Gosar Legislation to Protect Property Rights Passes U.S. House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                       Date April 25, 2012

CONTACT:                                                                                                  Apryl Marie Fogel

                                                                                          AprylMarie.Fogel@mail.house.gov

                       Gosar Legislation to Protect Property Rights Passes U.S. House 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ)  legislation, the Mountainaire Relief Bill (H.R. 1038), passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 421 to 1.  This is the fourth bill that Congressman Gosar has had pass out of the House in his first term.  The legislation settles a federal land boundary dispute in the Mountainaire Subdivision in Coconino County, Arizona.

“The Mountainaire land dispute, caused by a bad federal survey conducted over four decades ago at no fault of the homeowners, is imposing devastating economic burdens on my constituents,” Congressman Gosar said.  “In some instances, the boundary literally goes through portions of their homes or backyards. My legislation restores homeowner rights to property they have developed and paid taxes on for years and ends this injustice once and for all.”

In November 2007, the federal government determined that a privately contracted survey of the Mountainaire neighborhood, completed in 1961, misidentified several acres of United States Forest Service (USFS) land as private property.  Until then many of these residents have maintained these parcels and developed them as their own for years, and in some cases decades. Questions associated with the land ownership have harmed property values in the neighborhood and prevented a number of owners from selling their homes.  

H.R. 1038 authorizes the Forest Service to convey all right, title and interest to approximately 2.67 acres of the Coconino National Forest to the home owners, providing much-needed relief to homeowners of the Mountainaire Subdivision. More information on the bill can be found here

As a small business owner for over 25 years, Congressman Gosar has spent much of his time in Congress as an advocate for the streamlining and repeal of burdensome regulations.  

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