Sec. 16-50c. Notification of intent to dispose of unimproved real property. Approval or disapproval by department. Hearing. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 16-50c. Notification of intent to dispose of unimproved real property. Approval or disapproval by department. Hearing. (a) Whenever any public service company, as defined in section 16-1, except a water company, owning any contiguous area of unimproved real property containing three acres or more, intends to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land, or a portion thereof, except to the state, the United States or a municipality, such company shall first notify in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested, the Department of Public Utility Control, the Commissioner of Public Health, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the chief executive officer or officers of the municipality in which such land is situated, of such intention to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land, and no agreement to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land may be entered into by such public service company except as provided in this section. The department shall approve or disapprove the disposition of such unimproved property pursuant to subsection (a) of section 16-43, not more than one hundred fifty days after said department has received notice pursuant to this section and failure to take action within such period shall be deemed to constitute approval. The department shall hold a hearing on all such land transactions in which the acquisition cost of the parcels involved or the transfer consideration is in excess of fifty thousand dollars. The hearing shall be held in the municipality where such land is located. If such land is located in more than one municipality the department shall determine in which municipality the hearing shall be held. If the hearing is scheduled for more than one day or continues for more than one day the department may reconvene the hearing at the offices of the department. The municipality in which such land is situated shall be a party to all proceedings before the department involving such land brought pursuant to sections 16-50b to 16-50e, inclusive. The Department of Public Utility Control may, by order, exempt from the provisions of this subsection and sections 16-50d and 16-50e any sale, lease, transfer or other disposition of land by a public service company, other than a water company, to another public service company if such sale, lease, transfer or other disposition of land is related to a plan of divestiture or other corporate reorganization approved by the department.

      (b) On or before January 1, 1998, and on or before January first of each year thereafter, any private, nonprofit land-holding organization may provide in writing to the Department of Public Utility Control its mailing address and a list of the municipalities in this state in which such organization may own land or any municipality adjacent to such municipalities which address is suitable for the purpose of receiving notice of the sale, lease or other disposition of water company land as provided in this section. On or before February 1, 1998, and on or before February first of each year thereafter, said department shall publish and make available to every water company, as defined in section 16-1, a list setting forth for the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, the Land Trust Service Bureau and each private, nonprofit land-holding organization which has provided such information, such organization's mailing address and the municipalities in which such organization may own land and the adjacent municipalities. Such list shall be valid until January thirty-first of the following calendar year. Information contained on such list shall be carried forward on each succeeding year's list unless a change in such information, or the discontinuation of such information on such list, is requested by the entity which submitted it and any changes in, or discontinuation of, information to be incorporated in the following year's list shall be submitted to the Department of Public Utility Control on or before January first for inclusion on the list to be published on February first. Whenever, one hundred twenty days after July 1, 1998, any water company, as defined in section 16-1, owning any contiguous area of real property containing three acres or more, intends to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land, or a portion thereof, such company shall, not later than ninety days prior to offering such land for sale or otherwise negotiating with or notifying any other potential purchaser, or any agent of a potential purchaser, (1) notify in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested, the Department of Public Utility Control, the Commissioner of Public Health, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, any water company, as defined in section 25-32a, with an existing or potential source of supply or service area in any municipality in which such land is situated, any water company, as defined in said section 25-32a, with an existing or potential source of supply or service area in a contiguous municipality, the chief executive officer or officers of the municipality in which such land is situated, the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, the Land Trust Service Bureau and any private, nonprofit land-holding organization set forth on the list published annually by the Department of Public Utility Control pursuant to this section which organization has indicated to the department that it may own land in the municipality in which the land is located or in an adjacent municipality provided such notice shall inform recipients of information pertaining to the acreage and location of the land to be sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of and such notice shall state that additional information, including a map of the property, is available at the company and further provided, for any application submitted to the Department of Public Utility Control for disposition of such land within two years after such ninety-day period, no further notice shall be required, and (2) provide further public notice by causing a notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipalities where such water company land is situated not more than forty-five days or less than thirty days before and not more than thirty days after filing an application for approval with the department of such intention to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land. Such public notice shall be published in a display form that shall serve substantially to notify the public of the availability of the property and shall be published in print no smaller than ten-point type size. If a recipient of notice under this subsection enters into a contract to purchase such land, the closing on the sale shall take place not later than twelve months after the contract is entered into unless the period for closing is extended by mutual agreement of the parties to the contract. No agreement to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such land may be entered into by such water company except as provided in this section. Any private, nonprofit land-holding organization which is considering acquiring the interest in the land which the water company intends to sell, lease or dispose of must identify itself as a potential acquirer by giving written notice to the Department of Public Utility Control and to the water company by certified mail, return receipt requested, not more than ninety days after the water company files an application for approval. The department shall approve or disapprove the disposition of such property pursuant to subsection (a) of section 16-43 not more than one hundred fifty days after its receipt of an application for such sale, lease or other disposition pursuant to this subsection and failure to take action within such period shall be deemed to constitute approval. The department shall hold a hearing on all such land transactions in which the acquisition cost of the parcels involved or the transfer consideration is in excess of fifty thousand dollars. The hearing shall be held in the municipality where such land is located. If such land is located in more than one municipality the department shall determine in which municipality the hearing shall be held. If the hearing is scheduled for more than one day or continues for more than one day the department may reconvene the hearing at the offices of the department. An application shall not be filed with the department until the Commissioner of Public Health issues a permit pursuant to section 25-32. The municipality in which such land is situated shall be a party to all proceedings before the department involving such land brought pursuant to sections 16-50b to 16-50e, inclusive.

      (c) If, by the end of the ninety-day period for written notice under subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, no recipient of such notice has entered into an agreement or option to acquire the land, the water company may offer the land for sale, lease or other disposition to any person. Any such recipient of notice, upon entering into a contract which provides for an option to acquire such land, shall pay reasonable consideration for such option with due regard for the market value of the land. Such consideration shall be applied, without interest, as a credit against the purchase price if the option is exercised. Any such consideration shall not be refundable unless the department disapproves the disposition of such land.

      (1967, P.A. 577, S. 2; 1972, P.A. 189, S. 2; P.A. 74-256, S. 1, 4; P.A. 75-486, S. 17, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 321, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 132, 136; 78-378, S. 1, 2, 6; P.A. 80-482, S. 84, 348; P.A. 87-70, S. 1, 4; P.A. 88-354, S. 1; P.A. 89-261, S. 2; 89-301, S. 4; P.A. 90-221, S. 1, 15; P.A. 91-93, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-48, S. 2; 95-118, S. 1; 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 97-314, S. 2; P.A. 98-157, S. 8, 15; P.A. 99-225, S. 22, 33; P.A. 00-53, S. 3; P.A. 01-49, S. 6.)

      History: 1972 act required notification of commissioner of environmental protection of intention to dispose of land; P.A. 74-256 required commission to approve or disapprove disposition of land within 150 days, else inaction deemed approval; P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority, exempted from notice requirement dispositions of land to United States or to municipality and required hearing if land cost exceeds $20,000; P.A. 77-614 affirmed notification of public utilities control authority despite conflicting provision replacing authority with division of public utility control within the department of business regulation; P.A. 78-303 made technical corrections; P.A. 78-378 required notification of commissioner of health services; P.A. 80-482 made division of public utility control an independent department and deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; P.A. 87-70 changed "parcel of unimproved real property" to "contiguous area of unimproved real property", made a technical change in the reference to Sec. 16-43, and required that the municipality in which the real property is located be a party to all proceedings involving such property brought before the department of public utility control; P.A. 88-354 organized the section into Subsecs., amended Subsec. (a) to exempt water companies from provisions and added new Subsec. (b) regarding the sale of water company lands; P.A. 89-261 included provision in Subsecs. (a) and (b) re hearing in municipality where land is located; P.A. 89-301 amended Subsec. (b) by clarifying the time period for the notice required under Subdiv. (2); P.A. 90-221 in Subsec. (b) changed the date the department must approve or disapprove the sale, lease or other disposal of property from 150 days after the department's receipt of notice of the disposition to 150 days after the department's receipt of an application for sale, lease or other disposal; P.A. 91-93 added a provision allowing the department to exempt a sale, transfer or other disposition of land by a public service company if such disposition is related to a plan of divestiture; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-48 deleted "subdivision (1) of" in reference to Sec. 16-43; P.A. 95-118 amended Subsec. (b) by specifying form of notice published in newspapers and requiring private, nonprofit land-holding organization to identify itself as potential acquirer; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-314 amended Subsec. (b) to require notice of the sale of water company land to certain specified private, non-profit, land-holding organizations and other unspecified organizations; P.A. 98-157 amended Subsec. (a) to increase the hearing threshhold amount from $20,000 to $50,000, amended Subsec. (b) to add provisions re adjacent municipalities, requirements re list of organizations and 90-day time period, to revise provisions re notice, to add time requirement re closings, to increase the hearing threshold amount from $20,000 to $50,000, and to make technical changes, and added new Subsec. (c) to provide additional procedures for notice re disposition of unimproved real property, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-225 amended Subsec. (b) to add provisions re certain information to be carried forward on the list required to be maintained by the Department of Public Utility Control re notice of water company land sales, effective June 29, 1999 (Revisor's note: At the end of Subsec. (b) ", inclusive" was added editorially by the Revisors following "... to sections 16-50b to 16-50e", for consistency); P.A. 00-53 made a technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 01-49 amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes.

      Cited. 3 CA 53.