Sec. 26-3b. Rental, sale, exchange or transfer of real property and buildings in the custody or control of the commissioner. Right of first refusal.
Sec. 26-3b. Rental, sale, exchange or transfer of real property and buildings
in the custody or control of the commissioner. Right of first refusal. (a) When the
Commissioner of Environmental Protection deems that it would be in the interest of the
state, he may rent to any person, or assign departmental employees to occupy, houses,
other buildings or property in the custody or control of said commissioner. If he rents
property to persons who are not employees of the department he shall first obtain the
approval of the State Properties Review Board and any such rent shall at least be equal
to the fair market rental value of such property as determined by the commissioner,
notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations of
any state agency. Rentals to persons other than departmental employees may be for
commercial, residential or any other purpose that the commissioner deems to be in the
interest of the state. If he assigns departmental employees to occupy such property, he
may impose whatever conditions he deems necessary upon such assignment. He may
also rent any such property to a departmental employee, and if, in his judgment, a rental
fee should be charged to such employee, he shall determine such rental fee, notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations of any state
agency. The commissioner may, in the name of the state, execute leases, contracts or
other documents to carry out the purposes of this section. All moneys from the rental
of any such property shall be deposited into the maintenance, repair and improvement
account established under section 22a-27h.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations
of any state agency, if the Commissioner of Environmental Protection determines that
it would be in the interest of the state, he may, subject to the approval of the State
Properties Review Board and the Governor, sell, exchange or otherwise transfer the
state's interests in houses or buildings in the custody and control of said commissioner
and land accompanying any such house or building provided no house, building or
accompanying land shall be sold, exchanged or any interest therein transferred for less
than its fair market value as determined by the commissioner. Said commissioner may,
in the name of the state, execute deeds, contracts or other documents for such purposes.
The commissioner shall ensure that any land sold under this section shall be subject to
a deed restriction preventing further subdivision. The commissioner may require further
conservation restrictions as part of such sale to prevent or limit other activities including,
but not limited to, tree cutting or construction of additional structures. All moneys from
any such sale, exchange or transfer of any interest pursuant to this section shall be used
by the commissioner to carry out the purposes of the recreation and natural heritage
trust program established under chapter 453.
(c) The commissioner shall grant a right of first refusal regarding the purchase of
any land offered for sale under subsection (b) of this section to any person who has
provided notice of interest in such right to the commissioner under this subsection and
who provides evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that (1) such person is the
husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild of (A) a person who
held title to the land in fee immediately prior to the state's taking title provided the state
acquired such title on or after January 1, 1969, and prior to January 1, 1975, and (B) a
person who owns land contiguous to the land being offered for sale, or (2) such person
(A) is the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild of a person
who held title to the land immediately prior to the state's taking title provided the state
acquired such title on or after January 1, 1969, and prior to January 1, 1975, and (B)
owns land contiguous to the land being offered for sale. Notice of interest in such right
shall be in writing and shall provide an address to which notice of an offer for sale may
be sent and shall further provide any information the commissioner deems relevant to
any determination required of him under this subsection. If he finds that such notice is
complete, the commissioner shall send notice to such person, by certified mail, prior to
offering such land for sale to any other person under subsection (b) of this section. Such
right shall be exercised not later than thirty days after the date that notice of an offer for
sale is received. In the event that more than one notice of interest is filed with the
commissioner, the person who provided the first notice deemed complete by the commissioner shall be given the right of first refusal.
(P.A. 96-143, S. 3, 4; P.A. 97-71, S. 3, 4.)
History: P.A. 96-143 effective July 1, 1996 (Revisor's note: In codifying this section in Subsec. (b) the word "any"
was added editorially by the Revisors in the phrase "... and land accompanying any such house or building provided no ...");
P.A. 97-71 added new Subsec. (c) re right of first refusal for certain persons related to former owners of land offered for
sale under Subsec. (b), effective May 27, 1997.