Title 2, Natural Resources

Certificate of Title: Issuance. (a) After the time for appeal from a determination of ownership by the Senior Land Commissioner has expired without any complaint for review having been filed, the Senior Land Commissioner shall issue a certificate of title setting forth the names …

Certificate of Title: Registration. The original certificate of title shall be bound in a permanent register. This register shall remain in the custody of and under the supervision of the Senior Land Commissioner. All original maps, plats and subdivision maps registered with the …

Restrictions on Landing on Aguiguan. (a) No aircraft or personal landings on the island of Aguiguan shall be allowed without first obtaining the written permission of the Mayor of Tinian and Aguiguan, and such landings shall be subject to any reasonable and nondiscriminatory cond…

Penalty. Any person found guilty of violating this chapter shall be fined not more than $300, or imprisoned not more than three months, or both. Source: PL 1-18, § 4.

Creation of Condominium. (a) A condominium may be created pursuant to this division only by recording a declaration executed, in the same manner as a deed, by all persons whose interests in the real estate will be conveyed in whole or in part to the unit owners. The declaration s…

Unit Boundaries. Except as provided by the declaration: (a) If walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring, and any other materials constituting any pa…

Construction and Validity of Declaration and Bylaws. (a) All provisions of the declaration and bylaws are severable. (b) The rule against perpetuities may not be applied to defeat any provision of the declaration or this division, or any instrument executed pursuant to the declar…

Description of Units. After the declaration is recorded, a description of a unit which sets forth the name of the condominium, the recording data for the declaration, the district in which the condominium is located, and the identifying number of the unit, is a sufficient legal d…

Contents of Declaration: All Condominiums. The declaration for a condominium must contain: (a) The name of the condominium, which must include the word “condominium” or be followed by the words “a condominium”; (b) The name of every district in which any part of the condominium i…

Contents of Declaration: Flexible Condominium. The declaration for a flexible condominium shall include, in addition to the matters specified in 2 CMC § 6205: (a) An explicit reservation of any options to create units, limited common elements, or both, within convertible real est…

Leasehold Condominiums. (a) Any lease the expiration or termination of which may terminate the condominium or reduce its size, or a memorandum thereof, shall be recorded, and the declaration shall state: (1) The recording data for the lease or a statement of where the complete le…

Allocation of Common Element Interests, Votes, and Common Expense Liabilities. (a) The declaration shall allocate a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses of the association, and a portion of the votes in the association, t…

Limited Common Elements. (a) Except for the limited common elements described in 2 CMC § 6202(b) and (d), the declaration shall specify to which unit or units each limited common element is allocated. That allocation may not be altered without the consent of the unit owners whose…

Plats and Plans. (a) Plats and plans are a part of the declaration. Separate plats and plans are not required by this division if all the information required by this section is contained in either a plat or plan. Each plat and plan must be clear and legible and contain a certifi…

Conversion and Expansion of Flexible Condominiums. (a) To convert convertible real estate or add additional real estate pursuant to an option reserved under 2 CMC § 6206(a), the declarant shall prepare, execute and record an amendment to the declaration (2 CMC § 6219) and comply …

Withdrawal of Withdrawable Real Estate. (a) To withdraw withdrawable real estate from a flexible condominium pursuant to an option reserved under 2 CMC § 6206(a), the declarant shall prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration containing a legally sufficient desc…

Alterations of Units. Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, a unit owner: (a) May make any improvements or alterations to his or her unit that do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of …

Relocation of Boundaries Between Adjoining Units. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, the boundaries between adjoining units may be relocated by an amendment to the declaration upon application to the association by the owners of those un…

Subdivision or Conversion of Units. (a) If the declaration expressly so permits, a unit may be subdivided into two or more units or, in the case of a unit owned by a declarant, may be subdivided or converted into two or more units, common elements, or a combination of units and c…

Easement for Encroachments. To the extent that any unit or common element encroaches on any other unit or common element, a valid easement for the encroachment exists. The easement does not relieve a unit owner of liability in case of his willful misconduct nor relieve a declaran…

Use for Sales Purposes. A declarant may maintain sales offices, management offices, and models in the condominium only if the declaration so provides and specifies the rights of a declarant with regard to the number, size, location, and relocation thereof. Any sales office, manag…

Easement to Facilitate Completion, Conversion, and Expansion. Subject to the provisions of the declaration, a declarant has an easement through the common elements as may be reasonably necessary for the purpose of discharging a declarant’s obligations or exercising special declar…

Amendment of Declaration. (a) Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by a declarant under 2 CMC §§ 6210(e) and (f), 6211(a) or 6212(a); the association under 2 CMC §§ 6107, 6207(d), 6209(c) or 6215(a); or certain unit owners under 2 CMC §§ 6209(b), 6214(a), 6215(b) or…

Termination of Condominium. (a) Except in the case of a taking of all the units by eminent domain (2 CMC § 6107), a condominium may be terminated only by agreement of unit owners of units to which at least 80 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger pe…

Rights of Secured Lenders. The declaration may require that all or a specified number or percentage of the mortgagees or beneficiaries of deeds of trust encumbering the units approve specified actions of the unit owners or the association as a condition to the effectiveness of th…

Short Title. This law may be cited as the Zoning Code of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Source: PL 6-32, § 1 (§ 7201), modified. Commission Comment: PL 6-32 took effect June 27, 1989. PL 6-32 § 1 (§ 7261) provides that the “Zoning Board and Office of the Zoning…

Purpose and Objectives. (a) The Sixth Northern Marianas Legislature finds that there is a developing awareness of the need to promote a rational pattern of growth, to provide for competing land uses, to abate nuisances, and to manage all environmental resources of the Commonwealt…

Policy and Jurisdiction. (a) It shall be the policy of the Commonwealth, implemented by the Zoning Board to: (1) Protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of and visitors to the Commonwealth; (2) Promote and encourage basic public services which meet the ne…

Definitions. As used in this chapter: (a) “Act” or “chapter” means this legislation and the regulations issued under its authority. (b) “Consistency” means zoning shall further enhance the goals and policies of the plan, further the aims and intent of the zoning districts by impl…

Zoning Board: Creation, Responsibilities, Composition, Term, Compensation, Meetings, Appeals. (a) Creation. There is established in the Commonwealth government a Zoning Board. (b) General Responsibilities. The Zoning Board shall be responsible for the following: (1) To educate th…

Zoning Administrator: Creation, Responsibilities, Staffing. (a) Creation of Position. There is established in the Commonwealth government the position of zoning administrator. The administrator shall serve at the pleasure of the Zoning Board. The administrator shall have at least…

Zoning Advisory Council. (a) There is established in the Commonwealth a Zoning Advisory Council. (b) Purpose. The Zoning Advisory Council is established to: (1) Advise the Zoning Board on the appropriate components of the zoning plan. (2) Advise the Zoning Board on any proposed i…

Land Use Districts. (a) Creation. Land use districts shall be established to preserve, protect and encourage the development of lands in the Commonwealth for those uses to which the lands are best suited in accordance with sound planning principles and in the interest of the heal…

Nonconforming Uses or Structures. (a) Continuance of Nonconforming Uses and Structures. Within the districts designated by the Zoning Board in its proposed zoning plan and which become law by enactment of the legislature or by popular initiative, as provided in 2 CMC § 7221, or w…

Changes in Boundaries, Uses, and Requirements. District Changes. Changes in land use district boundaries, uses, and requirements shall be consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the Coastal Resources Management Act [2 CMC § 1501 et seq.], and the provisions of this section.…

Public Participation: Notice; Hearing; Rules of Procedure. (a) Public Hearings. The Zoning Board shall hold at least one public hearing, providing ample, advance public notice of at least 30 calendar days, in the senatorial district to be affected by any proposed change of distri…

Filing Fees: Authority; Fees; Payment. (a) Authority to Establish Fees. The Zoning Board shall establish fees for procedures required or authorized by this chapter. Such fees must bear a reasonable relationship to the costs incurred by the Commonwealth, including costs of investi…

Simplification of Process. To the maximum extent possible, in preparing the zoning plan the Zoning Board shall integrate the functions of zoning, land use planning, and environmental protection in the Commonwealth into a consolidated, simplified process whereby landowners and app…

Penalties: Fines; Conflict of Interest. (a) Administrative Orders. The Zoning Board shall investigate violations and order violators to conform with this chapter or to cease and desist from any unlawful acts. The Zoning Board may order demolition or removal of nonconforming struc…

Accounting of Fines and Fees. (a) Upon recordation of a fine with the Commonwealth Recorder, an unpaid fee or fine is a lien on the nonconforming property. The Zoning Board may enforce payment of the lien by foreclosure in accordance with the law governing foreclosure of mortgage…