Senate Bill sb2524
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 2524
By Senator Lawson
6-1170-03
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Florida Trail Program;
3 amending s. 334.044; creating s. 334.352, F.S.;
4 providing for the planning, acquisition, lease,
5 construction, and maintenance of the trail by
6 the Department of Transportation; limiting
7 liability of landowners for injuries resulting
8 from third-party use of trail land for
9 specified activities and purposes; providing
10 for a landowner to be indemnified for injury or
11 damage, providing for funding; providing an
12 effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Subsection (32) is added to section
17 334.044, Florida Statutes, to read:
18 334.044 Department; powers and duties.--The department
19 shall have the following general powers and duties:
20 (32) To plan, acquire, lease, construct, and maintain
21 the Florida Trail pursuant to s. 334.352.
22 Section 2. Section 334.352, Florida Statutes, is
23 created to read:
24 334.352 Florida Trail Program.--
25 (1) There is established within the department the
26 Florida Trail Program to facilitate the establishment of a
27 1,300 mile system of trails in this state. Such trails shall
28 be acquired by written consent of landowners or pursuant to
29 the department's authority under s. 344.044(6) using the
30 process provided in chapter 74 after exhaustion of other
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 2524
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1 alternative means as provided in s. 73.015. Identification of
2 lands in such information may not:
3 (a) Require or empower any local government or state
4 agency, to impose additional or more restrictive
5 environmental, land-use, or zoning regulations;
6 (b) Be construed or cited as authority to adopt,
7 enforce, or amend any environmental rule or regulation; any
8 goals, policies, or objectives of the comprehensive plan; or
9 any zoning or land-use ordinance; or
10 (c) Be used as the basis for permit denial, imposition
11 of any permit condition, or application of any rule or
12 regulation.
13 (2) The department may appropriate a right-of-way with
14 a minimum width of 3 feet.
15 (3)(a) A private landowner whose land is designated as
16 part of the Florida Trail Program, including a person holding
17 a subservient interest, owes no duty of care to keep that land
18 safe for entry or use by others or to give warning to persons
19 entering that land of any hazardous conditions, structures, or
20 activities thereon. Such landowner:
21 1. Is not presumed to extend any assurance that the
22 land is safe for any purpose;
23 2. Does not incur any duty of care toward a person who
24 goes on the land; and
25 3. Is not liable for any injury to persons or property
26 caused by the act or omission of a person who goes on the
27 land.
28 (b) Paragraph (a) applies to invitees, licensees,
29 trespassers, or any others who go on the designated trail.
30 (4) A private landowner who consents to the
31 designation of his or her land as part of the Florida Trail
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 2524
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1 Program without compensation is a volunteer, as defined in s.
2 110.501, and covered by state liability protection pursuant to
3 s. 768.28.
4 (5)(a) Subsection (3) does not apply if the landowner
5 charges a fee to enter upon or use any part of the land
6 designated as a trial, or if any commercial or other activity
7 that generates profit for the landowner from the patronage of
8 the general public is conducted on the land designated for the
9 trail.
10 (b) Incentives granted by a governmental unit to a
11 private landowner, including tax incentives, grants, or other
12 financial consideration specific to the development or
13 management of designated trails, is not a charge or profit
14 under paragraph (a).
15 (6) Subsection (3) also applies to adjacent land owned
16 by a private landowner who consents to designation of a trail,
17 if such adjacent land is accessed through the land so
18 designated.
19 (7)(a) When a private landowner agrees to make land
20 available for public use as a designated trail, the department
21 shall post notices along the boundary of the trail which
22 inform the public that the land adjacent to the trail is
23 private property and that unauthorized entry is prohibited and
24 constitutes trespassing.
25 (b) Such notices must comply with s. 810.011(5) and
26 constitute a warning to unauthorized persons to remain off the
27 private property and not to depart from the designated trail.
28 A person who commits an unauthorized entry commits a trespass
29 as provided in s. 810.09.
30 (8) If agreed to by the department and the landowner
31 in the designation agreement, a landowner whose land is
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 2524
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1 designated as part of the statewide system of trails shall be
2 indemnified for:
3 (a) Any injury or damage incurred by a third party
4 arising out of the use of the designated trail;
5 (b) Any injury or damage incurred by a third party on
6 lands adjacent to and accessed through the designated trail;
7 and
8 (c) Any damage to the landowner's property, including
9 land adjacent to and accessed through the designated trail,
10 caused by the act or omission of a third person resulting from
11 any use of the land so designated.
12 (9) This section does not relieve any person of
13 liability that would otherwise exist for deliberate, willful,
14 or malicious injury to persons or property, nor does it create
15 or increase the liability of any person.
16 (10) The department may accept state and federal
17 funds, grants, and donations of property, labor, or other
18 things of value from any public or private source which are
19 bequests for purposes of the trail.
20 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
21 law.
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24 SENATE SUMMARY
25 Creates the Florida Trail Program within the Department
of Transportation. Provides powers and duties of the
26 department in acquiring land for the trail.
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