Bill Text: NY S00183 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires the conducting of public hearings and reports thereon prior to the permanent closure of a park or historic site owned, held or administered by the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-12-06 - SIGNED CHAP.585 [S00183 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00183-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         183--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  SERRANO,  BAILEY,  BRESLIN,  KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY,
          SANDERS, SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to
          be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks  and
          Recreation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT to amend the parks, recreation and historic preservation law, in
          relation to requiring an evaluation of the impacts of the  closure  of
          public  access  to  any land owned or operated by the office of parks,
          recreation and historic preservation

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  parks,  recreation  and historic preservation law is
     2  amended by adding a new section 13.14 to read as follows:
     3    § 13.14 Closure of lands owned, held or administered by the office. 1.
     4  Except as provided in subdivision five of this section,  not  less  than
     5  six months before the proposed permanent closure of public access to any
     6  real property owned, held or administered by the office, the commission-
     7  er  shall  issue  a  draft  report  that  provides the justification and
     8  rationale for such closure including, but not limited to:
     9    (a) a full description of the real property;
    10    (b) the purposes that the real property serves to the  people  of  the
    11  state;
    12    (c)  a  comparison of the economic impacts of closure versus continued
    13  operation of such real property to the state, local governments and  the
    14  public;
    15    (d)  an  analysis  of  the  potential  harm to such real property from
    16  vandalism, lack of management and maintenance, and  other  impacts  from
    17  the lack of regular oversight by the office;
    18    (e)  the  impact  of such proposed closure on the entire real property
    19  system owned and operated by the office; and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03617-04-9
        S. 183--A                           2

     1    (f) such other factors that are  particularly  relevant  to  the  real
     2  property and its function as state land.
     3    2.  Not less than four months before the proposed permanent closure of
     4  public access to such real  property,  the  commissioner  shall  provide
     5  public  notice of and conduct one or more public hearings, including one
     6  in the impacted area of the proposed closure. Notice of any such hearing
     7  shall be on a statewide basis, including  publication  in  the  environ-
     8  mental notice bulletin.  Each public hearing shall accept written state-
     9  ments in lieu of an oral presentation.
    10    3.  Upon  conclusion  of the public hearings on a closure, the commis-
    11  sioner shall issue a final report which includes  the  response  on  all
    12  issues  raised  at the hearings and information entered into the hearing
    13  record.  Such final report shall be made available  and  distributed  to
    14  the public.
    15    4.  The  commissioner  shall  issue and submit to the governor and the
    16  legislature a findings statement on each proposed closure that  provides
    17  the  justification for such closure or, in the alternative, the informa-
    18  tion that supports the continued operation of the real property.
    19    5. The requirements of this section shall not apply to  seasonal  park
    20  closures,  temporary  closures due to inclement weather or as reasonably
    21  necessary to effectuate repairs, maintenance or capital improvements, or
    22  temporary limits on public access for routine operational reasons,  such
    23  as public safety or other non-weather related emergencies.
    24    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.