HB 1497 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to transportation facilities; amending s.
3	334.044; revising powers and duties of the Department of
4	Transportation; providing for the department to plan,
5	acquire, lease, construct, and maintain the Florida Trail;
6	creating s. 334.352, F.S.; creating the Florida Trail
7	Program within the Department of Transportation; providing
8	purpose; authorizing the department to appropriate
9	described right-of-way; requiring the department to
10	acquire interest in certain lands under described
11	conditions; providing for identification and acquisition,
12	of lands for the trail; providing certain protections of
13	landowners; providing for landowners making land available
14	for public use; limiting liability of landowners for
15	specified purposes; providing specified liability
16	insurance for certain landowners under described
17	conditions; authorizing the department to accept certain
18	funds; providing an effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1. Subsection (32) is added to section 334.044,
23	Florida Statutes, to read:
24	334.044 Department; powers and duties.--The department
25	shall have the following general powers and duties:
26	(32) To plan, acquire, lease, construct, and maintain the
27	Florida Trail pursuant to the guidance and limitations provided
28	in s. 334.352.
29	Section 2. Section 334.352, Florida Statutes, is created
30	to read:
31	334.352 Florida Trail Program.--
32	(1) There is established within the department the
33	"Florida Trail Program," the purpose of which is to facilitate
34	the establishment of a 1,300 mile system of trails. Such trails
35	shall be acquired by written consent of the landowner or
36	pursuant to the department's authority under s. 334.044(6) using
37	the process provided in chapter 74 after exhaustion of other
38	alternative means as provided in s. 73.015. Identification of
39	lands in such information shall not:
40	(a) Require or empower any unit of local or regional
41	government, or any state agency, to impose additional or more
42	restrictive environmental, land-use, or zoning regulations;
43	(b) Be construed or cited as authority to adopt, enforce,
44	or amend any environmental rule or regulation; comprehensive
45	plan goals, policies, or objectives; or zoning or land-use
46	ordinance; or
47	(c) Be used as the basis for permit denial; imposition of
48	any permit condition; or application of any rule, regulation, or
49	state government.
50	(2) The department is authorized to appropriate a right-
51	of-way with a minimum width of 3 feet for purposes consistent
52	with this section.
53	(3)(a) A private landowner whose land is designated as
54	part of the Florida Trail Program pursuant to this section,
55	including a person holding a subservient interest, owes no duty
56	of care to keep that land safe for entry or use by others or to
57	give warning to persons entering that land of any hazardous
58	conditions, structures, or activities thereon. Such landowner
59	shall not:
60	1. Be presumed to extend any assurance that such land is
61	safe for any purpose;
62	2. Incur any duty of care toward a person who goes on the
63	land; or
64	3. Become liable or responsible for any injury to persons
65	or property caused by the act or omission of a person who goes
66	on the land.
67	(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) apply whether the
68	person going on the designated trail is an invitee, licensee,
69	trespasser, or otherwise.
70	(4) Any private landowner who consents to designation of
71	his or her land as part of the Florida Trail Program pursuant to
72	this section without compensation shall be considered a
73	volunteer, as defined in s. 110.501, and shall be covered by
74	state liability protection pursuant to s. 768.28, including s.
75	%_%2%_%(9).
76	(5)(a) The provisions of subsection (3) shall not apply if
77	there is any charge made or usually made by the landowner for
78	entering or using the land designated as a trail, or any part
79	thereof, or if any commercial or other activity whereby profit
80	is derived by the landowner from the patronage of the general
81	public is conducted on the land so designated or any part
82	thereof.
83	(b) Incentives granted by any unit of government to the
84	private landowner, including tax incentives, grants, or other
85	financial consideration specific to the development or
86	management of designated trails, shall not be construed as a
87	charge for use or profit derived from patronage for purposes of
88	this subsection and shall not be construed as monetary or
89	material compensation for purposes of subsection (4).
90	(6) The provisions of subsection (3) shall also apply to
91	adjacent land owned by the private landowner who consents to
92	designation of a trail where such adjacent land is accessed
93	through the land so designated.
94	(7)(a) When a private landowner agrees to make his or her
95	land available for public use as a designated trail, the
96	department or its designee shall post notices along the boundary
97	of the designated trail which inform the public that the land
98	adjacent to the trail is private property upon which
99	unauthorized entry for any purpose is prohibited and constitutes
100	trespassing.
101	(b) Such notices must comply with s. 810.011(5) and shall
102	constitute a warning to unauthorized persons to remain off the
103	private property and not to depart from the designated trail.
104	Any person who commits such an unauthorized entry commits a
105	trespass as provided in s. %_%4%_%
106	(8) If agreed to by the department and the landowner in
107	the designation agreement, a landowner whose land is designated
108	as part of the statewide system of trails pursuant to this
109	section shall be indemnified for:
110	(a) Any injury or damage incurred by a third party arising
111	out of the use of the designated trail;
112	(b) Any injury or damage incurred by a third party on
113	lands adjacent to and accessed through the designated trail; and
114	(c) Any damage to the landowner's property, including land
115	adjacent to and accessed through the designated trail, caused by
116	the act or omission of a third person resulting from any use of
117	the land so designated.
118	(9) This section does not relieve any person of liability
119	that would otherwise exist for deliberate, willful, or malicious
120	injury to persons or property. The provisions of this section
121	shall not be deemed to create or increase the liability of any
122	person.
123	(10) The department shall be empowered to accept state and
124	federal funds, grants, and donations of any type of property,
125	labor, or other thing of value from any public or private source
126	that are bequests for purposes of the trail.
127	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.