Act on Land Cooperatives (Land Cooperatives Act, FlurG) (Flurgenossenschaftsgesetz, FlurG) - Land Consolidation Cooperative (FlurG)

1. For the purpose of land improvements, such as watercourse corrections, drainage, water supply, reforestation, road construction, consolidation of forest and agricultural properties, and the like, the involved landowners may form a land association.

2. Buildings, courtyards, gardens, orchards, as well as properties with quarries, gravel pits, or clay pits, cannot be forcibly included in such an enterprise unless the enterprise cannot be otherwise executed.

3. Land associations are legal entities under cantonal law according to Art. 19 et seq. of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code (EG ZGB).

1. Property owners who seek to establish a land cooperative must submit a sketch of the project, including a description of the likely involved properties and their owners, to the municipal council of the municipality in which the properties are wholly or predominantly located.

2. The respective municipal council must invite the involved property owners to a meeting at least 20 days in advance, specifying the time, location, and subject of the resolution, in writing or, if their place of residence is unknown, through a public announcement.

1. A member of the municipal council shall assume the chair; the municipal clerk shall maintain the minutes.

1a. The municipal council may delegate these duties to other qualified individuals.

2. Property owners may be represented in writing at the founding meeting.

3. Subject to the founding resolution, all decisions are made by the majority of eligible voters participating in the vote.

1. If the majority of the involved landowners, who simultaneously own more than half of the involved land, consent to the formation of such a land association, the remaining landowners are obligated to join. The landowners not participating in the decision-making are considered as consenting.

1. The Founding Assembly elects a founding committee consisting of three to seven members, which is tasked with drafting the statutes of the land association, as well as having the preliminary project and cost estimation for the projected enterprise prepared.

2. The founding committee assumes the duties of the board of the land association until the board is elected.

3. The founding committee shall be dissolved when

1. the board is elected; or

2. the land association is not established.

1. The board shall be elected by the assembly of voting landowners or members.

2. In accordance with Article 24 of the Introductory Act to the Swiss Civil Code, it is responsible for managing the affairs of the land association as well as representing it, and assumes the duties of the founding commission.

1. The costs incurred by the founding commission or the board shall be borne by the landowners invited to the founding assembly, proportionate to the value of their prospective property involvement, in the event that the land association is not established.

1. The statutes shall be made known in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2, and decided upon by the eligible landowners in an assembly before approval by the Government Council pursuant to Article 11.

2. The statutes must include, in addition to Article 22 of the Introductory Act to the Swiss Civil Code (EG ZGB)

1. Provisions regarding the future organization of the land consolidation cooperative; and

2. Provisions regarding the coverage of the creation and future maintenance costs.

1. The preliminary project and the cost estimate must describe the work to be executed and list the properties involved (reference area).

1. The preliminary project and cost estimate must be made available for public inspection at the municipal office of the municipalities in whose territory the involved properties are located for a period of 20 days.

2. The publication must be publicly announced in the official gazette with an invitation to submit any objections in writing to the municipal office during the inspection period.

3. Anyone who does not raise objections in due time is deemed to have agreed to the preliminary project and cost estimate and cannot file an administrative appeal against it.

1. The statutes, the preliminary project, and the cost estimate are subject to the approval of the governing council.

2. The governing council addresses public law objections in the approval decision; for private law objections, it refers the parties to the civil court.

3. The governing council grants approval if

1. the required majority of the participating landowners as stipulated in Article 4 is attained;

2. the statutes and the preliminary project do not contain anything that contradicts federal law or cantonal law and do not have significant defects; and

3. the anticipated costs of the enterprise are aligned with its benefits.

4. The governing council can rectify minor defects

1. in the preliminary project by setting conditions and requirements;

2. in the statutes by amendment in the approval decision.

5. Appeals against the approval decision do not have a suspensive effect.

1. The Executive Council elects an appraisal committee consisting of three independent experts for the purpose of valuing properties when conducting land improvement projects, determining the obligation for contributions and final membership duties, as well as identifying the benefits accruing to the members from the project.

1. Upon the approval of the statutes, the preliminary project, and the cost estimation

1. the land consolidation cooperative is legally constituted in accordance with Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Introductory Act to the Swiss Civil Code (EG ZGB);

2. the provisional membership of the individual landowners is determined until the decision of the Valuation Commission; and

3. the land consolidation cooperative is authorized to acquire the necessary properties and rights for the execution of the project through expropriation (granting of the right of expropriation).

2. Until the completion of the project, the landowners must inform the board before the construction of buildings and facilities, property transfers, as well as before the establishment of easements on the involved properties.

1. If the land consolidation cooperative is to be extended to additional areas, the quorum according to Art. 4 must be redetermined for the entire inclusion area.

2. If the statutes provide for it, the board may obtain the approval of the property owners by means of a circular resolution. The consent of the individual property owners is considered granted if they do not notify the board of their rejection in writing within a period of 20 days after delivery of the circular resolution.

3. The board shall arrange for the necessary adjustments to the statutes, the preliminary project, the cost estimate, or the implementation project. Furthermore, Art. 6 et seq. are applicable.

1. The board of directors develops the implementation project; this provides information, particularly on the new division of real estate ownership and on the type, scope, and location of buildings or facilities. The board must submit the implementation project to the appraisal commission for preliminary review.

2. The implementation project must be approved by the voting members at a meeting. The announcement of the invitation and the implementation project occurs in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2.

1. The implementation project approved according to Art. 15 para. 2 is to be publicly announced in the official gazette with reference to the possibility of objection and made available to the public for inspection at the Directorate, together with the appendices and the preliminary examination report of the estimation commission, for a period of 20 days. The staking out of the project is governed by the provisions of the planning and construction legislation.

2. During the inspection period, an objection can be raised with the Directorate. Anyone who has not raised an objection in time has consented to the implementation project and cannot file an administrative complaint against it. If permissible grievances were not raised in the complaint procedure against the preliminary project or if these grievances were definitively rejected, they cannot be brought forward in the objection and complaint procedure against the implementation project.

1. The Directorate grants project approval if

1. the execution project complies with legal regulations;

2. the prerequisites for appropriate and secure execution are fulfilled; and

3. in the case of reallocation of real estate ownership, the consent of the appraisal commission is present.

2. The Expropriation Act is not applicable in the case of reallocation of real estate ownership. The Directorate decides on the reallocation within the framework of project approval.

3. Minor deficiencies in the execution project can be remedied by the imposition of requirements and conditions.

4. The Directorate addresses public-law objections in the project approval decision; it refers the parties to the civil court for private-law arguments.

1. The Valuation Commission determines the following based on the project approval and after consulting the affected landowners

1. the release of unaffected landowners from the land consolidation association;

2. the land deduction for general facilities in the reallocation of landownership;

3. the obligation of members to contribute;

4. the valuation of the land;

5. the compensation for allocations of surplus and deficiency value.

2. It issues its decision together with the project approval of the Directorate and the special legal permits.

1. For the construction of access roads, management paths, and other communal facilities required for the reallocation of land, an equal proportional deduction shall be made from the land value contributed by all landowners. This land deduction shall not be compensated.

1. Property owners shall pay a one-time or annual contribution towards the remaining costs after deducting the contributions from the federal government, canton, municipalities, and third parties. This contribution is determined by the appraisal commission and is proportionate to the benefit derived from the work.

2. A legal mortgage in accordance with Art. 117 of the Swiss Civil Code Implementing Act (EG ZGB) may be registered on the involved properties for these contributions.

3. The government council shall issue the necessary regulations for the determination of contributions in an ordinance.

1. In the reallocation of real estate, each property owner shall receive compensation for the value (valuation value) of the ceded properties in a location as similar as possible and of approximately equal soil quality and productivity. The deduction of land for public facilities must be accounted for in the calculation of the valuation value.

2. In justified cases, allocations of surplus or deficit value are permissible. Allocations of surplus or deficit value exceeding three percent of the valuation value are only permissible with the written consent of the affected property owners.

3. Surplus and deficit value allocations are to be estimated based on the valuation value and must be fully compensated.

4. The government council shall issue the necessary provisions for the valuation of the properties and the compensation of surplus and deficit value allocations in an ordinance.

1. Expropriation is governed, subject to Article 17 paragraph 2, by the provisions of the Expropriation Act.

1. The execution of the work may only commence after the issuance of the project approval by the Directorate.

2. The start of work must be publicly announced in a timely manner by the Board.

1. If changes or additions to the execution project become necessary during its implementation, the directorate shall order them after consulting the parties involved. If necessary, the appraisal commission shall issue a new decision in accordance with Art. 18.

1. Upon completion of the enterprise, the management board must have the new plot division recorded in the land register.

2. The land registry office does not charge fees for entries.

1. If an appeal against an assessment decision is upheld, the official costs and party compensation are typically to be borne by the land consolidation cooperative.

2. The canton must bear a reasonable portion of the official costs and party compensation if the assessment commission is found to have committed gross procedural errors or manifest legal violations.

1. The Government Council shall issue the provisions necessary for the execution of this law by means of a regulation.

1. The Introductory Act of October 23, 1994, to the Federal Law on Rural Land Rights (IEA FLRLR) is amended as follows: ...

1. The law of April 30, 1911, concerning the introduction of the Swiss Civil Code (Introductory Law to the Civil Code) is repealed.

1. This law is applicable to existing and newly forming land associations.

1. This law is subject to the optional referendum.

2. It comes into force pursuant to Art. 24 of the Election and Voting Act.