Kirkpatrick, Gosar bill to help Coconino County property owners passes unanimously out of Natural Resources Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 25, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The House Natural Resources Committee today passed unanimously a bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., to correct a 40-year-old land-survey error that placed private properties inside the boundaries of U.S. Forest Service property.

The legislation, HR 862, now goes to a vote before the full House of Representatives. The full House vote is not yet scheduled.

Kirkpatrick said, “Working together is the way to get things done in Congress. Today, we took a big step forward in the legislative process, and that means we are a big step closer to lifting an unfair burden from these residents.”

Gosar said, “Today’s successful vote is a victory for Coconino County home owners affected by a government error. I am pleased to shepherd this bill through committee and advance it to the House floor again.”

Background:

In 1960,

25 properties were surveyed as part of the Mountainaire development near Flagstaff. Incorrect corner monuments were used in that survey, and a recent Bureau of Land Management survey found that these properties are encroaching into the Coconino National Forest.

Some of these parcels are undeveloped, and some have portions of owners’ homes within the encroachment area. HR 862 aims to convey ownership back to property owners by authorizing “the conveyance of two small parcels of land within the boundaries of the Coconino National Forest containing private improvements that were developed based upon the reliance of the landowners on an erroneous survey conducted in May 1960.”