§ 292.11 Introduction. ( a ) Administration of the Shasta and Clair Engle-Lewiston Units will be coordinated with the other purposes of the Central Valley Project of the Bureau of Reclamation and of the recreation area as a whole so as to provide for: ( 1 ) Public outdoor recreation benefits;
( 2 ) conservation of scenic, scientific, historic, and other values contributing to public enjoyment; and
( 3 ) the management, utilization, and disposal of renewable natural resources which in the judgment of the Secretary of Agriculture will promote or is compatible with, and does not significantly impair, public recreation and conservation of scenic, scientific, historic, or other values contributing to public enjoyment.
( b ) The Secretary may not acquire without consent of the owner any privately owned “improved property” or interests therein within the boundaries of these units, so long as the appropriate local zoning agency shall have in force and applicable to such property a duly adopted, valid, zoning ordinance that is approved by the Secretary. This suspension of the Secretary's authority to acquire “improved property” without the owner's consent would automatically cease: ( 1 ) If the property is made the subject of a variance or exception to any applicable zoning ordinance that does not conform to the applicable standards contained in §§ 292.11 to 292.13; or
( 2 ) if such property is put to any use which does not conform to any applicable zoning ordinance approved by the Secretary.
( c ) *Improved property* as used in §§ 292.11 to 292.13, means any building or group of related buildings, the actual construction of which was begun before February 7, 1963, together with not more than three acres of land in the same ownership on which the building or group of buildings is situated, but the Secretary may exclude from such “improved property” any shore or waters, together with so much of the land adjoining such shore or waters, as he deems necessary for public access thereto.
( d ) Sections 292.11 to 292.13 specify the standards with which local zoning ordinances for the Shasta and Clair Engle-Lewiston Units must conform if the “improved property” or unimproved property proposed for development as authorized by the Act within the boundaries of the units is to be exempt from acquisition by condemnation. The objectives of §§ 292.11 to 292.13 are to: ( 1 ) Prohibit new commercial or industrial uses other than those which the Secretary considers to be consistent with the purposes of the act establishing the national recreation area;
( 2 ) promote the protection and development of properties in keeping with the purposes of that Act by means of use, acreage, setback, density, height or other requirements; and
( 3 ) provide that the Secretary receive notice of any variance granted under, or any exception made to, the application of the zoning ordinance approved by him.
( e ) Following promulgation of §§ 292.11 to 292.13 of final form, the Secretary is required to approve any zoning ordinance or any amendment to an approved zoning ordinance submitted to him which conforms to the standards contained in the regulations in effect at the time of adoption of the ordinance or amendment.
( f ) Any owner of unimproved property who proposes to develop his property for service to the public may submit to the Secretary a development plan setting forth the manner in which and the time by which the property is to be developed and the use to which it is proposed to be put. If the Secretary determines that the development and the use of the property conforms to approved zoning ordinances, and serves the purposes of the National Recreation Area and that the property is not needed for easements and rights-of-way for access, utilities, or facilities, or for administration sites, campgrounds, or other areas needed for use by the United States for visitors, he may in his discretion issue to such owner a certification that so long as the property is developed, maintained, and used in conformity with approved zoning ordinances the Secretary's authority to acquire the property without the owner's consent is suspended.