House Bill 575 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives McCollum of the 30th, Jasperse of the 11th, Powell of the 33rd, McDonald
III of the 26th, and Hagan of the 156th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways, bridges,
and ferries, so as to authorize notice of certain public hearings by the Department of
Transportation by electronic publication; to authorize such department to negotiate the
acquisition of common property of a condominium association or property owners'
association with the designated board for either such association; to provide standards for
bringing an action to acquire such common property; to provide for the disbursement of
consideration received from such department for common property; to authorize the
establishment and administration of a program by such department for the clearing of rights
of way and the removal of wrecked or abandoned heavy duty vehicles from the rights of way
of interstate highways and limited access highways; to provide for payment of costs relating
to removal or relocation of public utilities through agreement between the department and
utility provider; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways, bridges, and ferries,
is amended in Code Section 32-2-3, relating to development of transportation plans, public
hearings, approval of plans by board, and promulgation of rules and regulations, by revising
paragraphs (3) through (5) of subsection (f) as follows:
"(3) <del>These</del> <ins>The</ins> public hearings <ins>required by this subsection</ins> shall be conducted so as to
provide an opportunity for effective participation by interested persons in transportation
policy decisions,; the process of transportation planning, modal selections, and site and
route selection,; and the specific location and design of major transportation facilities.
<del>The</del> <ins>At such hearings the</ins> various factors involved in the decision or decisions and any
alternative proposals shall be clearly presented so that the persons <del>attending the hearing
</del> <ins>in attendance</ins> may present <del>their</del> views relating to the decision or decisions which will be
made. The <ins>hearing required by this subsection for a</ins> facility, site, or project corridor
<del>hearing</del> and the <del>design</del> hearing for <ins>the design of</ins> a proposed facility or facilities may be
held simultaneously to satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
(4)(A) The department may satisfy the requirements <ins>of this subsection</ins> for a public
hearing by holding a public hearing or by <del>publishing two notices of opportunity for
</del> <ins>providing the opportunity to request a public hearing. Such opportunity to request a
</ins> public hearing <ins>shall be satisfied upon the publication of notice once a week for two
weeks</ins> in a newspaper having general circulation in the vicinity of the proposed
undertaking and holding a public hearing if any written requests for such a hearing are
received. The procedure for requesting a public hearing shall be explained in the
notice. The deadline for submission of such a request may not be less than 21 days
after the publication of the first notice of opportunity for public hearing and no less than
14 days after the date of publication of the second notice of opportunity for public
hearing.
(B) A copy of the notice of opportunity for public hearing <ins>required by
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph</ins> shall be furnished at the time of publication to the
United States Department of Transportation, the appropriate departments of state
government, and affected local governments and planning agencies. If no requests <ins>for
a public hearing</ins> are received in response to a notice <ins>published pursuant to
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph</ins> within the time specified for the submission of
requests <ins>in the published notice,</ins> the department shall be deemed to have met the
hearing requirements <ins>of this subsection.
</ins> (C) <del>The opportunity for another public hearing shall be afforded in any case when
</del> <ins>When the</ins> proposed locations or designs <ins>of an undertaking</ins> are changed from those
presented in the notices <del>specified in</del> <ins>published pursuant to subparagraph (B) of</ins> this
paragraph or at a public hearing so as to have a substantially different transportation
service, <ins>or different</ins> social, economic, or environmental effect, <ins>a new public hearing
shall be required. Such public hearing shall be held in accordance with the
requirements of this subsection.
</ins> (D) The <del>opportunity for a public hearing shall be afforded in each case in which the
department is in doubt</del> <ins>department shall hold a public hearing for an undertaking in any
instance in which federal or state law is unclear</ins> as to whether a public hearing is
required.
(5)(A) When a public hearing is to be held <ins>pursuant to this subsection,</ins> two notices of
such hearing shall be published <ins>in print or electronically</ins> in a newspaper having general
circulation in the vicinity of the proposed undertaking. The first notice shall be
published no less than 30 days prior to the date of the hearing and the second notice
shall be published no less than five days prior <ins>or in the last publication date available
prior</ins> to the date of the hearing. <ins>The department shall publish a copy of such hearing
notice on its public website no less than 30 days prior to the date of the hearing.
</ins>
(B) Copies of the notice for public hearing <ins>published pursuant to this paragraph</ins> shall
be mailed to the United States Department of Transportation, appropriate departments
of state government, and affected local governments and planning agencies."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
<ins>"32-3-2.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Authorized board' means the executive and administrative body designated in a
condominium instrument or property owners' association instrument as the governing
body of common property as set forth in Article 3 or Article 6 of Chapter 3 of Title 44.
(2) 'Common property' shall include common elements, as such term is defined in Code
Section 44-3-71 and common areas, as such term in defined in Code Section 44-3-221.
(3) 'Declaration' shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 44-3-71.
(4) 'Instrument' shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 44-3-221.
(5) 'Owner' means any person having interest in property under a declaration or
instrument.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 3 of Title 44 to the contrary, when the
department seeks to acquire any common property, the department shall be authorized to
conduct all phases of such pre-acquisition and acquisition with officers of the authorized
board. Unless specified to the contrary in any recorded instrument or declaration, an
authorized board shall be authorized to convey common property to the department on
behalf of all owners. If, during the pre-acquisition or acquisition phase of common
property authorized by this Code section, the department and authorized board fail to agree
upon the terms of acquisition, the department shall be authorized to bring the authorized
association as a party in any action in lieu of each owner; provided, however, that when an
owner is directly impacted by a proposed acquisition in relation to other owners, such
</ins>
<ins>owner shall be individually named in the action. An owner shall be bound by the judgment
in any action brought by the department against an authorized association pursuant to this
Code section.
(c) Any consideration received by an authorized board in exchange for common property
pursuant to this Code section shall be allocated to each owner pursuant to any ownership
interest set forth in a declaration or instrument."
</ins> SECTION 3.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 32-6-2, relating to authority of department,
counties, and municipalities to regulate parking and parking vehicles or leaving vehicles
unattended on right of way of public road on state highway system, by adding a new
paragraph to read as follows:
<ins>"(5) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 11 of Title 40 or Code Section 44-1-13
to the contrary, the department shall be authorized to establish and administer a towing
and recovery program for the restoration of the right of way and the removal from the
right of ways of interstate highways and limited access highways vehicles exceeding
16,000 pounds that have been disabled, damaged, abandoned, or wrecked or are
otherwise inoperable and which impede the flow of traffic as determined and requested
by the department, the Department of Public Safety, local law enforcement, or designated
fire department personnel. The authority of the department relating to such towing and
recovery program shall include all powers necessary to create and administer such a
program, including, but not limited to, the power to adopt all policies, procedures,
qualifications, standards, and specifications for towing operators and to establish
incentives for towing operators to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this Code
section. The removal of any vehicle pursuant to the program authorized by this Code
section shall include removal or cleanup of any affected cargo transported or spilled by
</ins>
<ins>any vehicle exceeding 16,000 pounds but not any passenger vehicles or personal property
thereof."
</ins> SECTION 4.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 32-6-170, relating to payment by department
of costs of removal, relocation, and adjustment of utility facilities necessitated by
construction of public roads, by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b) The department is authorized to pay or participate in the payment of the costs of
removing, relocating, or making necessary adjustments to any of the following facilities
or any component part thereof if they are owned by a public utility that is publicly,
privately, or cooperatively owned, without regard to whether such facilities were originally
installed upon rights of way of the state highway system, a county road system, or a
municipal street system, where the department has made the determination that <del>(i)</del> such
payments are in the best interest of the public and necessary in order to expedite the staging
of the project; and <del>(ii)</del> the costs of the removal, relocation, or adjustment of such facilities
are included as part of the contract between the department and the department's roadway
contractor for the project <ins>or in a written agreement between the utility and the department,
</ins> provided that such removal, relocation, or adjustment is made necessary by the
construction or maintenance of a public road by the department: water distribution and
sanitary sewer facilities and systems for producing, transmitting, or distributing
communications, power, electricity, light, heat, gas, steam, waste, and storm water not
connected with highway drainage, including fire and police signals, traffic-control devices,
and street lighting systems."
SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.