PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior must make zoning rules for the national seashore that match the park’s protection and development goals. The rules must stop new commercial or industrial uses except those the Secretary finds acceptable. The rules must also limit the size, place, and use of buildings—like shops, homes, and other structures—and try to balance how many people lived there on October 17, 1984 with protecting the seashore’s natural resources. The Secretary must approve any local zoning law or change that meets the current rules when it was adopted, and that approval stays while the law stays in effect. The Secretary will not approve laws that harm the seashore’s protection or that don’t require him to be told when a variance or exception is granted. For properties (including improved ones but not certain undeveloped dune land) where the Secretary’s power to condemn land is suspended, the rules cover cases where a post‑October 17, 1984 variance or exception would make the property break the Secretary’s standards. On request, the Secretary must give a certificate saying which properties have that suspension. The Secretary may also ask the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for a temporary order to stop uses or building that would seriously harm natural resources or go against the seashore’s purposes.

Title 16, §459e–2

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In order to carry out the provisions of section 459e–1 of this title the Secretary shall issue regulations, which may be amended from time to time, specifying standards that are consistent with the purposes of sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title for zoning ordinances which must meet his approval.

(b)The standards specified in such regulations shall have the object of (1) prohibiting new commercial or industrial uses, other than commercial or industrial uses which the Secretary considers are consistent with the purposes of sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title, of all property within the national seashore, and (2) promoting the protection and development for purposes of sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title of the land within the national seashore by means of limitations or restrictions on the size, location or use of any commercial, residential, and other structures. In accomplishing these objectives, such standards shall seek to reconcile the population density of the seashore on October 17, 1984, with the protection of the natural resources of the Seashore 11 So in original. Probably should not be capitalized. consistent with the purposes for which it has been established as provided by sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title.

(c)Following issuance of such regulations the Secretary shall approve any zoning ordinance or any amendment to any approved zoning ordinance submitted to him that conforms to the standards contained in the regulations in effect at the time of adoption of the ordinance or amendment. Such approval shall remain effective for so long as such ordinance or amendment remains in effect as approved.

(d)No zoning ordinance or amendment thereof shall be approved by the Secretary which (1) contains any provisions that he considers adverse to the protection and development, in accordance with the purposes of sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title, of the area comprising the national seashore; or (2) fails to have the effect of providing that the Secretary shall receive notice of any variance granted under, or any exception made to, the application of such ordinance or amendment.

(e)In the case of any property, including improved property but excluding undeveloped property in the Dune district referred to in section 459e–1(g) of this title, with respect to which the Secretary’s authority to acquire by condemnation has been suspended under sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title if—

(1)such property is, after October 17, 1984, made the subject of a variance under, or becomes for any reason an exception to, any applicable zoning ordinance approved under this section; and

(2)such variance or exception results, or will result, in such property being used in a manner that fails to conform to any applicable standard contained in regulations of the Secretary issued pursuant to this section and in effect at the time such variance or exception took effect;

(f)The Secretary shall furnish to any party in interest upon request a certificate indicating the property with respect to which the Secretary’s authority to acquire by condemnation is suspended.

(g)Notwithstanding any other provision of sections 459e to 459e–9 of this title, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Attorney General of the United States, may apply to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York for a temporary restraining order or injunction to prohibit the use of, including construction upon, any property within the seashore in a manner that—

(1)will cause or is likely to cause significant harm to the natural resources of the seashore, or

(2)is inconsistent with the purposes for which the seashore was established.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–482, § 4, substituted “by means of limitations or restrictions on the size, location or use of any commercial, residential, and other structures” for “by means of acreage, frontage, and setback requirements” and required that the standards seek to reconcile the population density of the seashore on Oct. 17, 1984, with the protection of the natural resources of the seashore. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 98–482, § 3, designated part of existing provisions as pars. (1) and (2), made the provisions applicable to any property, and excluded undeveloped property in the Dune district. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 98–482, § 5, added subsec. (g).

§459e–2 Zoning Regulations

Summary

Title 16, §459e–2

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata