WHB/5/5
Sponsored by Dher Shubbar, Aaryan Merchant of Lausanne Collegiate School
This legislation was filed in the Economic and Community Development category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | Section 1: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 3 | (a) Green space- non-urbanized areas and open space parklands such as municipal parks and |
| 4 | Conservation Areas. |
| 5 | (b) County- a political and administrative division of a state, providing certain local governmental |
| 6 | services. |
| 7 | (c) Area of the county- area of the county measured in square miles |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Section 2: This bill is amended under Title Eleven of the Tennessee Code. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Section 3: |
| 12 | (a) All counties must have 5% of the area of the county to be green space. |
| 13 | (b) The Environmental Protection Agency will be the enforcer of this bill. |
| 14 | (c) All counties in violation of the bill will be charged $5,000 per half square mile annually, while in |
| 15 | violation of the bill. |
| 16 | (d) The green space will be open from sunrise to sunset. |
| 17 | (e) Laws regarding public property, such as defamation and property damage, will be applied to |
| 18 | the green space. Such laws will be maintained by law enforcement. For property damage below |
| 19 | $500, such as light graffiti or minor damage to personal belongings, the law may impose penalties |
| 20 | including up to one year in jail and fines reaching $2,500. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Section 4: If all the green space land is owned by the county, the state will give $20,000 to the |
| 23 | county for the park. If the full amount of green space land is not owned by the county, the money |
| 24 | given by the state is $50,000 to the county. If none of the green space land is owned by the |
| 25 | county, the price given by the state is $70,000. The money given by the state will go towards: |
| 26 | trails, bathrooms, land, and maintenance, water fountains. The money given to the counties will |
| 27 | come from the Tennessee state budget. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Section 5: |
| 30 | (a) All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Section 6: |
| 33 | (a) This act shall take effect January 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 34 |