SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor                        849

pend considerably more money than received from the condemning
authority for their condemned property; and

Whereas, such owner-occupants have thereby sustained serious
financial loss; and

Whereas, the financial loss suffered by such owner-occupants often
has been due to the progressive deterioration of the neighborhoods in
which they reside, rather than the condition of their own dwellings;
and

Whereas, such owner-occupants have thus been hindered in ac-
quiring decent, safe and sanitary dwellings; and

Whereas, it is in the public interest to facilitate owner-occupants
of dwellings taken for public purposes to relocate themselves as
owner-occupants of decent, safe and sanitary dwellings; and

Whereas, the payment of additional compensation to owner-occu-
pants of dwellings taken for public purposes would facilitate the re-
location of such persons as owner-occupants of decent, safe and sani-
tary dwellings.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 6A be and it is hereby added to Article 33A of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume), title
"Eminent Domain," to follow immediately after Section 6 thereof
and to read as follows:

(1)  In the taking of any property which is improved by a single
or two family dwelling occupied by its owner, in addition to fair
market value of his property, the owner-occupant shall be entitled to
receive additional compensation equal to the difference, if any, be-
tween the average costs, within the same political subdivision, of a
decent, safe and sanitary dwelling generally comparable in size to
the dwelling being taken, and the fair market value of the dwelling
being taken; provided that such additional compensation shall not
exceed Three Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($3,500.00) FIVE
THOUSAND DOLLARS ($5,000.00) for any such property; and
provided, further, that such additional compensation shall not be
paid unless the owner of said building was the owner and occupant
thereof for not less than one (1) year immediately prior to the
effective date of legislative authority for the acquisition of such
dwelling and continued as an owner-occupant until commencement
of negotiations for the acquisition of properties in the project area
and moved because of the threatened acquisition of said dwelling.
For the purposes of this section, the leasehold owner of a property
subject to a redeemable or irredeemable ground rent shall be con-
sidered to be the owner of the property.

(2)   The appropriate condemning authority shall adopt rules and
regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this section.
Such rules and regulations may include a schedule containing a slid-
ing scale correlating fair market values of dwellings to be acquired
with specific amounts reasonably necessary to allow owner-occupants
to acquire decent, safe and sanitary dwellings generally comparable
in size to the dwellings being taken, as provided in this section.