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Alaska Statutes.

Title 38. Public Land

Chapter 5. Alaska Land Act

Section 820. Occupied Tide and Submerged Land.

AS 38.05.820. Occupied Tide and Submerged Land.

(a) It is the policy of the state to allow preference rights for the acquisition of tide and submerged land occupied or developed for municipal business, residential or other beneficial purposes on or before the date of admission of Alaska into the Union. Nothing in this section vests the right in a person to acquire the land until a conveyance from the state is delivered to the grantee.

(b) Home rule cities and cities of the first class incorporated on or before April 1, 1964, may apply, in the manner prescribed by the director, and in accordance with such regulations as the director may adopt, for a conveyance to them of all land seaward of the home rule cities and cities of the first class which is between the mean high tide line in, or forming the boundary of, the home rule cities and cities of the first class, and a line to be shown on a plat made a part of the application which shall be the pierhead line established under the Act of September 7, 1957, or the harbor line established under the Act of March 3, 1899, or if no pierhead line or harbor line is established then a line subject to approval by the director, with the concurrence of the commissioner, which shall be seaward of all tide and submerged land occupied or suitable for occupation and development without unreasonable interference with navigation. The director shall convey that tide and submerged land to home rule cities and cities of the first class. Applications by preference right claimants filed with the director before June 30, 1964, shall continue to be processed to a final determination and conveyance, if any, by the director, if such preference right claimants are entitled to a conveyance from the director under the laws existing previous to July 22, 1964.

(1) Each home rule city and city of the first class granted a conveyance shall prepare an official subdivision plat of the area conveyed showing all structures and improvements and the boundaries of each tract occupied or developed, together with the name of the owner or claimant. The subdivisional plat shall include within the boundaries of each tract occupied or developed such surrounding tide and submerged land as is reasonably necessary in the opinion of the governing body of the home rule cities and cities of the first class for the use and enjoyment of the structures and improvements by the owner or claimant, but shall not include tide or submerged land which if granted to the occupant would unjustly deprive an occupant of adjoining land from reasonable use and enjoyment of it.

(2) An occupant of land included in the conveyance to home rule cities and cities of the first class, who occupied or developed the land on and before September 7, 1957, has a class I preference right to the land from the home rule cities and cities of the first class upon the execution of a waiver to the state and the home rule cities and cities of the first class of all rights the occupant may have acquired under Public Law 85-303 (71 Stat. 623).

(3) An occupant of land included in the conveyance to home rule cities and cities of the first class, who has a class II preference right by reason of the conveyance to home rule cities and cities of the first class, and is unwilling to waive the right has a preference right to the land which it is mandatory for the home rule cities and cities of the first class to expeditiously honor upon application from the occupant after the Secretary of the Army has submitted to the Secretary of the Interior and the governor of the state maps showing the pierhead line established by the Corps of Engineers with respect to the tract so granted.

(4) An occupant of land included in the conveyance to home rule cities and cities of the first class, who occupied or developed the land after September 7, 1957, and before January 3, 1959, and who continued to occupy it on January 3, 1959, has a class III preference right to the land from the home rule cities and cities of the first class.

(5) In making a conveyance to an occupant, the home rule cities and cities of the first class shall include as a part of the tract conveyed and in addition to the occupied or developed land, such additional tide and submerged land as is reasonably necessary in the opinion of the governing body of the home rule cities and cities of the first class for the occupant's use and enjoyment of the occupied or developed land, but the conveyance shall not include any area which would unjustly deprive an occupant of adjoining land from reasonable use and enjoyment of it or which, if developed, will interfere with navigation.

(6) Each home rule city and city of the first class receiving conveyances shall by ordinance provide for reasonable regulations governing the filing and processing of applications, publication of notices, and the adjudication of disputes between claimants by the governing body of the home rule cities and cities of the first class. A party aggrieved by its determination may appeal to the superior court.

(7) When no preference right has been granted to purchase or lease tideland, the home rule cities and cities of the first class may sell or lease the tideland conveyed to them, and may impose terms or conditions for the sale or lease. Such terms and conditions shall include such reservation of rights-of-way as are necessary to provide reasonable access to public waters.

(c) An occupant of tide or submerged land which is not seaward of a municipal corporation, who occupied or developed it on and prior to September 7, 1957, has a class I preference right to the land from the state. However, if the land is seaward of a surveyed townsite, the occupant shall execute a waiver to the state of all rights which the occupant may have acquired under Public Law 85-303 (71 Stat. 623), before the preference right may be exercised.

(1) A person who has a class II preference right in the disposition of land by the state not provided for under (b)(3) of this section, and who is unwilling to waive that right, has a preference right to the land which it is mandatory for the director to expeditiously honor upon application from the occupant after the Secretary of the Army has submitted to the Secretary of the Interior and the governor of the state maps showing the pierhead line established by the Corps of Engineers with respect to the tract so granted.

(2) An occupant of tide or submerged land which is not seaward of a municipal corporation, who occupied or developed it after September 7, 1957, and before January 3, 1959, and who continued to occupy it on January 3, 1959, has a class III preference right to the land from the state.

(3) The preference right granted an occupant in (c) of this section is lost unless the occupant of tide or submerged land not seaward of a home rule or first class city makes application to the director to exercise the preference right by July 1, 1967.

(4) Each occupant shall furnish at the cost of the occupant a plat showing the exterior boundaries of the tide and submerged land covered by the application, in form and with proof of accuracy as set out in regulations of the director, and shall show the location and nature of all fill material, buildings, structures and improvements, which form the basis of the application and which are situated upon the tract applied for. The applicant may include within the boundaries of the tract applied for such surrounding tide and submerged land as is reasonably necessary in the opinion of the applicant for the use and enjoyment of the structures and improvements by the occupant, but may not include any tide or submerged land which if granted to the occupant would unjustly deprive an occupant of adjoining land from reasonable use and enjoyment of it.

(5) In making a conveyance to an occupant, the director shall include as a part of the tract conveyed, and in addition to the occupied or developed land, such additional tide and submerged land as is reasonably necessary in the opinion of the director for the occupant's use and enjoyment of the occupied or developed land, but the conveyance shall not include any area which would unjustly deprive an occupant of adjoining land from reasonable use and enjoyment of it or which, if developed, will interfere with navigation.

(6) The director shall by regulation provide for reasonable procedures governing the filing and processing of applications, the publication of notices and the adjudication of disputes between claimants. A party aggrieved by an adjudication may appeal to the superior court.

(7) The holder of a valid Corps of Engineers permit issued before November 15, 1959, may be given a preference to a lease or permit by the state if justified in accordance with the policy of this chapter and if in the best interests of the state. This preference is subordinate to all other preferences recognized under this chapter.

(d) For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires,

(1) "class I preference right" means the right of an occupant to acquire tide and submerged land for a consideration not exceeding the costs of surveying, transferring, and conveying the title to it;

(2) "class II preference right" means the right to acquire tide or submerged land as defined in Public Law 85-303 (71 Stat. 623) for a consideration not exceeding the costs of surveying, transferring, and conveying the title to it;

(3) "class III preference right" means the right of an occupant to acquire tide and submerged land for a consideration not exceeding the cost of appraisal, administration, and transfer plus the appraised fair market value, exclusive of value accruing from improvements or development, such as fill material, buildings, or structures, by the occupant or predecessor in interest of the occupant or reflecting, equities of the occupant;

(4) "home rule cities and cities of the first class" do not include a borough;

(5) "occupant" means a person or the successor in interest of a person, who actually occupied for business, residential, or other beneficial purpose, tideland, or tide and submerged land contiguous to tideland, in the state, on and before January 3, 1959, with substantial permanent improvements; the holder of a permit or clearance in respect to interference of navigation, or of a special use permit from a government agency does not qualify as an "occupant" unless entry on the land had, through exercise of reasonable diligence, resulted in occupancy and substantial permanent improvements; no person is an occupant by reason of having (A) placed a fish trap in position for operation or upon the tide or submerged land for storage, (B) placed a set net or piling for a set net, or any other device or facility for taking fish, (C) placed pilings or dolphins for log storage or other moorage, (D) placed floats or vessels upon the tide or submerged land, (E) placed telephone, power or other transmission facilities, roads, trails or other improvements not requiring exclusive use or possession of tide or submerged land, or (F) claimed the land by virtue of some form of constructive occupancy; where land is occupied by a person other than the owner of the improvements on it, the owner of the improvements is, for the purposes of this section, the occupant of the land;

(6) "occupied or developed" means the use, occupancy, and control of tide or submerged land by the establishment on it of substantial permanent improvements other than those uses, facilities, and improvements not qualifying a person to be an occupant;

(7) "person" means a person, firm, corporation, cooperative association, partnership, or other entity legally capable of owning land or an interest in land;

(8) "preference right," subject to the classification of preference right established in this section, means the right of an occupant to acquire, by lease, purchase, or otherwise, at the election of the occupant, except as otherwise limited or prescribed in this chapter, a tract of tideland, or tide and submerged land contiguous to tideland, occupied or developed by the occupant on and before January 3, 1959.

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Last modified 9/3/2005