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SB523 / File No. 703 1
General Assembly File No. 703
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 523
Senate, April 20, 2026
The Committee on Government Oversight reported through
SEN. GADKAR-WILCOX of the 22nd Dist., Chairperson of the
Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONVEYING A PARCEL OF STATE LAND TO THE TOWN OF
NORTH CANAAN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. ( Effective from passage ) (a) Notwithstanding any provision 1
of the general statutes, the Commissioner of Transportation shall convey 2
to the town of North Canaan a parcel of land located in the town of 3
North Canaan, at a cost equal to the administrative costs of making such 4
conveyance. Said parcel of land has an area of approximately 9.45 acres 5
and is identified as the property depicted on a map of the Department 6
of Transportation attached to a lease of said parcel to the town of North 7
Canaan dated July 16, 1991, that is recorded in the town of North 8
Canaan Land Records in Volume 70 at pages 524 to 530, inclusive, and 9
is further described in deeds recorded in the town of North Canaan 10
Land Records in Volume 29 at page 613 and Volume 30 at page 114, as 11
parcel #3. The precise size and area of the parcel to be conveyed shall be 12
determined by the Commissioner of Transportation. If a survey of said 13
parcel of land for the purpose of the conveyance is deemed necessary by 14
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the Commissioner of Transportation, the town of North Canaan shall 15
pay the costs of any such survey. The conveyance shall be subject to the 16
approval of the State Properties Review Board. 17
(b) The town of North Canaan shall use said parcel of land for open 18
space or low impact nonmotorized public recreation purposes, 19
including, but not limited to, an existing greenway trail, except for a 20
portion of said parcel to be used for an emergency services facility as 21
provided in subsection (c) of this section. If the town of North Canaan: 22
(1) Does not use said parcel for any of said purposes; 23
(2) Does not retain ownership of all of said parcel, other than a 24
transfer of the management of a portion of the parcel as described in 25
subsection (c) of this section or a transfer to a nonprofit entity to facilitate 26
or manage any of said purposes; or 27
(3) Leases all or any portion of said parcel, other than a lease to a 28
nonprofit entity to facilitate or manage any of said purposes, 29
the parcel shall revert to the state of Connecticut. Any sale or lease of 30
said parcel to a nonprofit entity under this subsection shall be for fair 31
market value and any funds received by the town of North Canaan from 32
such sale or lease shall be transferred to the State Treasurer for deposit 33
in the Special Transportation Fund. 34
(c) The town may use a portion not exceeding four acres of said parcel 35
for the construction of a nonprofit fire and emergency services facility 36
to be used and managed by the North Canaan Fire Company, provided 37
the town retains ownership of said portion of the parcel. 38
(d) Said parcel shall be subject to an easement in favor of the 39
Housatonic Railroad Company for purposes of maintaining a railroad 40
spur abutting the southerly boundary of the parcel. 41
(e) The State Properties Review Board shall complete its review of the 42
conveyance of said parcel of land not later than thirty days after it 43
receives a proposed agreement from the Department of Transportation. 44
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The land shall remain under the care and control of said department 45
until a conveyance is made in accordance with the provisions of this 46
section. The State Treasurer shall execute and deliver any deed or 47
instrument necessary for a conveyance under this section, which deed 48
or instrument shall include provisions to carry out the purposes of 49
subsections (b) to (d), inclusive, of this section. The Commissioner of 50
Transportation shall have the sole responsibility for all other incidents 51
of such conveyance. 52
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
GOS Joint Favorable
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Department of Transportation TF - Loss of Asset See Below See Below
Resources of the Special
Transportation Fund
TF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: TF=Transportation Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
North Canaan Cost See Below See Below
North Canaan Gain of
Asset
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill conveys a specified parcel of land, totaling 9.45 acres, from
the Department of Transportation to the town of North Canaan. The
state would lose use of the asset. The town of North Canaan would gain
use of an asset and would pay the administrative costs of the
conveyance, including survey costs if necessary.
Additionally, the bill allows the town to sell or lease a portion of the
parcel, provided the sale or lease of such portion be for fair market value
and the proceeds of which are deposited into the Special Transportation
Fund (STF). This would result in the potential loss of asset for the town
and gain of revenue for the STF.
The asset would revert to state control if the recipient does not use
the land for specified purposes.
The land conveyance is subject to the review and approval of the State
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Properties Review Board.
The Out Years
The conveyance action is one time in nature. Control of the asset
would continue into the future as described above, subject to future
municipal decisions.
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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 523
AN ACT CONVEYING A PARCEL OF STATE LAND TO THE TOWN
OF NORTH CANAAN.
SUMMARY
The Office of Legislative Research (OLR) does not analyze Special
Acts, but information on this conveyance and others reported favorably
by the Government Oversight Committee can be found in an annual
report prepared by OLR. For 2026, this is OLR Report 2026-R-0063.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Oversight Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 12 Nay 0 (04/06/2026)