Sec. 13a-85c. Sale, lease, conveyance or other disposition of excess property obtained in connection with the Route 6 Expressway.
Sec. 13a-85c. Sale, lease, conveyance or other disposition of excess property
obtained in connection with the Route 6 Expressway. (a) The Commissioner of Transportation, with the advice and consent of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and
Management and the State Properties Review Board, may sell, lease and convey, in the
name of the state, or otherwise dispose of, or enter into agreements concerning, any
land and buildings owned by the state and obtained for or in connection with the Route
6 Expressway, which real property is not necessary for such purposes. The commissioner
shall notify the chief elected official of the municipality in which said property is located
and the state representative and the state senator representing the municipality in which
said property is located not later than one year after the date a determination is made
that the property is not necessary for highway purposes and that the department intends
to dispose of the property. No such determination shall be made without the commissioner first holding a public hearing concerning such proposed disposition and the approval of the Federal Highway Administration.
(b) The Department of Transportation shall obtain a full appraisal on excess property prior to its sale pursuant to this section. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this
section, transfers to other state agencies and municipalities for purposes specified by
the department shall be exempt from the appraisal requirement. The department shall
obtain a second appraisal if such property is valued over one hundred thousand dollars
and is not to be sold through public bid or auction. If a second appraisal is obtained, the
sale price shall be the average of the two appraisals. Any appraisals or value reports
shall be obtained prior to the determination of a sale price of the excess property.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 3-14b and 4b-21, no property,
whether or not a structure is situated upon it at the time it is obtained by the department
for highway purposes, may be sold or transferred pursuant to this section not later than
twenty-five years after the date of its acquisition without the department first offering
the owner or owners of the property at the time of its acquisition a right of first refusal
to purchase the property at the amount of its appraised value as determined in accordance
with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, except for property offered for sale
to municipalities prior to the effective date of this section. Notice of such offer shall be
sent to each such owner by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, not
later than one year after the date a determination is made that such property is not
necessary for highway purposes. Any such offer shall be terminated by the department
if it has not received written notice of the owner's acceptance of the offer not later than
ninety days after the date it was mailed. Whenever the offer is not so accepted, the
department shall offer parcels which meet local zoning requirements for residential or
commercial use to other state agencies and shall offer parcels which do not meet local
zoning requirements for residential or commercial use to all abutting landowners in
accordance with department regulations. If the sale or transfer of the property pursuant
to this section results in the existing property of an abutting landowner becoming a
nonconforming use as to local zoning requirements, the commissioner may sell or transfer the property to that abutter without public bid or auction. The commissioner shall
adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, establishing procedures for the disposition of excess property pursuant to the provisions of this subsection
in the event such property is owned by more than one person.
(d) Where the department has in good faith and with reasonable diligence attempted
to ascertain the identity of persons entitled to notice under subsection (c) of this section
and mailed notice to the last-known address of record of those ascertained, the failure
to in fact notify those persons entitled thereto shall not invalidate any subsequent disposition of property pursuant to this section.
(S.A. 07-11, S. 31.)
History: S.A. 07-11 effective July 1, 2007.