SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor                      1117

1943, shall be made only in accordance with the provisions hereof;
provided that this subtitle shall not refer to Allegany County nor
affect the provisions of Article 1 of the Code of Public Local Laws
of Maryland.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1967.

Approved April 21, 1967.

CHAPTER 508
(Senate Bill 455)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 357A of
Article 66C of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1966 Cumulative
Supplement), title "Natural Resources", subtitle "Forests and
Parks", to provide that no farm owner who has granted a scenic
easement, as defined in this section, shall be subject to condemna-
tion proceedings under this section.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 357 A of Article 66C of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1966 Cumulative Supplement), be and it is hereby repealed and
re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

357A.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The acquisition of interest or rights in real
property for the preservation of open spaces and areas constitutes
a public purpose for which public funds may be expended or ad-
vanced. Any county or city, the Maryland National Capital Park and
Planning Commission and the State Department of Forests and
Parks, may acquire, by purchase, gift, grant, bequest, devise, or
lease, the fee or any lesser interest, development right, necessary to
achieve this end. Any county or city, the Maryland National Capital
Park and Planning Commission and the State Department of For-
ests and Parks, may also purchase or acquire by contract or gift the
fee to any property for the purpose of conveying or leasing said
property back to its original owner or other person under such
covenants or other contractual arrangements as will limit the future
use of the property in accordance with the purposes of this section.
The county or city shall not acquire any such fee or any such lesser
interest in real property for the purposes aforesaid, by purchase or
contract requiring a monetary consideration in excess of $500.00,
until and unless the governing body of such county or city shall
adopt a resolution or formal order declaring the public purpose or
use therefor and after holding a public hearing respecting the same.
Providing, however, that no property owner whose property is being
used for farming shall be subject to any condemnation or other land
acquisition proceeding , FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION,
by the county, city, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning
Commission or the State Department of Forests and Parks, if he has
granted a scenic easement to any of the aforementioned Depart-
ments, Commissions or other political subdivisions.