II

Calendar No. 571

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1718

[Report No. 105–328]

To amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990

to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage for the historic site

to permit the development of visitor and administrative facilities and

to authorize the appropriation of additional amounts for the acquisition

of real and personal property.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 5, 1998

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Resources

SEPTEMBER 14, 1998

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage for the historic site to permit the development of visitor and administrative facilities and to authorize the appropriation of additional amounts for the

acquisition of real and personal property.
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S 1718 RS

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, CON4 NECTICUT.

5 (a) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND ADMIN6 ISTRATIVE FACILITIES.—Section 4 of the Weir Farm Na7 tional Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.

8 461 note; Public Law 101–485; 104 Stat. 1171) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(d) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND AD11 MINISTRATIVE FACILITIES; LIMITATIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) ACQUISITION.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To preserve and

14 maintain the historic setting and character of

15 the historic site, the Secretary may acquire not

16 more than 15 additional acres for the develop17 ment of visitor and administrative facilities for

18 the historic site.

19 ‘‘(B) PROXIMITY.—The property acquired

20 under this subsection shall be contiguous to or

21 in close proximity to the property described in

22 subsection (b).

23 ‘‘(C) MANAGEMENT.—The acquired prop24 erty shall be included within the boundary of
3

S 1718 RS

1 the historic site and shall be managed and

2 maintained as part of the historic site.

3 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

5 keep development of the property acquired

6 under paragraph (1) to a minimum so that the

7 character of the acquired property will be simi8 lar to the natural and undeveloped landscape of

9 the property described in subsection (b).

10 ‘‘(B) PARKING AREA.—Any parking area

11 for the resulting visitor and administrative fa12 cility shall not exceed 30 spaces.

13 ‘‘(C) SALES.—Items sold in the visitor fa14 cilities—

15 ‘‘(i) shall be limited to educational

16 and interpretive materials related to the

17 purpose of the historic site; and

18 ‘‘(ii) shall not include food.

19 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall keep devel20 opment of the property acquired under paragraph (1) to

21 a minimum so that the character of the acquired property

22 will be similar to the natural and undeveloped landscape

23 of the property described in subsection (b).

24 ‘‘(3) AGREEMENTS.—Prior to and as a pre25 requisite to any development of visitor and adminis-
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S 1718 RS

1 trative facilities on the property acquired under

2 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter into 1 or

3 more agreements with the appropriate zoning au4 thority of the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and

5 the town of Wilton, Connecticut, for the purposes

6 of—

7 ‘‘(A) developing the parking, visitor, and

8 administrative facilities for the historic site; and

9 ‘‘(B) managing bus traffic to the historic

10 site and limiting parking for large tour buses to

11 an offsite location.’’.

12 (b) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM ACQUISITION AUTHOR13 ITY.—Section 7 of the Weir Farm National Historic Site

14 Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public Law 101–485;

15 104 Stat. 1173) is amended by striking ‘‘$1,500,000’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘$4,000,000’’.

Calendar No. 571

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1718

[Report No. 105–328]

A BILL

To amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site

of real and personal property.priation of additional amounts for the acquisitionministrative facilities and to authorize the approsite to permit the development of visitor and adquisition of additional acreage for the historicEstablishment Act of 1990 to authorize the acSEPTEMBER 14, 1998

Reported with an amendment