Sec. 13a-85c. Sale, lease, conveyance or other disposition of excess property obtained in connection with the Route 6 Expressway. - Connecticut Statutes

      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.