Senate Bill No. 219–Committee on Transportation

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to property; revising the manner in which the department of transportation is required to dispose of certain property; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

   Section 1. NRS 408.533 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   408.533  1.  All real property, interests therein or improvements

 thereon and personal property acquired before, on or after April 1, 1957, in

 accordance with the provisions of NRS 408.487 and 408.489 must, after

 approval by the board and if no longer needed for highway purposes, be

 disposed of by the director in accordance with the provisions of subsection

 2, except that:

   (a) When the property was originally donated to the state, no charge

 may be made if it is returned to the original owner or to the holder of the

 reversionary right.

   (b) When the property has been wholly or partially paid for by towns,

 cities or counties, disposal of the property and of money received therefor

 must be agreed upon by the governing bodies of the towns, cities and

 counties and the department.

   (c) When the title to the real property has been acquired in fee pursuant

 to NRS 408.487 and 408.489 and, in the opinion of the board, a sale by

 means of a public auction or sealed bids is uneconomical or impractical

 because:

     (1) There is no access to the property;

     (2) The property has value or an increased value only to a single

 adjoining property owner; or

     (3) Such a sale would work an undue hardship upon a property owner

 as a result of a severance of the property of that owner or a denial of

 access to a public highway,

the board may enter into a direct sale of the property with such an owner or

 any other person for its fair market value.

   (d) When the property has been acquired and [:

     (1) The proposed purpose for which it was acquired is later

 abandoned by the department; or

     (2) Part] the property or any portion of the property is no longer

 needed for highway purposes , [and] the department [determines that the

 property was acquired for less than its fair market value,

the department] shall give notice of its intention to dispose of the property

 by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where

 the property is situated. The notice must include the department’s

 appraisal of the fair market value of the property. Any person from whom

 the property was purchased or his heir or grantee may purchase the

 property at its fair market value by direct sale from the department within

 60 days after the notice is published. If more than one person qualified to

 purchase the property by direct sale pursuant to this paragraph so requests,

 the person with the superior claim, as determined by the department in its

 sole discretion, is entitled to purchase the property by direct sale. If [no] a

person who is entitled to purchase the property by direct sale pursuant to

this paragraph reasonably believes that the department’s appraisal of the

 property is greater than the fair market value of the property, the person

 may file an objection to the appraisal with the department. The

 department shall set forth the procedure for filing an objection and the

 process under which a final determination will be made of the fair

 market value of the property for which an objection is filed. The

 department shall sell the property in the manner provided in subsection

 2 if:

     (1) No person requests to purchase the property by direct sale within

 60 days after the notice is published pursuant to this paragraph [, the

 department shall sell the property in the manner provided in subsection 2.]

; or

     (2) A person who files an objection pursuant to this paragraph fails,

 within 10 business days after he receives a written notice of the final

 determination of the fair market value of the property, to notify the

 department in writing that he wishes to purchase the property at the fair

 market value set forth in the notice.

   (e) When the property is sought by another public agency for a

 reasonable public use, the department may first offer the property to the

 public agency at its fair market value.

   2.  All property, interests or improvements not [falling] included within

 the provisions of subsection 1 must first be offered for sale by the

 department singly or in combination at public auction or by sealed bids. If

 the highest bid received is 90 percent or more of the department’s

 appraisal of the fair market value of the property, the property may be sold

 to the highest bidder. The notice and the terms of the sale must be

 published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the

 property is situated. [Those] The auctions and openings of bids must be

 conducted by the department. If the property cannot be sold for 90 percent

 or more of its fair market value, the department may enter into a written

 listing agreement with a person licensed pursuant to chapter 645 of NRS

 to sell or lease the property for 90 percent or more of its fair market value.

   3.  It is conclusively presumed in favor of the department and any

 purchaser for value that the department acted within its lawful authority in

 acquiring and disposing of the property, and that the director acted within

 his lawful authority in executing any conveyance vesting title in the

 purchaser. All such conveyances must be quitclaim in nature and the

 department shall not warrant title, furnish title insurance or pay the tax on

 transfer of real property.

   4.  No person has a right of action against the department or its

 employees for a violation of this section. This subsection does not prevent

 an action by the attorney general on behalf of the State of Nevada or any

 aggrieved person.

   5.  All sums of money received by the department for the sale of real

 and personal property must be deposited with the state treasurer to be

 credited to the state highway fund, unless the Federal Highway

 Administration participated in acquisition of the property, in which case a

 pro rata share of the money obtained by disposal of the property must be

 paid to the Federal Highway Administration.

   6.  The department may reserve and except easements, rights or

interests from the conveyance of any real property disposed of in

 accordance with this section or exchanged pursuant to subsection 5 of

 NRS 408.489. [Those] The easements, rights or interests include, but are

 not limited to:

   (a) Abutter’s rights of light, view or air.

   (b) Easements of access to and from abutting land.

   (c) Covenants prohibiting the use of signs, structures or devices

 advertising activities not conducted, services not rendered or goods not

 produced or available on the real property.

   Sec. 2.  The amendatory provisions of section 1 of this act do not apply

 to any property for which the department of transportation publishes a

 notice of its intention to dispose of the property pursuant to NRS 408.533

 before the effective date of this act.

   Sec. 3. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.

 

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