Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1012
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 170490                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/17/2009           .                                
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       The Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation
       (Constantine) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 253.03, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         253.03 Board of trustees to administer state lands; lands
    8  enumerated.—
    9         (7)(a) The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
   10  Trust Fund is hereby authorized and directed to administer all
   11  state-owned lands and shall be responsible for the creation of
   12  an overall and comprehensive plan of development concerning the
   13  acquisition, management, and disposition of state-owned lands so
   14  as to ensure maximum benefit and use. The Board of Trustees of
   15  the Internal Improvement Trust Fund has authority to adopt rules
   16  pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the
   17  provisions of this act.
   18         (8)(b) With respect to administering, controlling, and
   19  managing sovereignty submerged lands, the Board of Trustees of
   20  the Internal Improvement Trust Fund also may adopt rules
   21  governing all uses of sovereignty submerged lands by vessels,
   22  floating homes, or any other watercraft, which shall be limited
   23  to regulations for anchoring, mooring, or otherwise attaching to
   24  the bottom; the establishment of anchorages; and the discharge
   25  of sewage, pumpout requirements, and facilities associated with
   26  anchorages. The regulations must not interfere with commerce or
   27  the transitory operation of vessels through navigable water, but
   28  shall control the use of sovereignty submerged lands as a place
   29  of business or residence.
   30         (9)Rules adopted for the uses of sovereignty submerged
   31  lands shall provide, at a minimum, for the following:
   32         (a) A standard lease term of at least 10 years.
   33         (b) An extended term lease not to exceed 25 years, where
   34  the use of the sovereignty submerged lands and the associated
   35  existing or proposed structures on sovereignty submerged lands
   36  have or will have an expected life, or amortization period,
   37  equal to or greater than the requested lease term. Such extended
   38  term leases shall be limited to those facilities that provide
   39  exclusive access to public waters by the general public on a
   40  first-come, first-served basis; is constructed, operated or
   41  maintained by government, or funded by government secured bonds
   42  with a term greater than or equal to the requested lease term;
   43  or the applicant demonstrates the existence of an extreme
   44  hardship that is unique to the applicant provided such hardship
   45  is not self-imposed or the result of any law, ordinance, rule or
   46  regulation.
   47         (c) For the purposes of this section "first-come, first
   48  served" means any water dependent facility operated on state
   49  owned submerged land the services of which are open to the
   50  general public by at least 90 percent of all slips over the
   51  state-owned submerged land with no qualifying requirements such
   52  as club membership, stock ownership, or equity interest, with no
   53  longer than one-year rental terms, and with no automatic renewal
   54  rights or conditions.For the purposes of this section all other
   55  leases are considered private.
   56         (d) A non-refundable application fee of $250 for a private
   57  residential single-family dock or pier. All other facilities
   58  shall remit an application fee of $500 unless a different fee is
   59  specifically provided for in general law.
   60         (e) New private leases, expansions of private leases, lease
   61  conversions from first-come, first served to private, and lease
   62  conversions for changes of use shall be assessed a one-time
   63  premium or qualifies for a waiver of payment in accordance with
   64  18-21, F.A.C. The one-time premium shall be 10 percent of the
   65  applicant’s projected retail price or the current market price,
   66  whichever is greater, to an end user for the use of the slips
   67  within the leased area. For applicants proposing to rent or
   68  lease the slips, or proposing to provide the slips to members at
   69  a below-market rate, the one-time premium shall be based on the
   70  current market price. The projected pricing shall be provided by
   71  the applicant and must be itemized by slip. All prices provided
   72  shall be reviewed by the department and verified with market
   73  data as reflective of the market prior to approval.
   74         a. An appraisal report will be required if the department
   75  cannot verify with market data and accept the applicant’s
   76  pricing documentation. The appraisal report conditions will
   77  assume that the income to the lease area is at market rates and
   78  not encumbered by the Board of Trustees lease. If an appraisal
   79  report is required, it will be obtained by the department and
   80  paid for by the applicant.
   81         b. For all private lease expansions the surcharge shall be
   82  charged only on the expansion area.
   83         (f) Annual lease fees shall be as follows:
   84         1. For leases located outside of an aquatic preserve and
   85  open on a first-come, first-served basis $0.10 per square foot
   86  or a minimum of $250. All other leases located outside of an
   87  aquatic preserve shall be $0.30 per square foot or a minimum of
   88  $500.
   89         2. For leases located within an aquatic preserve and open
   90  on a first-come, first-served basis $0.30 per square foot or a
   91  minimum of $500. All other leases located within an aquatic
   92  preserve shall be $0.60 per square foot or a minimum of $1,000.
   93         3. The annual lease fees provided for in this paragraph
   94  shall be revised every 5 years beginning March 1, 2014 and
   95  increased or decreased based on the average change in the
   96  Consumer Price Index, calculated by averaging the Consumer Price
   97  Index over the previous five-year period. Adjustments to the
   98  fees shall be to the nearest cent for the per square foot rates
   99  and to the nearest $25 for the minimums. Any increase or
  100  decrease may not exceed 10 percent and may not have the effect
  101  of lowering the fees below those established in the paragraph.
  102         4. There shall be a late payment assessment for lease fees
  103  or other charges due which are not paid within 30 days after the
  104  due date. This assessment shall be computed at the rate of 12
  105  percent per annum, calculated on a daily basis for every day the
  106  payment is late.
  107         (g) Government, research, or education facilities shall be
  108  exempt from the annual lease fees in paragraph (d)except as
  109  otherwise defined by rule.
  110         (h)The department is required to provide a draft lease, to
  111  the applicant, 14 days prior to the scheduled hearing before the
  112  Board of Trustees. The applicant may waive this requirement.
  113         (i) Rules adopted by the board must also provide for:
  114         1. The assessment of fines and penalties for violation of
  115  lease conditions. Such fines or penalties shall be in addition
  116  to those authorized pursuant to s. 253.04.
  117         2. Events that may require the installation and use of
  118  temporary structures, including docks, moorings, pilings, and
  119  access walkways on sovereign submerged lands solely for the
  120  purposes of facilitating boat shows or boat displays in , or
  121  adjacent to, established marinas or government owned upland
  122  property. The Board shall also establish appropriate fees for
  123  these events.
  124         3. Compliance methods to be utilized by the department and
  125  applicants. At a minimum the applicant must supply an aerial
  126  photograph of the lease area that is date stamped and shows the
  127  structures. A first aerial photograph shall be given to the
  128  department within the first year of the lease term and an
  129  additional aerial photograph shall be provided to the department
  130  within 60 days of the fifth year of the lease.
  131         (c)(j)Structures which are listed in or are eligible for
  132  the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory
  133  of Historic Places which are over the waters of the State of
  134  Florida and which have a submerged land lease, or have been
  135  grandfathered-in to use sovereignty submerged lands until
  136  January 1, 1998, pursuant to rule 18-21.00405, Florida
  137  Administrative Code, shall have the right to continue such
  138  submerged land leases, regardless of the fact that the present
  139  landholder is not an adjacent riparian landowner, so long as the
  140  lessee maintains the structure in a good state of repair
  141  consistent with the guidelines for listing. If the structure is
  142  damaged or destroyed, the lessee shall be allowed to
  143  reconstruct, so long as the reconstruction is consistent with
  144  the integrity of the listed structure and does not increase the
  145  footprint of the structure. If a structure so listed falls into
  146  disrepair and the lessee is not willing to repair and maintain
  147  it consistent with its listing, the state may cancel the
  148  submerged lease and either repair and maintain the property or
  149  require that the structure be removed from sovereignty submerged
  150  lands.
  151         (d)(k) By January 1, 2001, the owners of habitable
  152  structures built on or before May 1, 1999, located in
  153  conservation areas 2 or 3, on district or state-owned lands, the
  154  existence or use which will not impede the restoration of the
  155  Everglades, whether pursuant to a submerged lease or not, must
  156  provide written notification to the South Florida Water
  157  Management District of their existence and location, including
  158  an identification of the footprint of the structures. This
  159  notification will grant the leaseholders an automatic 20-year
  160  lease at a reasonable fee established by the district, or the
  161  Department of Environmental Protection, as appropriate, to
  162  expire on January 1, 2020. The district or Department of
  163  Environmental Protection, as appropriate, may impose reasonable
  164  conditions consistent with existing laws and rules. If the
  165  structures are located on privately owned lands, the landowners
  166  must provide the same notification required for a 20-year
  167  permit. If the structures are located on state-owned lands, the
  168  South Florida Water Management District shall submit this
  169  notification to the Department of Environmental Protection on
  170  the owner’s behalf. At the expiration of this 20-year lease or
  171  permit, the South Florida Water Management District or the
  172  Department of Environmental Protection, as appropriate, shall
  173  have the right to require that the leaseholder remove the
  174  structures if the district determines that the structures or
  175  their use are causing harm to the water or land resources of the
  176  district, or to renew the lease agreement. The structure of any
  177  owner who does not provide notification to the South Florida
  178  Water Management District as required under this subsection,
  179  shall be considered illegal and subject to immediate removal.
  180  Any structure built in any water conservation area after May 1,
  181  1999, without necessary permits and leases from the South
  182  Florida Water Management District, the Department of
  183  Environmental Protection, or other local government, as
  184  appropriate, shall be considered illegal and subject to removal.
  185         (e)(l) Failure to comply with the conditions contained in
  186  any permit or lease agreement as described in paragraph (d)
  187  makes the structure illegal and subject to removal. Any
  188  structure built in any water conservation area on or after July
  189  1, 2000, is also illegal and subject to immediate removal.
  190         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 253.04, Florida
  191  Statutes, is amended to read
  192         253.04 Duty of board to protect, etc., state lands; state
  193  may join in any action brought.—
  194         (2) In lieu of seeking Upon election by the board to not
  195  assess monetary damages pursuant to subsection (1) against any
  196  person or the agent of any person who has been found to have
  197  willfully damaged lands of the state, the ownership or
  198  boundaries of which have been established by the state, to have
  199  willfully damaged or removed products thereof in violation of
  200  state or federal law, to have knowingly refused to comply with
  201  or willfully violated the provisions of this chapter, or to have
  202  failed to comply with an order of the board to remove or alter
  203  any structure or vessel that is not in compliance with
  204  applicable rules or with conditions of authorization to locate
  205  such a structure or vessel on state-owned land, the board may
  206  must impose a fine for each offense in an amount of at least
  207  $100 and up to $10,000 to be fixed by rule and imposed and
  208  collected by the board in accordance with the provisions of
  209  chapter 120. Each day during any portion of which such violation
  210  occurs constitutes a separate offense. This subsection does not
  211  apply to any act or omission which is currently subject to
  212  litigation wherein the state or any agency of the state is a
  213  party as of October 1, 1984, or to any person who holds such
  214  lands under color of title. Nothing contained herein impairs the
  215  rights of any person to obtain a judicial determination in a
  216  court of competent jurisdiction of such person’s interest in
  217  lands that are the subject of a claim or proceeding by the
  218  department under this subsection.
  219         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
  220  
  221  
  222  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  223         And the title is amended as follows:
  224         Delete lines 2 - 6
  225  and insert:
  226  An act relating to state lands; amending s. 253.03, F.S.;
  227  providing rulemaking authority to the Board; defining lease
  228  types; providing for fees and lease rates; allowing for special
  229  events; and detailing minimum compliance standards; amending s.
  230  253.04, F.S.; requiring for the assessment of fines; providing
  231  an effective date.