The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
City officials said Tuesday that they've struck a last-minute compromise with the state to complete a $40 million deal to buy an old rail line for a possible light rail project.
The city expects to close on the 10.6-mile corridor owned by Norfolk Southern later this month.
Until Tuesday afternoon, city officials were fretting that state officials might require them to commit to a light rail project to get a $20 million state grant for the rail line purchase. This would have put in an awkward position many City Council members who say they are waiting on completion of an ongoing transportation study before taking a position on light rail.
It also leaves the door open for a referendum, which a majority of council members have said they support. Voters rejected light rail in a 1999. The City Council has not taken a stance on it since.
Under the agreement with the state, to get and keep the $20 million, the city must use its "best efforts" to pursue light rail. Alternatives, such as a bus rapid transit system on the line, would be temporarily allowed as long as light rail remains the long-term goal, city attorney Becky Kubin told the City Council.
Council members, who are scheduled to vote on the issue next week, largely praised the agreement.
"We are extraordinarily close," Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson said. "We don't want to lose the ground we've covered."
Under the 2009 agreement to buy the corridor paralleling Interstate 264 between Newtown and Birdneck roads, the state will put in $20 million, the city will pay $10 million, Hampton Roads Transit will contribute $5 million, and the remaining $5 million will come from a utility easement on the property.
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
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SO SOME OF THE MONEY COMES FROM THE STATE?
The money that's coming from the state? That's our money too. So it isn't just Virginia Beach controlling our money and preparing to spend it on something we don't want or need. The state has a bunch of it too. Taxpayers are getting hosed on this one.
Oh please Mr. Barrett!
Did I forget to mention this 'vision' from Newtown Road to VB is going to cost $760 MILLION dollars? Plus $5.5 MILLION is annual maintenance? We WILL pay more taxes if this nightmare is implemented. Of course I know that you would love to pay more in taxes as that seems to be your answer for everything, but the rest of us can't afford it. We certainly can't afford this.
fiscal dividend
Just today, a developer in NoVa announced two luxury apartment projects on former light industrial land near new rail stations, a reminder of the fiscal dividend provided by light rail stations. Will the developer make a profit? Perhaps, but one thing is clear; the taxpayers benefit greatly as the value of the real estate goes up by a factor of ten or more and so does the real estate revenue. Now that shows why the city taxpayers are the first beneficiary of transit oriented development; before any profit is taken or any mortgage payments made, taxes must be paid. At the Beach, the conversion of formerly light industrial uses around the NS ROW to multi use small town centers represents a fiscal dividend for our taxpayers. Ironic that the Virginia Beach Anti Taxpayer Association is the prime locus of opposition to light rail here; I guess they just want us all to pay more property taxes.
Indeed. These systems often
Indeed.
These systems often pay for themselves in increased tax revenue, but that gets lost because the revenue goes into a general fund and people forget where it came from, and the transit starts to look like a money pit.
Let's try something like what Chicago is trying: Match the properties near the light rail with similarly values properties far from it: if the demand for housing goes up, the value of all of them should go up, but if the ones near the rail go up more than the others, that is probably a direct result of the rail.
The tax revenue from the increase in value is set aside in a separate fund, to be used to repay the cost of construction and operation, and any left over goes to improving service or extending it.
So, if the value of the land near the train becomes 10% higher than comparable property elsewhere, 10% of the property tax collected from it goes into the special Transit Fund.
The initial construction of the line could be funded with Bonds. HRT could be required to buy or lease the land form the city.
Then the city taxpayers will have payed nothing for the line, and the only downside they'd face is that they also get to reap none of the benefits. Wel
Proof.....
Here is a very good article that I've found relating to Light Rail. This is hand writing on the wall for those that are still on the fence and waiting. All of the promises that officals have made to us seem eerily similar to those made to the people of Seattle. So, my fellow Beach folk take heed and resist Light Rail at all costs, fight, argue, and destroy any Democrat support to Light Rail. This is bad news and lets keep the boondoggle out of Virginia Beach and make sure it stays with Norfolk. It's going to be another failure for the city of Norfolk that we don't need to share.
http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/opinion/light-rail-one-year-later-train-broken-promises
http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/opinion/light-rail-one-year-later-train-broken-promises
Worth repeating to keep in fresh in everyones mind.
From Steve's post - "As shown in Table 5, between 2007 and 2036 year-of-expenditure operating costs are $5.4 billion, capital costs are $17.8 billion, and total costs are $23.2 billion."
$754,600,000 total capital (Vision HR estimate) and $5,500,000 annual operating costs for just for Newtown Road to Oceanfront Corridor.
I see a vision of eminent domain out of control, massive regional taxes, and taxpayers empty bank accounts to pay for this 'vision'. More like a horrow show to me.
Get a spine and just put in the light rail system now!
Dear City Council,
Stop avoiding the difficult decision and JUST DO IT! It's time. Nevermind the loudmouth anti-developer pinheads who want Virginia Beach to look like Hazard County. This area has grown out of its Dukes of Hazard days and we need to start acting like it.
Easy for you to say
You probably do not live two houses down from the old Norfolk Southern Rail line, who will probably lose her home of 12 years to Emminent Domain if this system is approved. Also think...this area...especially Virginia Beach, does not have the Mass Transit infrastructure to handle this light rail fiasco. Virginia Beach is way to wide spread from that rail line for it to truely make any significant contributions to the traffic congestion we now have. It would be wonderful IF I got to keep my house to walk 2 minutes to catch the train...but then how do I get from the train stop to my work location which is 10 miles north of Town Center off of Independence Blvd? Rely on the HRT Bus system? Been there done that . . IF they are running on time it's smooth, but it is few and far between for that to happen - specially in the 5 PM rush hour.
10 miles north of Town
10 miles north of Town Center up Independence would, I'm pretty sure, put you in the bay. Miles from shore in fact.
This isn't just petty nitpicking, as a more realistic 6 miles is a distance easily cover by bicycle. It is further than most folks want to walk every day, but plenty of folks start their day with a run that far, and if you could shower and change your clothes at/near work, you might consider merging your run with your commute.
Of course the best answer would be if HRT was combining the light rail with better bus service, so that buses up independence from Town Center ran every 10 minutes or so, but there are plenty of ways to get around without a car if you only have to cover short distances.
If nothing else, perhaps your employer (and other employers nearby) would start a van pool from the station to your workplace. You could team up with a dozen people who live throughout that corridor: all you need to have in common is that you work at roughly the same time in roughly the same place, and you all plane to get to Town Center by train.
Is there anyone who believes that the only people served by the commuter trains into New Yoek are people who live and work within
Keep using your car
If you want to keep using your car, by all means, do so. And there is no need to use eminent domain; the City has a contract to buy the existing ROW from Norfolk Southern. The opposite is true if I-264 must be expanded; that would involve the condemnation of hundreds of homes and businesses. Fact is, light rail is the low cost, low disruption way to increase capacity in the congested I-264 corridor.