2020 -- S 2426

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LC004135

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PROPERTY -- CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION RESTRICTIONS

ON REAL PROPERTY

     

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Euer, Coyne, Raptakis, and Valverde

     Date Introduced: February 13, 2020

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 34-39-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-39 entitled

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"Conservation and Preservation Restrictions on Real Property" is hereby amended to read as

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follows:

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     34-39-3. Restrictions enforceable.

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     (a) No conservation restriction held by any governmental body or by a charitable

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corporation, association, trust, or other entity whose purposes include conservation of land or

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water areas or of a particular area, and no preservation restriction held by any governmental body

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or by a charitable corporation, association, trust, or other entity whose purposes include

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preservation of structures or sites of historical significance or of a particular structure or site, shall

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be unenforceable against any owner of the restricted land or structure on account of lack of

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privity of estate or contract, or lack of benefit to particular land, or on account of the benefit being

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assignable or being assigned to any other governmental body or to any entity with like purposes,

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or on account of any other doctrine of property law which might cause the termination of the

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restriction such as, but not limited to, the doctrine of merger and tax delinquency. Conservation or

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preservation restrictions shall be liberally interpreted in favor of the grants awarded to effect the

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purposes of those easements and the policies and purpose of this chapter.

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     (b) This section shall not be construed to imply that any restriction easement, covenant,

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or condition which is not covered hereunder shall, on account of any provisions hereof, be

 

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unenforceable.

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     (c) The restrictions shall not be subject to the thirty year limitation on restrictive

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covenants provided in ยง 34-4-21.

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     (d) The attorney general, pursuant to his or her inherent authority, may bring an action in

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the superior court to enforce the public interest in such restrictions.

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     (e) The court in any judicial proceeding, or the decision maker in any arbitration or other

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alternative dispute resolution proceeding, in addition to any other relief ordered, may award the

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prevailing party, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in the action or proceeding.

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     (f) A court action affecting a conservation restriction held by a private land trust, as

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defined in paragraph 42-17.1-2(28)(ii), may only be brought or intervened in by:

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     (1) An owner of property interest in the real property burdened by the conservation

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restriction;

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     (2) A holder of the conservation restriction;

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     (3) A person having a third-party right of enforcement stated in the recorded conservation

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restriction; or

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     (4) The attorney general as provided in subsection 34-39-3(d).

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PROPERTY -- CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION RESTRICTIONS

ON REAL PROPERTY

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     This act would require conservation and preservation restrictions to be liberally

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interpreted in favor of the grants awarded.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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