§460x–10 Improved Property

Summary

Names which single-family homes count as "improved property" and explains when the Secretary can remove land or end occupancy rights. Improved property means a detached one-family house that either started being built before December 31, 1964, or, for some rules, started on or after December 31, 1964 and before October 21, 1970 and has been openly used as a home at least during summers every year since it was finished. If the United States later acquired the property, that continued use must have been by the owner or a close family member who owned it at the time of acquisition. The Secretary may leave out any Lake Michigan beach or water and nearby land from the land covered, but must provide a buffer between any home and public access. The Secretary may also stop calling a property of the second type "improved" if it is needed soon for public use or development, taking into account how close it is to other homes, the lakeshore plans and timetable, and available funds. If someone has a retained right to live there under section 460x–9(b), the Secretary may end that right with 90 days’ written notice when the property is needed, and must pay the owner the value of the unused part of that right. Within 60 days after October 22, 1982, the Secretary must notify owners or occupants about the option to keep rights under section 460x–9(b), whether the property may face action, the reason, and the timetable; if the Secretary determined in that 60-day period that public use or development is expected before 1998, that fact must be included in the notice.