CHAPTER 125

H.P. 1154 - L.D. 1636

Resolve, To Study the Cost of the Provision of Certain

Governmental Services in the Unorganized Territories

Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and

Whereas, the characteristics of land ownership and patterns of development in the unorganized territories are changing at a rapid rate, and the development pressures associated with those changes are increasingly similar to those in organized areas of the State; and

Whereas, current occurring fragmentation of land ownership in the unorganized territories is resulting in more landowners holding smaller parcels of land accompanied by increased construction of residential and other development; and

Whereas, major development proposals by large landowners in the unorganized territories are occurring at a significant rate; and

Whereas, the cost of providing basic government services such as fire protection for structures and forest lands and land use regulation is not always related to the size of land holdings, and the changes in ownership and development patterns result in an unequal demand and cost of providing services throughout the unorganized territories; and