Pennsylvania Act 1937-516 — STATE PARK, CREATION

Act text

STATE PARK, CREATION
                 Act of Jul. 1, 1937, P.L. 2651, No. 516              Cl. 32
                                  AN ACT

     Dedicating and setting aside certain lands in Lackawanna County
        as a public park and pleasure-ground; and imposing certain
        powers and duties in connection therewith on the Department
        of Forests and Waters.

        Compiler's Note:  Section 303(b) of Act 18 of 1995, which
            created the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources and renamed the Department of Environmental
            Resources as the Department of Environmental Protection,
            provided that the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources shall exercise the powers and duties conferred
            upon the Department of Forests and Waters by Act 516 of
            1937.
        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That the Commonwealth of
     Pennsylvania hereby dedicates to the public, for use as a park
     and pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,
     an area of land of approximately two thousand acres, in
     Jefferson Township, Lackawanna County, known as the Moosic Lake
     area, the boundaries of which shall be defined by the Department
     of Forests and Waters.
        The said park shall be called and known as the "Moosic Lake
     State Park."
        Section 2.  The Department of Forests and Waters of the
     Commonwealth shall have full control and supervision of the
     public lands and control over other lands over which it may
     hereafter obtain control under the provisions of this act, in
     accordance with control rights granted within the area
     hereinbefore dedicated as a public park and pleasure-ground,
     with power to adopt and carry into effect plans for the
     improvement, preservation, and use thereof. The department may
     enforce such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the
     laws of this Commonwealth, including provisions for the use and
     operation of motor vehicles therein as it may make for the
     protection of life and property, the maintenance of good order,
     the protection and improvement of the park, and the carrying
     into effect of the full and proper use of said property as a
     State park and pleasure-ground.
        Section 3.  The Department of Forests and Waters is hereby
     authorized to accept, in the name of the Commonwealth, any land,
     property or money given or donated by any person, copartnership,
     association or corporation for use in extending the boundaries
     of said park or furthering its value for the purpose for which
     it is hereby dedicated.
        Section 4.  The Department of Forests and Waters is further
     authorized and empowered to acquire by gift or for nominal
     consideration, from persons owning property within the limits of
     the territory hereinbefore dedicated and set apart as a public
     park, and from others, control rights or the right to limit and
     prescribe the uses to which such privately owned property may
     hereafter be put by the owners to the extent which the owners
     thereof shall be willing to grant; but no such control rights
     shall be accepted unless they include at least a surrender of
     control in the following particulars: (a) The right to sell or
     service travelers, tourists, recreationists, campers or
     seasonable dwellers; (b) the right to prohibit or limit the
     placing on such properties of billboards or any form of outdoor
     advertising except such as advertises merchandise or services
     sold at roadside inns, hotels, stores, and service stations
     therein; and (c) the right to remove or enforce the removal of
     abandoned or dilapidated and neglected buildings which have
     become nuisances. All deeds, conveyances or agreements of any
     kind secured by or entered into by the department for the
     purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section shall be
     subject to the approval of the Department of Justice.
        Section 5.  The Department of Forests and Waters may also,
     with the approval of the Governor, make and carry out such plans
     for the profitable utilization of the dead and down timber and
     the mineral resources, the leasing of sites for camps, cabins,
     bungalows, hotels, proper buildings, for the accommodation of
     visitors to and travelers through the park, bathing beaches,
     bathing houses, boat houses, garages, gasoline and service
     stations, and refreshment stands or places of such type of
     construction as the department shall approve, for periods of not
     more than twenty years, and such other operations for the
     profitable employment of such lands as may not be inconsistent
     with their full use as a State park or pleasure-ground or their
     full enjoyment by the people, and as to the Department of
     Forests and Waters seems to be to the best interests of the
     Commonwealth. Any moneys derived therefrom shall be paid into
     the State Treasury through the Department of Revenue and
     credited to the State Forests and Waters Fund.
        Section 6.  All extension and improvement of highways within
     the boundaries of said park shall be under and in harmony with
     the general plan of improvement of said park, and only after
     consultation with the Department of Forests and Waters.