent domain may not be exercised for the purpose 31 of promoting economic development or to acquire land as part of an economic
01 development project; or 02 (2) if the property that is the subject of the action is the primary 03 residence of the owner of the property, the right of eminent domain may not be 04 exercised for the purpose of developing a recreational facility or project, including a 05 park, natural resource use area, trail or pedestrian pathway, greenbelt, access to a 06 wilderness area, amusement park, small boat facility, personal use fishery, sports 07 facility, playground, or infrastructure or other facility related to or in support of an 08 indoor or outdoor recreational facility or project. 09 * Sec. 3. AS 29.35.030(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, a [A] municipality may, only 11 within its boundaries, exercise the powers of eminent domain and declaration of taking 12 in the performance of a power or function of the municipality under the procedures set 13 out in AS 09.55.250 - 09.55.460. In the case of a second class city, the exercise of the 14 power of eminent domain or declaration of taking must be by ordinance that is 15 submitted to the voters at the next general election or at a special election called for 16 that purpose. A majority of the votes on the question is required for approval of the 17 ordinance. 18 * Sec. 4. AS 29.35.030 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (c) A municipality may not exercise the powers of eminent domain 20 (1) to promote economic development or to acquire land as part of an 21 economic development project; or 22 (2) if the property that is the subject of the action is the primary 23 residence of the owner of the property, to develop an indoor or outdoor recreational 24 facility or project, including a park, natural resource use area, trail or pedestrian 25 pathway, greenbelt, access to a wilderness area, amusement park, small boat facility, 26 personal use fishery, sports facility, playground, or infrastructure or other facility 27 related to or in support of an indoor or outdoor recreational facility or project.