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An Act To Allow the Department of Transportation To Recover Costs Incurred by the Department for Allowing Access to a Controlled Access Highway
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §704, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2013, c. 220, §1, is further amended to read:
 
6. Access denied.   Notwithstanding any other provision of this Title and except as provided in subsection 10, the Department of Transportation and the municipalities shall deny ingress to and egress from property abutting a controlled access highway established by the department pursuant to chapter 7, except that the Commissioner of Transportation may allow access for the development of state and state aid highways and may allow access upon a determination by the commissioner that such access will not adversely affect public safety and will not have a significant negative impact on the mobility of through-travelers. The commissioner may approve or deny a relocation of an existing break in a control of access consistent with the rules adopted pursuant to subsection 2. When the department allows access under this subsection, it may recover from the applicant costs incurred by the department to allow access, plus the lesser of the amount the department determines was paid to the landowner to extinguish rights of access on the portion of land to be used to gain access to the highway, adjusted by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the difference between the appraised value of the affected property without the access and the appraised value of the affected property with the access.
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §704, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 188, §1, is amended to read:
 
10. Requirements waived.   The department may waive the requirements of rules adopted pursuant to this section and may issue a permit for a driveway when the property abuts no other road affording vehicular access to a person's property and the property is outside the compact area of an urban compact municipality. The department may not deny a person the right to build on or to have vehicular access to property owned by that person unless the access is determined inconsistent with access management safety standards. When the department allows access under this subsection, it may recover from the applicant costs incurred by the department to allow access and any costs associated with maintaining the mobility of through-travelers, plus the lesser of the amount the department determines was paid to the landowner to extinguish rights of access on the portion of land to be used to gain access to the highway, adjusted by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the difference between the appraised value of the affected property without the access and the appraised value of the affected property with the access.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides that, when the Department of Transportation allows access onto a controlled access highway because the access will not adversely affect public safety and will not have a significant negative impact on the mobility of through-travelers, the department may recover from the applicant costs incurred by the department to allow access and any costs associated with maintaining the mobility of through-travelers, plus the lesser of the amount the department determines was paid to the landowner to extinguish rights of access on the portion of land to be used to gain access to the highway, adjusted by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the difference between the appraised value of the affected property without the access and the appraised value of the affected property with the access.
The bill also provides that, when the department allows access onto a controlled access highway when the property abuts no other road affording vehicular access to the applicant's property, the department may recover from the applicant costs incurred by the department to allow access and any costs associated with maintaining the mobility of through-travelers, plus the lesser of the amount the department determines was paid to the landowner to extinguish rights of access on the portion of land to be used to gain access to the highway, adjusted by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the difference between the appraised value of the affected property without the access and the appraised value of the affected property with the access.