Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
03/02/2007 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearings || Board of Game | |
| Big Game Commercial Services Board – Confirmation Hearing | |
| HB25 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 25-RECREATIONAL LAND USE LIABILITY/ADV. POSS
4:41:20 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced HB 25 to be up for consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE PAUL SEATON, sponsor of HB 25, read the sponsor
statement. He said it encourages expansion of recreational
opportunities for Alaskans by protecting private landowners that
allow free recreational use of their lands by raising the
liability standard to "intentional, reckless or gross negligent
misconduct".
He related that currently land owners rely on the unimproved
land statute, but it is problematic because the definition of
what is improved and unimproved is not clear in the
determinations that have come out of the courts. So, landowners
are unable to really assess their liability when they allow
recreational use of their land.
This bill also protects landowners from adverse possession or
prescriptive easement based on them giving free recreational use
to recreational users.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that many people have testified
favorably about this issue.
4:45:30 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said other states have done similar things and
asked how this bill compares to those.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out nine pages of documents about
other states. Many have used the same tack.
4:46:19 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if recently passed legislation on
adverse possession and prescriptive easements didn't apply to
these lands.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied that a bill was passed limiting
the state from taking land through eminent domain. He didn't
think they had changed the adverse possession statutes recently.
Prescriptive easement is more the case where someone claims the
use of the land and can claim its use for the future. He pointed
out that this bill applies only if the recreational use is for
free. This does not apply if the use is for commercial purposes.
SENATOR WAGONER commented that the legislature passed an adverse
possession bill, called the "squatters' bill," three or four
years ago. He thought that took care of all these concerns.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked the status of airplanes taking off and
landing in his back yard.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied that taking off and landing is not
trespassing. If it is done for recreational purposes, that is
defined in the statute, but does not include language about air
fields. It expressly does not include boxing contests, sparring
and wrestling matches or exhibitions, activities involving
devices that are subject to the requirements of AS 05.20. He
said he would have to check out which statute applied to air
fields.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to check that out because he has been
asked that question multiple times. He asked if his backyard has
a groomed area that someone would call a strip, is that covered
in his bill under "improved".
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied that under this bill it doesn't
matter if it is improved or not, but it does matter if its
recreational use is free or not.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked what if the land is owned collectively.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied that the land would have to be
privately owned, not publicly owned as with a municipality - and
you can't charge for its use.
4:51:41 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said they are trying to protect land owners and
this doesn't protect them from any event. He asked what
responsibility landowners have for maintenance.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied if someone has an attractive
nuisance that he knows is dangerous, and a minor comes in and
gets hurt, he can be liable. This bill adopts the same standard
the state has for unimproved land and it is case-specific.
4:54:26 PM
DAVE BRANN, Kachemak Nordic Ski Club member, said he had been
involved in trail development and maintenance in Alaska for over
30 years and things are more difficult in the last 10 years due
to smaller parcels of private property for recreational trails
to go over. People want and need trails close to urban areas and
liability concerns are problematic. "HB 25 does a great deal to
solve those problems and make recreational use much more
available and attractive to the local community members."
4:56:16 PM
MILLI MARTIN, Homer, said she is also a member of the Kenai
Peninsula Borough Assembly, and that it passed a resolution
supporting HB 25. She noted that 45 other states have similar
statutes.
4:57:46 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS thanked her for serving on the assembly.
DAVID STUTZER, Homer resident, said he has been working with his
neighbors to provide easements to the ski club for the trail
that crosses their land. He said this is a very good bill and
would ease his neighbor's concerns about adverse possession and
liability as discussed by Representative Seaton. He said with
the growth of the state and development of areas around towns
and cities, it becomes necessary to have trails across private
land. This bill would allow people to give permission to use
those lands without fear of liability except for gross
negligence.
4:59:22 PM
MICHAEL SCHNEIDER, Anchorage resident, said the issues in HB 25
have merit, but he has problems with the way it is written.
Subsection (a) where it says a landowner need only to allow
recreational activity - that language is too lose. Under
(e)(1)(C) "charge" is defined as "a contribution in kind,
service, or cash from a user if all of the contribution is used
to improve access...." He said under that language someone could
charge him $1,000 to hunt bear on their property and he could
fall into a pit or some hazard that they knew about and
unreasonably failed to warn him of. They could after the fact
take his $1,000 and put it towards remediation of the problem
and comply with the technical words of this statute. He did not
want to give that sort of broad immunity to inappropriate
circumstances.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked him to get together with the sponsor. He
agreed and apologized for not getting together with him before.
He asked if he was representing himself.
MR. SCHNEIDER replied that he has been a practicing attorney in
Anchorage for 32 years mainly tort claims. He has been
interested in acquiring free recreational access to property
since he was 12 years old and he is speaking for himself.
5:02:36 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced that he would hold the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON added that abandoned aircraft landing
areas are included in current immunity language if they are away
from an improved structure. If they are near an improved
structure, it may not qualify for the same immunity. So this
bill clarifies that.
CHAIR HUGGINS announced he would hold HB 25.
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