Deirdre Fernandes
The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
The City Council has agreed to spend $10 million to buy the 10.6-mile Norfolk Southern Corp. right of way, the likely route for a light-rail project.
Under the plan, city money would be combined with another $10 million in state money and other incentives yet to be determined.
Buying the right of way could accelerate debate over light rail in the Beach. Voters rejected the idea in a 1999 referendum.
The decision to put up $10 million was reached in a closed council meeting Tuesday, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because negotiations continue.
The City Council has not taken a position or decided whether to have another referendum. But all council members agreed the city should own the old railroad right of way regardless of whether a light-rail line is pursued.
"We need to control it," said Vice Mayor Louis Jones, who declined to talk about the details of a deal with Norfolk Southern. "It's a corridor right in the middle of Virginia Beach."
The rail line runs from Newtown Road to Birdneck Road near the Oceanfront, roughly paralleling Interstate 264. Norfolk's light rail, The Tide, will run between Newtown Road and Eastern Virginia Medical Center.
Jones, along with Mayor Will Sessoms, who is spearheading the negotiations, and state Sen. Ken Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, met with Norfolk Southern executives before Christmas. Everyone declined to comment on the talks.
Negotiations have stalled before because the city and railroad company officials couldn't agree on price. The city also has considered condemning the land.
A Norfolk Southern appraisal last year valued the right of way at $50 million, said Robin Chapman, a company spokesman.
"That was done at the height of real estate values, and property values have declined since then," Chapman said. "We are nevertheless insistent on getting fair market value for it."
He wouldn't say how much the company would take.
Norfolk is paying $5 million for a 5 -mile segment and extending a discounted parking plan worth $2.6 million to the rail company at a city garage.
Beach council members said they needed to commit city money now or risk losing the $10 million in state money. The Beach's share would come from its $120 million reserve fund, or savings account.
In addition to the $20 million in city and state money, Norfolk Southern would continue to receive payments from Dominion Virginia Power for an easement on the property. The value of those multiyear payments is estimated at $5 million.
Stolle is expected to introduce a budget amendment that would help Norfolk Southern get more state money for another rail project in Virginia, sources said.
Norfolk Councilman W. Randy Wright, a champion of light rail, welcomed news of a possible land deal.
"It's another indication that Virginia Beach is serious about extending The Tide to Virginia Beach," Wright said.
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
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The Steel Elephant
towmiler2, paying taxpayer money to build stadiums for rich sports teams which will be abandoned at the whim of the teams is not the function of government. Virginia beach voters were alot smarter back then (3 decades ago). Now that the Beach built the SportsPlex, it should be obvious that it has sucked away taxpayer funds all for nothing. The Mariners defaulted on their agreement and VB taxpayers were left holding the bag. Light rail is going to suffer the same fate in VB because it will be only for the shopping pleasure of tourists commuting between MacArthur Mall and Atalntic Ave at our expense. With all the whining of budget shortfalls for the true functions of government, VB Council in it's wisdom is dumping money in Town Center and the steel elephant. What a waste!
deep thought....
"Well JM, not utopia at all, places like I have described exist today, and more progressive cities are creating these spaces all over again from the dust bin of deteriorating suburbia"
Mr Barrett seems to have shifted gears....from political rhetoric to Orwellian fantasy...
One more comment
I also urge the citizens of Virginia Beach to get more involved in the city governments business; you cannot depend on them to do the right thing! We must always keep them accountable
A better idea on spending 10 million
Our city government wants to spend 10 million dollars on a light rail system that no one wants. That is except them! While our new mayor says he will go along with whatever the counsel wants, I want to know why he does not force the issue of a referendum. I don't want the city to spend 10 million dollars on this system, but instead put that money towards the 2009/2010 revenue shortfall that Virginia Beach will be facing. According to our city manager Jim Spore, we are all going to have to get by with less, why does this not include our city counsel? In a time when the city's agencies are asked to trim thousands and in some cases millions from their budgets, and employees are having their benefits cut reduced and taken away and their hours reduced. Why not lead the example and put that ten million to a better use? Jim Spore says the city's shortfall for the 2009/10 fiscal year will be about 38.3 million and the schools shortfall will be about 42.9 million for a total combined shortfall of 81.2 million. I have a better idea of what to do with that money, give half to the city half to the schools and move on. I also urge the citizens of Virginia Beach to get more involved in the city
I would like to see you take your bags of groceries home
on the lightrail. It doesn't come to your neighborhood and it won't take your children to public school, it won't take you to Chicks beach, it won't take you to Little Creek, NOB, NNSY, Greenbrier, Fort Story or really very many places. Just east or west. You will still have to take another mode of transportation to get anywhere else in the area. Just save the taxpayers money and work for less expensive energy. I sure do wish they would have used the money they have spent on the current lightrail to improve the neglected and awful roads in Norfolk!
riding a train requires some walking
There's the rub!
$$$ From???
I support light rail but with the economic downturn we face, I can't support it at this time. To much money being spent with 60 million at town center with the dome site, convention center hotel and Rudie loop standing in line for city dollars. When the city can't afford to provide fire protection for the citizens due to budget holes, we have a problem.
Just in case you missed it the city has sent letters to all those who applied for the vacancies in the VB fire department saying there will be no replacement hired. That amounts to layoffs and danger to the current firefighter staffing on the trucks and the public in an emergency.
So while I support light rail, protecting the citizens is much more of a priority in my budget plans and mind. We can't afford these building projects until people can keep their homes, jobs and businesses in VB. It is about priorities.
Not only
did the Beach vote down light rail in '99, they dismissed the idea over 3 decades ago. The feds were willing to pay up to 80% of cost at that time. It is primarily the fault of the Beach that we don't have an NFL, MLB, NBA team or Monte Carlo style auto racing, in this area. The Baltimore Colts & the Washington Redskins used to play exhibition games in Norfolk. The Virginia Squires, featuring Dr. J & George Gervin, played here. The Squires were actually invited to join the NBA when the ABA & NBA merged. Things in this area improved, over the years, despite the Beach's arrogance. Va. Beach was created 46yrs. ago for 1 reason. Those days are long gone. Residents & leaders must join the 21st century.
Quote
Jane Jacobs 1961
"The simple needs of automobiles are more easily understood and satisfied than the complex needs of cities, and a growing number of planners and designers have come to believe that if they can only solve the problems of traffic, they will thereby have solved the major problem of cities."
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Think foreward
DC built the metro, is was risky to many. We are not DC or Boston I know. But we are also not anything other than Hampton Roads, but we have cars, we have congestion and we have a future. Oil is risky. Town Center is risky. Life is risky. Sometimes gov't makes a decision that is risky. But other risks are greater. Like not diversifying our infrastructure. We can build bigger roads and live out the "Robert Moses" philosophy. Or we can promote pedestrian alternatives and reverse the congestion. Maybe not the day LRT is built, but think long term. Newport News is planning for LRT. The midtown tunnel expansion is incorporating a rail line into Portsmouth. Norfolk has ideas for an ODU/NOB line. This could become a reality over the next decade, and cars would be certainly taken off the road! The population will increase. We may not like it, but it's occurring nationwide, so it makes no sense to row against the current.