Upon recommendation of the advisory board and approval by the board of the department, any area or feature on the "Priority Areas and Features List" may be established as a Heritage Preserve through the process of dedication. In addition to the transfer of either the fee simple interest or a lesser interest therein such as an open space easement, the owner of any such area or feature must enter into a written "Dedication Agreement" with the department whereby any restrictions, conditions, permissive and nonpermissive uses of the area or feature involved are clearly stated. Once the necessary deed, easement or the like has been filed along with the "Dedication Agreement" in the real estate records for the county in which the area or feature is located, the process of dedication shall be complete and a Heritage Preserve shall have formally been established.
No area or feature of primarily cultural significance or character shall be dedicated unless the Archives and History Commission approves thereof. The following restrictions shall apply to all Heritage Preserves:
1. The primary dedication as a Heritage Preserve shall be to preserve and protect the natural or cultural character of any area or feature so established. The board of the department and its agents shall in all cases maintain the essential character of any area or feature dedicated, and as such they are hereby declared to be at their highest, best and most important use for the public benefit. No Heritage Preserve shall be taken for any other public purpose unless the approval of both the board of the department and the Governor has been obtained. In no case shall any Heritage Preserve be taken for any private use.
2. An acquisition by dedication shall be in perpetuity.
3. In any case where an area or feature is dedicated as a Heritage Preserve through acceptance of less than the fee simple interest therein, no management of such property shall be performed by state agencies or their employees and no public funds shall be utilized in the upkeep or general maintenance of such property; provided, in the case where public usage of such area or feature is compatible and consistent with the natural character of the property and the owner is agreeable to allow such as defined under this chapter, reasonable costs of maintenance and management may be borne by the State.
4. No acquisition of any area or feature as a Heritage Preserve shall be allowed whereby the department receives the fee simple interest in the property while the grantor or transferor retains the beneficial use or interests in the land except where total and complete public usage of the area or feature as allowed under this chapter is agreed to in the "Dedication Agreement".
5. Within ninety days from the date of the completion of the dedication process by which an area or feature is established as a Heritage Preserve, or as soon thereafter as possible, the department shall recommend a management plan for the area or feature concerned. Such proposed plan shall include recommendations as to the uses and nonuses to which the property should be put, recommendations as to whether all or a part of the area or feature is deserving of increased protection through inclusion in the Heritage Trust, the projected cost of the management of the property, and recommendations as to whether or not a user fee would be appropriate. All state, federal, county, local, and private groups interested in the area or feature involved shall be allowed to have input into the proposed management plan. The plan shall be considered by the advisory board, and therefrom the advisory board shall propose to the board of the department an overall management plan for the area or feature concerned. Upon approval by the board of the department of a plan, the department or that agency or group authorized by the board of the department shall manage the Heritage Preserve in accordance therewith.
HISTORY: 1976 Act No. 600 Section 8; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1282, eff July 1, 1994.
Effect of Amendment
The 1993 amendment substituted "advisory board" for "board" and "board of the department" for "commission".