TITLE 2: NATURAL RESOURCES
DIVISION 4: LAND RESOURCES
§ 43104. Establishment of the Northern Islands Homesteading Program. Village and agricultural homesteading programs are hereby established within the Department of Public Lands; the implementation of the program shall be as provided by rules and regulations which shall include but not limited to: (a) Establishment of eligibility criteria for designated village and agricultural homesteading lots which provide: (1) An applicant must be a person of Northern Marianas Descent as defined in Article XII, Section 4, of the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands; (2) An applicant is not eligible for more than one village or agricultural homestead lot; (3) An applicant must be eighteen years old or older who is either single, married, widowed, divorced, or unmarried with or without dependents; and, (4) An applicant or his or her spouse must not own or have an interest in any village or agricultural homestead lot or have been a recipient of a village or agricultural homestead lot in the Commonwealth; (5) An applicant must be registered to vote in the Northern Islands elections prior to applying and must either reside or have resided in the Northern Islands or be born in or be a descendant of a person born in the Northern Islands as indicated in a valid birth certificate or court document. Priority shall be granted to those born on or who are descendants of someone born in the Northern Islands. (b) Establishment of Northern Islands Village and Agricultural Homestead Subdivisions, consistent with modern village and agricultural and other rural planning standards and which take into consideration lot requirements, roadways, housing, utilities, such as power and water distribution system; provided, however, that lot distributions and assignments may commence on or before the availability of infrastructures if the following conditions have been met: (1) Completion of the environmental impact assessment and related studies and receipt of appropriate permits to start the homesteading program from the government permitting and regulatory agencies; (2) Completion of village or agricultural homestead design, surveying, identification and marking of physical boundaries, and identification of lot legal descriptions; (3) Completion of land clearing and grading to enable access to the homestead lots and to identify and designate primary and secondary road systems; and, (c) Establishment of reasonable filing fees and other related charges; (d) Establishment of inspection and compliance procedures for each designated village or agricultural homestead lot; provided, however, that the homesteader shall be granted a certificate of compliance three years after the issuance of a homestead permit and upon fulfillment of the requirements as established by the Department of Public Lands.
TITLE 2: NATURAL RESOURCES
DIVISION 4: LAND RESOURCES Source: PL 16-50 § 4(104) (Jan. 15, 2010), modified; repealed and reenacted subsection (a)(5) by PL 21-44 § 2 (Feb. 5, 2021). Commission Comment: The Commission removed figures that repeated words; changed program to its plural form in the first sentence of this section; changed “be of person” to “be a person” in subsection (a)(1); changed a comma to a semi-colon at the end of subsection (a)(4) and changed “lots” to its singular form in subsection (d) pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(e) and (g).