16 U.S.C. § 459e–1 — Acquisition of property

(a) Authority of Secretary; manner and place: Congress intends the Secretary to acquire land, water, and other property inside the seashore's boundaries (set under section 459e) as fast as funds become available, whether through appropriations, donations, or exchanges. If New York State, Suffolk County, or another local government owns the property, the Secretary needs that owner's agreement to acquire it. Federal property inside the area can transfer to the Secretary for free with the current agency's agreement. The Secretary can sign acquisition contracts that depend on future funding, but the government's liability depends on Congress actually appropriating enough money. (b) Establishment; notice in Federal Register: Once the Secretary decides enough land and water has been acquired to form a workable administrative unit, he must declare Fire Island National Seashore established by publishing notice in the Federal Register. (c) Fair market value: The Secretary pays no more than fair market value, as he determines it, for any land bought. (d) Exchange of property; cash equalization payments: When trading, the Secretary can accept non-federal land inside the seashore's boundaries and give the other party federal land he controls. Traded land should be worth about the same; the Secretary can pay or accept cash to balance the values. (e) Limitation of condemnation power during existence of zoning ordinance: With one exception, the Secretary cannot condemn privately owned improved property inside the seashore, or any property within the specific communities shown on the boundary map — except beach, water, and nearby land needed for public beach access — as long as the local zoning agency has a valid zoning ordinance in force that satisfies the Secretary. The one exception is an eight-mile stretch from the east edge of Brookhaven's Davis Park to the west edge of Smith Point County Park. In that stretch only, the Secretary can condemn land or buildings if he decides it's needed to meet the law's purposes or to make the park easier to manage. Whenever the Secretary condemns improved property here, the owner (not a corporation) who held that same or a greater interest on July 1, 1963, can choose one of three options: (1) the Secretary takes full ownership and pays fair market value as of the taking date; (2) the owner keeps a life estate — measured by the life of one owner they name, or the survivor if the property was jointly owned by a married couple — and the price is reduced by the actuarial value of that life estate, calculated using standard methods; or (3) the owner keeps the right to use the property for 25 years, with the price reduced the same way. (f) "Improved property" defined: "Improved property" means any building whose construction started before July 1, 1963, plus the land it sits on — up to 2 acres for a home, or up to 10 acres for a commercial or industrial building — as much as the Secretary decides is reasonably necessary for using the building. The Secretary can exclude beach or water, and nearby land needed for public access to them. (g) Undeveloped tracts and property; suspension of condemnation authority; natural state: The Secretary's power to condemn undeveloped land within the "Dune District" (shown on the 1978 map) is suspended, as long as the owner keeps that land in its natural state. Once the Secretary does acquire undeveloped Dune District land, it must stay in its natural state. (h) Sale of property acquired by condemnation: (1)(A) The Secretary must sell any condemned property described in (B) to the highest bidder, except: (i) never below fair market value; and (ii) always with covenants making sure future use follows the current zoning-approval standards under section 459e–2(a) and any approved local zoning rules. (B) This applies to any seashore property shown on the boundary map, except: (i) Dune District property; (ii) beach, water, and nearby land within the exempt communities named in subsection (e); (iii) property within the eight-mile condemnation-exception stretch; and (iv) any property acquired before October 1, 1982 that the Secretary decides should be kept to serve the seashore's purposes. (2) Money from these sales can be kept by the Secretary, without further appropriation, but only to buy more property for the seashore. (i) Injunctive relief; termination: (1) Once condemnation proceedings start on a property, the Secretary — acting through the U.S. Attorney General — can ask the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for a restraining order or injunction to stop any use or construction that (A) doesn't meet, or would break, the zoning standards under section 459e–2(a) in effect when that use or construction began, or (B) — for undeveloped Dune District land — would keep that land from staying in its natural state. (2) Any such order or injunction ends according to the rules in section 459e–2(g).