§336. State land grants; Orleans Levee District

A. To enable the board of commissioners of the Orleans Levee District to perform the work herein provided for, to assist in defraying the cost and expenses thereof, and to carry out the purposes of this and other laws, the state of Louisiana hereby grants and releases to the district the title of the state in and to all public property necessary for the purposes hereof and all lands reclaimed or filled in within any levee embankments, slopes, retaining walls, seawalls, and breakwaters constructed hereunder and in and to all lands lying within the territorial limits of a project and hereby releases the land from any public trust or dedication. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 38:302, 320, and 321, the board shall have the jurisdiction, power, and authority to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of such portion of the lands reclaimed and other property acquired for the purpose of the improvement, except the lands herein required to be dedicated by it for public use, together with any building, improvements, or other works constructed thereon, under such terms and conditions and by such methods as the board may deem proper. The board also may establish and improve such servitudes, restrictions, rules, and regulations as to such lands sold or leased or otherwise disposed of as the board may determine. The lands may be subdivided in lots and may be offered for sale or lease or sold or leased as soon as practicable without awaiting the completion of the project.

B.(1) There shall be reserved and dedicated forever by the board for public parks, parkways, boulevards, playgrounds, places of amusement, and beach purposes, exclusive of roads and streets, an area or areas comprising not less than thirty percent of the total land area of the project.

(2)(a) Along the entire Lake Pontchartrain frontage of the project there shall be reserved and dedicated forever by the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District for public parks, parkways, boulevards, playgrounds, aviation fields, places of amusement, and beach purposes a continuous strip of land averaging at least five hundred feet in depth and at no point less than three hundred fifty feet in depth. However, when the board shall have established and located the front line of the development in the bed of Lake Pontchartrain, including the line or location of piers, breakwaters, or other like extensions, and has sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of any land or granted any rights based upon the line or location, or when any party, for a valuable consideration, has acquired rights based upon the line or location, then no further reclamation shall be made or other works constructed by the board beyond the established front line or location in the bed of the lake, and the state of Louisiana shall not itself undertake, authorize, or permit the board or any other governmental agency or any person, association, firm, or corporation whatsoever to reclaim the bed of the lake or any part thereof or to construct any works thereon within three miles of the front line location as made by the board.

(b) There shall be three exceptions to this reserved and dedicated Lake Pontchartrain frontage. The first exception shall apply to the tract of land formerly known as Pontchartrain Beach. The board, in its discretion, may allocate this tract of land to the University of New Orleans to be used and developed as a research park for the university. The second exception shall apply to a rectangular shaped tract of land of approximately one acre, extending approximately two hundred seventy feet east of the east boundary of the tract of land formerly known as Pontchartrain Beach from the northern curb of Lakeshore Drive to the seawall. The board, in its discretion, may sell or lease this tract of land to the University of New Orleans to be used and developed as the east entrance to additional parking areas serving the research park and the general public. The third exception shall apply to the northernmost land area of the Franklin Avenue facility owned by the Orleans Levee District. The board, in its discretion, may utilize this land for any purpose consistent with the general powers and duties of the board as set out in R.S. 38:306 and 307 or for any other purpose set out previously in this Section. Lakeshore Drive shall be open to public access at all times, except in the case of a hurricane or other similar emergency.

(3) The foregoing restrictions and limitations shall not prevent or preclude the state, any other governmental agency authorized by law, or any person, firm, or corporation authorized by law from building any bridges or causeways crossing the lake or connecting the shores of the lake with any land reclaimed or works constructed in the bed of the lake.

(4) The board of commissioners of the Orleans Levee District may establish rental rates or other types of docking charges for boat slips in any marina it owns or operates. All rental rates and all other types of docking charges for boat slips established by the board shall be fair and equitable; and no surcharges, rental rates, or other charges for the use of marina facilities shall be assessed at a higher rate to nonresidents of Orleans Parish than those assessed to residents of Orleans Parish.

C. The board may give, grant, and donate to the United States of America or any of its subdivisions, agencies, or departments a tract of land contained within the territorial limits of the project for the purpose of erecting a coast guard station on Lake Pontchartrain. The location and size of this tract of land shall be determined by the board. The board may give, grant, and donate to the United States of America or any of its subdivisions, agencies, or departments a tract of land contained within the territorial limits of the project for the purpose of erecting or establishing a United States Naval Reserve Training Center on Lake Pontchartrain. The location and size of the tract of land shall be determined by the board.

D. For the sale and disposal of the property the board shall employ such persons, agents, or agencies as the board's sound discretion dictates and shall pay these agents such compensation as is previously agreed upon.

E. The board shall donate to the LSU Board of Supervisors for the University of New Orleans all lands, in full ownership, comprising the Main and East campuses of the University of New Orleans. Fifteen acres of this land shall be dedicated in perpetuity for recreational and/or park purposes and shall be included as part of the thirty percent required by Subsection B hereof.

F. The board of commissioners shall have the authority to donate any lands other than those provided for in R.S. 38:336(E) to the Southern University Board of Supervisors for Southern University in New Orleans.

G.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District and the Department of Transportation and Development are hereby authorized and empowered to acquire, by exchange, any or all of the property presently owned by New Orleans Canal, Inc., located in the parish of Orleans, and bounded by Polk Avenue, West End Boulevard, Robert E. Lee Boulevard, and Pontchartrain Boulevard. There shall be reserved and dedicated forever in the act of exchange for a passive nature park, that portion of said lands being bounded by Polk Avenue, West End Boulevard, Walker Street, and Pontchartrain Boulevard. The Department of Transportation and Development may receive donations for the maintenance of this area. This dedication of park space shall be in addition to, and supplemental of, and shall not diminish, other recreational space referred to in Subsection B of this Section.

(2) The said property is further described as two tracts of land, as follows:

(a) The first tract is a portion of land measuring forty feet in width by seven thousand two hundred feet in length more or less; being the same property acquired by New Orleans Canal, Inc. from Canal Assets, Inc. and New Orleans Canal and Banking Company in liquidation, by Acts recorded in COB 655, folio 489, COB 655, folio 525, COB 655, folio 643.

(b) The second tract is a portion of land contiguous to and west of the first tract (above) measuring sixty feet in width by seven thousand two hundred feet in length more or less; being the same property acquired by New Orleans Canal, Inc. from the state of Louisiana by an Act recorded in COB 663, folio 197.

(3)(a) The Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District is hereby authorized to exchange that portion of Orleans Parish known as Lincoln Beach; however, such exchange shall not include any water bottoms. This property shall not be subject to the dedication provisions of Subsection B.

(b) The boundaries of the land known as Lincoln Beach in Orleans Parish owned by the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District are more particularly described as follows:

"The point of beginning commences at the intersection of the longitudinal center line of the vehicular underpass with the north right-of-way line of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad in Orleans Parish; thence in a southwesterly direction along the north right-of-way line of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, a distance of about 700 feet to a brick wall; thence in a northwesterly direction along the brick wall a distance of about 400 feet to a wooden bulkhead; thence in a northwesterly and northerly direction along the wooden bulkhead a distance of about 300 feet to the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain; thence in a northeasterly direction along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain a distance of about 1200 feet to a wooden bulkhead; thence in an easterly and southeasterly direction along the wooden bulkhead a distance of about 680 feet to the north right-of-way line of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad; thence in a southwesterly direction along the north right-of-way line of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad a distance of about 720 feet to the point of beginning, said tract of ground containing 15.4 acres in New Orleans, Louisiana, and shown more particularly on Orleans Levee Board drawing file No. LD 1081."

Acts 1985, No. 785, §1, eff. July 22, 1985; Acts 1985, No. 130, §1; Acts 1986, No. 559, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1030, §1, eff. July 11, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 378, §1, eff. June 13, 2001; Acts 2007, No. 133, §1, eff. June 25, 2007.