NY State Senate Bill 2015-S955

Senate Bill S955

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Requires the conducting of public hearings and reports thereon prior to the closure of any real property by the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks And Recreation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to cultural affairs, tourism, parks and recreation
Jan 07, 2015	referred to cultural affairs, tourism, parks and recreation

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2015-S955 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4973
Current Committee:: Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks And Recreation
Law Section:: Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law
Laws Affected:: Add §13.14, Pks & Rec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S7457, A10452
2011-2012: S1918, A693
2013-2014: S930, A159
2017-2018: S3457, A2835
2019-2020: S183, A7675

2015-S955 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the conducting of public hearings and reports thereon prior to the closure to public access of any real property by the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation.

2015-S955 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S955

TITLE OF BILL:  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

PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

The bill would require the conduct of public hearings and reports
thereon prior to the closure of any real property by OPRHP.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

The bill would add a new Section 13.14 of the Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation Law to require the agency to prepare a draft
report that provides justification and the rationale for the closure
of public access of any real property owned or operations by OPRHP, at
least six months prior to a proposed closure of such lands. The bill
specifies the elements of the report, which must be subject to one of
more public hearings at least 4 months prior to such proposed closure,
with at least one public hearing in the impacted area. OPRHP must
issue a final report that includes a response to all issues raised at
the hearings; the report must be publicly available and submitted to
the Governor and the Legislature.

JUSTIFICATION:

If OPRHP proposes to close to the public any park, historic
preservation site, bird conservation area or other facility under its
jurisdiction, the agency should be required to evaluate and support
such proposed closure and its impact on the public. Public review and
public hearings will offer the opportunity for public scrutiny of such
proposals, and if a proposed closure is not adequately supported by
the agency, it should not go forward. Providing this information to
the Governor and the Legislature will allow them to respond to such
actions as well.  Protection of our priceless natural and public
recreation resources is paramount. Closures can result in vandalism,
deterioration of the infrastructure and other damage that would go
undetected and not corrected. The state has a significant investment
in the state park system that must be protected for the benefit of all
of the citizens of NYS

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2009-2010: A.10452 DelMonte, Passed Assembly unanimously. Senate -
Died in Finance
2011-2012: S.1918 Referred to Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks &
Recreation
2013-14: S.930 Referred to Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks &
Recreation

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

There would be costs associated with the preparation of the report and
conduct of one or more public hearings.


EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act would take effect immediately.

2015-S955 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   955

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens. SERRANO, BRESLIN, DILAN, ESPAILLAT, HASSELL-THOMP-
  SON, KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY, SAMPSON, SANDERS, SAVINO,  VALESKY  --  read
  twice  and  ordered  printed,  and when printed to be committed to the
  Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation

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:

  Section 1. The parks, recreation  and  historic  preservation  law  is
amended by adding a new section 13.14 to read as follows:
  S 13.14 CLOSURE OF LANDS OWNED, HELD OR ADMINISTERED BY THE OFFICE. 1.
NOT LESS THAN SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE PROPOSED CLOSURE OF PUBLIC ACCESS TO
ANY REAL PROPERTY OWNED, HELD OR ADMINISTERED BY THE OFFICE, THE COMMIS-
SIONER  SHALL  ISSUE  A DRAFT REPORT THAT PROVIDES THE JUSTIFICATION AND
RATIONAL FOR SUCH CLOSURE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
  (A) A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE REAL PROPERTY;
  (B) THE PURPOSES THAT THE REAL PROPERTY SERVES TO THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE
STATE;
  (C)  A  COMPARISON OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLOSURE VERSUS CONTINUED
OPERATION OF SUCH REAL PROPERTY TO THE STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND  THE
PUBLIC;
  (D)  AN  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  POTENTIAL  HARM TO SUCH REAL PROPERTY FROM
VANDALISM, LACK OF MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE, AND  OTHER  IMPACTS  FROM
THE LACK OF REGULAR OVERSIGHT BY THE OFFICE;
  (E)  THE  IMPACT  OF SUCH PROPOSED CLOSURE ON THE ENTIRE REAL PROPERTY
SYSTEM OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE OFFICE; AND
  (F) SUCH OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE  PARTICULARLY  RELEVANT  TO  THE  REAL
PROPERTY AND ITS FUNCTION AS STATE LAND.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04312-01-5

S. 955                              2

  2.  NOT  LESS  THAN  FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE PROPOSED CLOSURE OF PUBLIC
ACCESS TO SUCH REAL PROPERTY,  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL  PROVIDE  PUBLIC
NOTICE  OF AND CONDUCT ONE OR MORE PUBLIC HEARINGS, INCLUDING ONE IN THE
IMPACTED AREA OF THE PROPOSED CLOSURE. NOTICE OF ANY SUCH HEARING  SHALL
BE  ON  A  STATEWIDE  BASIS,  INCLUDING PUBLICATION IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL
NOTICE BULLETIN.  EACH PUBLIC HEARING SHALL ACCEPT WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN
LIEU OF AN ORAL PRESENTATION.
  3. UPON CONCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON A  CLOSURE,  THE  COMMIS-
SIONER  SHALL  ISSUE  A  FINAL REPORT WHICH INCLUDES THE RESPONSE ON ALL
ISSUES RAISED AT THE HEARINGS AND INFORMATION ENTERED INTO  THE  HEARING
RECORD.    SUCH  FINAL REPORT SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE AND DISTRIBUTED TO
THE PUBLIC.
  4. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ISSUE AND SUBMIT TO  THE  GOVERNOR  AND  THE
LEGISLATURE  A FINDINGS STATEMENT ON EACH PROPOSED CLOSURE THAT PROVIDES
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR SUCH CLOSURE OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, THE  INFORMA-
TION THAT SUPPORTS THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE REAL PROPERTY.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.