§ 143-260.8. Procedures. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143‑260.8.  Procedures.

(a)        Within the meaning of this section:

(1)        "Local governing body" means, as the case may be,the board of commissioners of a county, the city council (or equivalentlegislative body) of a city, or the board of aldermen or board of commissioners(or equivalent legislative body) of a town.

(2)        "Local government" means a county, city or town.

(3)        "Properties" include any properties or interest inproperties acquired by purchase or gift.

(b)        The Council of State may petition the General Assembly toenact a law pursuant to Article XIV, Sec. 5 of the North Carolina Constitution,accepting any properties owned by the State of North Carolina (or proposed forgift to or purchase by the State) and designated in the petition for inclusionin the State Nature and Historic Preserve.

(c)        The governing body of any local government, or anycombination of two or more such bodies may petition the General Assembly toenact a law pursuant to Article XIV, Sec. 5 of the North Carolina Constitution,accepting any properties owned by the local government (or proposed for gift toor purchase by the local government) and designated in the petition forinclusion in the State Nature and Historic Preserve.

(d)        The petition referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of thissection shall identify the properties sought to be included in the Preserve.The General Assembly may then enact a law to accept the designated propertiesin the Preserve and enactment of the law by the General Assembly shallconstitute the special dedication and acceptance of the designated propertiesin the State Nature and Historic Preserve contemplated by Article XIV, Sec. 5of the North Carolina Constitution.

(e)        In order to provide accessible information to the publicconcerning the State Nature and Historic Preserve, every law accepting orremoving properties in the Preserve shall be codified in the General Statutes.A certified copy of every law accepting or removing properties in the Preserveshall be transmitted by the Secretary of State to the register of deeds in eachcounty wherein these properties, or any part of them, are located, for filingand indexing in the grantor index.

(f)         This Article shall constitute an exclusive procedure onlyfor placing properties in the State Nature and Historic Preserve, and shall notpreclude the dedication of properties by other means for purposes identical orsimilar to those enumerated by Article XIV, Sec. 5 of the North CarolinaConstitution.

(g)        It is the intent of this Article to complement any applicableprovisions of federal and State law and regulations relating to dedication oracceptance of properties for purposes similar to those enumerated by ArticleXIV, Sec. 5 of the North Carolina Constitution. The Council of State is herebyauthorized to adopt rules and regulations to implement the provisions of thisArticle, including rules and regulations consistent with this Article tocomport with applicable federal and State law and regulations. A copy of thisArticle, and of any rules affecting properties owned by local governments shallbe filed by the Council of State with the chairman of the local governing bodyof every county, city and town within 30 days after ratification. (1973, c. 443, s. 3; 1999‑268, s. 6; 2003‑234, s. 3.)