ENROLLED
H. B. 2257
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Trump)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Passed March 12, 1999; in effect ninety days from passage.]
An ACT to amend and reenact section nineteen, article two-a,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the sale,
exchange or lease of property by the division of highways;
and clarifying that only property that was acquired for use,
or used, as a highway is required to be offered to abutting
landowners prior to sale.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nineteen, article two-a, chapter seventeen
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
§17-2A-19. Sale, exchange, or lease of real property.
(a) The division of highways, subject to the provisions of
this section, may sell, exchange or lease real property, or any
interest or right in the property, held by the division of
highways. When the real property, or any interest or right in
the property, is being held for future road purposes, it may be
leased.
(b) This subsection applies to property held by the
division, including a right-of-way, that was not acquired for
use, or used, as a highway. When the real property, or any part
of the property, or any interest or right in the property, is
considered by the commissioner not necessary, or desirable for
present or presently foreseeable future division of highways
purposes, it may be exchanged for other real property, or any
interest or right in the property, considered by the commissioner
to be necessary or desirable for present or presently foreseeable
future division of highways purposes, or it may be sold. In
addition the division may exchange real property, or any part of the property, or any interest or right in the property, even
though it may be necessary or desirable for present or presently
foreseeable future division of highways purposes, if the exchange
is made for other real property, or any interest or right in the
property, in close proximity to the property which the
commissioner considers of equal or superior useful value for
present or presently foreseeable future division of highways
purposes. In making exchanges the division may make allowances
for differences in the value of the properties being exchanged
and may move or pay the cost of moving buildings, structures or
appurtenances in connection with the exchange.
Every sale of real property, or any interest or right in the
property or structure on the property, shall be at public auction
in the county in which the real property, or the greater part of
the property, is located, and the division shall advertise, by
publication or otherwise, the time, place, and terms of the sale
at least twenty days prior to the sale. The property shall be
sold in the manner which will bring the highest and best price.
The division may reject any or all bids received at the sale.
The commissioner shall keep a record, open to public inspection, indicating the manner in which the real property, or any interest
or right in the property or structure on the property, was
publicly advertised for sale, the highest bid received and from
whom, the person to whom sold, and payment received. The record
shall be kept for a period of five years and may be destroyed
after five years.
(c)(1) This subsection applies to property held by the
division, including a right-of-way, that was acquired for use, or
used, as a highway. The commissioner may transfer, sell or
otherwise dispose of any right-of-way properties or any interest
or right in the property, owned by or to be acquired by the
division of highways which the commissioner in his or her sole
discretion determines are not necessary or desirable for present
or presently foreseeable future highway purpose by first offering
the property to the principal abutting landowners without
following the procedure for public auction provided in subsection
(b) of this section.
(2) The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code governing and controlling the making of any leases or sales pursuant to the provisions of this
subsection. The rules may provide for the giving of preferential
treatment in making leases to the persons from whom the
properties or rights or interests in the property were acquired,
or their heirs or assigns and shall also provide for granting a
right of first refusal to abutting landowners at fair market
value in the sale of any real estate or any interest or right in
the property, owned by the division of highways.
(3)(A) With respect to real property acquired subsequent to
the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-three for use as a
highway through voluntary real estate acquisition or exercise of
the right of eminent domain, which real estate the commissioner
has determined should be sold as not necessary for highways
purposes, the commissioner shall give preferential treatment to
an abutting landowner if it appears that:
(i) A principal abutting landowner is an individual from
whom the real estate was acquired or his or her surviving spouse
or descendant. In order to qualify for preferential treatment,
the surviving spouse or descendant need not be a beneficiary of the individual. The terms used in this subdivision are as
defined in section one, article one, chapter forty-two of this
code; and
(ii) The primary use of the abutting property has not
substantially changed since the time of the acquisition.
(B) When the provisions of paragraph (A) of this subdivision
are met, the commissioner shall offer the property for sale to
the principal abutting landowner at a cost equal to the amount
paid by the division of highways in acquiring the real estate.
If improvements on the property have been removed since the time
of the acquisition, the cost shall be reduced by an amount
attributable to the value of the improvements removed. The cost
may be adjusted to reflect interest at a rate equal to the
increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers as
reported by the United States department of labor since the time
of disbursement of the funds.
(d) The commissioner may insert in any deed or conveyance,
whether it involves an exchange, lease or sale, the conditions as
are in the public interest and have been approved in advance by
the governor.
(e) All moneys received from the exchange, sale, or lease of
real property, or any right or interest in the property, shall be
paid into the state treasury and credited to the state road fund.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, property
may not be transferred, sold or otherwise disposed of unless the
commissioner finds that the right-of-way or other property has no
significant value to the state as a hiking trail and does not
serve as a link between two or more state owned properties.
This subsection does not apply to property that lies within six
hundred feet of any dwelling house.