00 SENATE BILL NO. 79 01 "An Act relating to errors in surveys of land." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 09.45.800 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 09.45.800. DEFECTIVE SURVEY OR [PREREQUISITE] 05 EARTHSLIDE CHANGING LAND BOUNDARIES. If the boundaries of land, owned 06 either by public or by private persons (1) have been moved by an act of God, 07 consisting of an earthslide, so that they are in a location different from that at which, 08 by solar survey, they were located before the earthslide, or (2) are manifestly 09 inaccurate due to a defective survey of a subdivision and the ownership status of 10 the land precludes resurvey and replat without the intervention of the court, an 11 action in rem to recognize the boundaries as they presently exist and to quiet title 12 within the boundaries in the persons judicially found entitled to title under 13 AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880, is authorized, maintainable by the persons and with the 14 procedures in AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 for the handling of the circumstances 01 [EMERGENCIES] dealt with in AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 09.45.800 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, an action may not be commenced under 04 (a)(2) of this section for a subdivision located within a municipality until the governing 05 body of the municipality in which the subdivision is located has passed a resolution 06 supporting the action. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 09.45.805(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) An action authorized by AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 may be commenced by 09 (1) a borough with the joinder of a city or cities included in the 10 borough; 11 (2) a city not included within the boundaries of a borough [,] if the 12 earthslide or survey error has affected land in the city, or land outside the city as to 13 which outside land the city has statutory power to approve a land map; 14 (3) a school district that has statutory power to approve a land map; or 15 (4) any other entity or person, granted permission by the court to bring 16 the action. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 09.45.810 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 09.45.810. SEPARATE ACTIONS AS TO SEPARATE SLIDE OR 19 SURVEY AREAS. An entity that is a permissible plaintiff under AS 09.45.805, may, 20 in its discretion, bring a separate action under AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 with respect 21 to each separate slide area or defective survey located within its boundaries, and its 22 decision regarding the desirability of the separate action, and regarding the area to be 23 dealt with in each action, is final. 24 * Sec. 5. AS 09.45.815 is amended to read: 25 Sec. 09.45.815. COMPLAINT. The complaint must substantially include 26 (1) a statement of the facts making the provisions in AS 09.45.800 - 27 09.45.880 applicable; 28 (2) a description of the entire real property sought to be affected by the 29 action; 30 (3) a specification of the estate, title, and interest owned, and in the 31 actual possession of the plaintiff or plaintiffs in described parts of the entire real 01 property sought to be affected by the action; 02 (4) a specification of the estate, title, and interest, so far as they are 03 known to the plaintiffs or either of them, and so far as they are capable of being 04 discovered by reasonably diligent search by the plaintiff or plaintiffs, in each separate 05 part of the entire real property sought to be affected by the action; 06 (5) a specification of the street areas offered by the plaintiff, or 07 plaintiffs, to be vacated in whole or in part for judicial equitable allocation to 08 landowners for the mitigation of the losses inflicted upon the landowners by the 09 defective survey or by the act of God consisting of the earthslide; 10 (6) a proposed replatting of the entire real property sought to be 11 affected by the action, embodying the land boundaries as fixed by the resurvey or the 12 act of God, except as these have been liberalized by judicially directed use of the 13 vacated lands. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 09.45.835(b) is amended to read: 15 (b) An answer must 16 (1) specifically set out the particulars in which the claimant's estate, 17 right, title, or interest in or to, or lien upon all or any part of the property is different 18 from, or greater than, the interest of the claimant as it is described in the complaint; 19 (2) be confined to rights based on events occurring at the time of, or 20 since the time of the 21 (A) act of God, consisting of the earthslide; or 22 (B) defective survey. 23 * Sec. 7. AS 09.45.835(c) is amended to read: 24 (c) To whatever extent, if at all, the answering party has rights against anyone 25 whatsoever, based upon facts or events that occurred before the defective survey or 26 the earthslide, the claims shall remain unaffected by the action brought under 27 AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 and shall be assertable subsequent to the conclusion of the 28 action at any time and in any manner permitted by law, notwithstanding the judgment 29 granted in this action, recognizing, however, the finality of this judgment as to the 30 consequences, with respect to land boundaries, of the resurvey or the earthslide. 31 * Sec. 8. AS 09.45.845 is amended to read: 01 Sec. 09.45.845. VACATING OF STREETS IN WHOLE OR IN PART. The 02 vacating of streets in whole or in part by the voluntary action of a municipality, for 03 the purpose of making it possible for the court to mitigate the hardships suffered by 04 individuals because of the change in land boundaries caused by the act of God, 05 consisting of an earthslide, or the defective survey, can be accomplished by the offer 06 of the municipality expressed in the complaint followed by the court's approval of it 07 in the action authorized in AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880, without other formalities. This 08 provision is a special [EMERGENCY] substitute for the provisions contained in 09 AS 29.40.120 - 29.40.160. 10 * Sec. 9. AS 09.45.855 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 09.45.855. SCOPE OF JUDGMENT. The judgment shall 12 (1) determine the land boundaries of each parcel of land located within 13 the entire area of real property sought to be affected by the action, whether owned 14 publicly or privately after judicial equitable allocation of lands voluntarily vacated by 15 a municipality under AS 09.45.845; 16 (2) determine the person or persons having estates, rights, titles, 17 interests, and claims in and to each parcel, whether legal or equitable, present or 18 future, vested or contingent, or whether they consist of mortgages or liens of any 19 description; 20 (3) approve and direct the proper filing of a new plat map covering the 21 entire area of real property sought to be affected by the action, as a substitute for the 22 plat maps previously filed, but 23 (A) rendered inaccurate by the act of God consisting of an 24 earthslide; or 25 (B) discovered to be inaccurate due to a defective survey; 26 (4) to the extent reasonably practicable, attempt to minimize 27 disruption to lines or boundaries of parcels or lots that are not found to be 28 materially incorrect. 29 * Sec. 10. AS 09.45.860 is amended to read: 30 Sec. 09.45.860. STANDARDS FOR JUDGMENT. In reaching the conclusions 31 called for by AS 09.45.855, the court shall give effect to the changes in land 01 boundaries caused by the earthslide or reflected in the resurvey, mitigated, however, 02 so far as can equitably be done, by allocating to contiguous lots parts of the land 03 released by a municipality by its voluntary vacation of areas formerly constituting 04 public ways, which vacatings of streets shall be approved in this judgment. 05 * Sec. 11. AS 09.45.865 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06 (b) If a judgment is entered under AS 09.45.855 because of a defective survey, 07 a parcel or lot affected by that judgment may not, solely by reason of the judgment or 08 its effect, become ineligible for a use or development for which it was eligible before 09 the entry of judgment. 10 * Sec. 12. AS 09.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 11 Sec. 09.45.872. ASSESSMENT OF COST OF RESURVEY. The court shall 12 assess the cost of a resurvey under AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 for a defective survey 13 to the owners of the parcels or lots within the subdivision. This section does not affect 14 the right of the owner of a parcel or lot to recover damages for the defective survey 15 or limit the liability of the person who performed the defective survey. 16 * Sec. 13. AS 09.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 17 Sec. 09.45.878. DEFINITION. In AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880, "defective survey" 18 means a survey that cannot be reconciled with the plat of the property, does not 19 conform with the physical location of the property boundaries, and is manifestly 20 defective for a subdivision. 21 * Sec. 14. AS 09.45.880 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 09.45.880. SHORT TITLE. AS 09.45.800 - 09.45.880 may be cited as 23 the Earthslide and Defective Survey Relief Act.