An increasing number of cities in North Carolina are pushing through greenways, and in the process are making property owners see red over the loss of their property and privacy.
According to the N.C. Department of Transportation, $6 million annually is set aside for the construction of “independent bicycle facility projects” that include greenways. The funding goes toward projects such as the Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh, the Battleground Rail Trail in Greensboro, and the Mallard Creek Greenway in Charlotte.
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a national group dedicated to creating greenways around the country, writes that “trails and greenways positively impact individuals and improves communities by providing not only recreation and transportation opportunities, but by also influencing economic and community development.” Trails and greenways also help improve air and water quality by “providing enjoyable and safe options for transportation, which reduces air pollution,” the conservancy says.
Some property owners who have greenways running through their back yards, however, don’t see it that way. They’ve found out the hard way that when a city wants a greenway, their opinion doesn’t seem to matter much.
Jim and Kim Deloatch have Cary’s Batchelor Creek greenway running through their backyard. They see people passing through their property when they get up in the morning and when they get home in the evening.
“The discussion was pretty much, ‘We’re going to do this whether you want us to or not,’” Kim Deloatch said in a phone interview. “It just doesn’t make you feel good when you know people are going to wander onto your property at will, and they’ve been invited by the Town of Cary to do so.”
The greenway has been a nuisance from day one, Mrs. Deloatch said. Town workers broke the sewer line during installation and runoff from the greenway flooded their car. Runoff from the greenway regularly washes out their gravel driveway.
The Deloatches also are worried that they could be held liable if someone is injured while using the greenway. They’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Town of Cary to purchase that section of land, which not only is no longer developable, but drags down the value of the property as a whole.
“I guess the message that comes from them is, ‘Your property really doesn’t have any value,”’ Mrs. Deloatch said.
Cathy Heath, a citizen property-rights advocate who has worked with the Deloatches, said problems with greenways running through private property in Cary probably will continue, considering that the town’s master plan calls for 115 miles of greenways.
“I have seen over the last year or two people who are very much upset, like the Deloatches, that these greenways are being forced through their property,” Heath said.
“It’s just the beginning, if you look at their parks and recreation map.”
With such an ambitious plan, odds will increase that Cary will resort to condemning land it wants for greenways. The town left that option open by attaching the greenway to sewer easements, allowing the town to condemn the property of Roy and Judy Howell.
The Howells could not be reached for comment, but CJ obtained the resolution condemning their property in order “to protect the public health, provide the public with an adequate and sound wastewater system and…to provide alternate transportation routes linking schools, recreational centers and neighborhood facilities….”
The Deloatches were actually able to negotiate the placement of the greenway, though a bridge crossing, which Mrs. Deloatch described as a “huge monstrosity,” was incorrectly placed in full view of their house. They feel fortunate that they had the option; otherwise the property could have been condemned, they said.
That’s not the case in Greensboro, where the City Council recently passed a resolution instructing the city attorney to begin condemnation proceedings on two properties standing in the way of the city’s proposed expansion of the Battleground Rail Trail.
The city offered Howard Comstock, president of Havcom Enterprises and the owner of one of the properties, $2,000 for a small piece of property behind the business there. Comstock declined to discuss details of the matter because of legal considerations, but he
did say he was not pleased with the way the city was handling the situation, considering that all contact was through a third party based in Charlotte.
“I’ve haven’t heard anything from the city,” Comstock said.
Fortunately, citizens in other cities are taking the time to find out exactly how greenways affect their property.
The Asheboro Courier Tribune recently reported that more than 100 people turned out to express their concerns about the city’s proposed greenway. Though City Manager John Ogburn assured residents the city would not use eminent domain to acquire property, citizens still made their feelings known. Many mentioned that they, like the Deloatches in Cary, bought their property because of its privacy.
“They were shocked at the number of people who showed up at the meetings,” said Jim Sides, a Randolph County resident who has expressed concern over the greenway.
“The most frustrating thing to me, over the years that I’ve looked at this, is what we’re contending with is the fact that the people who have these agendas are not being upfront and honest,” Heath said. “They’re very good at their PR and make it sound so wonderful that you have average citizens jumping up and saying they’re for ‘smart growth,’ that they want a greenway through their neighborhood. You can’t get up and say you’re for smart growth and think that you get to define what smart growth is. You better find out what that means.”
Sam A. Hieb is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.