A. Land Acquisition and Open Space Preservation 



Land acquisition for parks and recreation is 

 well known, and many States and communities are 

 acquiring lands, marshes, streams, and wildlife 

 areas for conservation, watershed protection, flood 

 prevention, and for shaping urban development. 

 Most public acquisition is of the fee title, the 

 surest method of preserving land and other areas 

 for conservation and other public purposes. 



Broad powers of land acquisition exist in most 

 States, but the power to acquire property interests 

 less than the fee title is used less frequently than 

 fee acquisition. The majority of States with large 

 acquisition programs still rely on voluntary acqui- 

 sition, purchase by private conservation groups 

 and municipalities, gifts, and sometimes designa- 

 tion of Federal wildlife refuges. 



However, condemnation powers to purchase 

 open space are available in Connecticut,^^ New 

 York,*" New Jersey,*' North Carolina,*^ Minne- 

 sota,*^ Virginia,*'' Wisconsin,*' and Maryland,* * 

 and legislation permitting condemnation to pur- 

 chase wetlands has been enacted in Connecticut,* ' 



Massachusetts,** New York,*' and North 

 Carohna.'" 



In some cases variations on the powers of 

 eminent domain exist, such as advance acquisition, 

 or "land banking," a technique used for schools, 

 parks, and airports, to a Umited extent where it is 

 established that there is a reasonable necessity for 

 the facility within a reasonable time.' * 



Condemnation of land in excess of that needed 

 for actual development of a major facility may be 

 constitutionally available in some States to control 

 filling, or environmental protection next to high- 

 ways or transit lines, or to conserve and preserve 

 open space surrounding parks. 



Acquisition of the fee title to land and other 

 areas is time-consuming and expensive, and the 

 variations on eminent domain suggested above, or 

 techniques for gradual acquisition of fee owner- 



89 



'm.G.L.A., ch. 130, §27a (1967 Supp.). 

 Conservation Law, §880. 



''Pub. Act No. 490, §6 (1963). 



Conservation Law, §880. 

 *'n.J.S.A. 13:8A-1-18. 

 *^N.C.S.B. No. 494. 

 *^M.S.A. 398.32. 



84 

 85 



Code of Va. Ann., §10-21. 



W.S.A. 32.02; W.S.A. 990.02 (35). 

 **66C Ann. Code of Md. 357a. 

 *''Pub. Act No. 536, §3 (1967). 



'"n.C.G.S. 113-226. 



"See Board of Education v. Baczewski, 340 Mich. 265, 

 65 N.W. 2d 810; Hawthorne v. Pebbles, 166 Cal. App. 2d 

 758, 333 P. 2d 442 (1959); Carlor Co. y. Miami. Flo., 62 

 So. 2d 897 (1953), cerf. denied, 346 U.S. 821 (1953). An 

 excellent discussion of these and other methods of 

 acquisition is contained in the San Francisco Bay Conser- 

 vation and Development Commission report on Powers, 

 Vol. 5, "Public Acquisition & Taxation," by Paul H. 

 Sedway and Mrs. Roselyn B. Rosenfeld. For a study of 

 successful open space programs throughout the United 

 States, see "Open Space for Urban America," Department 

 of Housing and Urban Development (1965), prepared by 

 Ann Louise Strong for the Urban Renewal Administra- 

 tion. 



Figure 5. Storm damage of Virginia Beach indicates there may be inadequate controls in the 

 protection and development of coast lands. 



UM22 



