(The following story by Tom Holden appeared on the Virginian-Pilot website on December 27.)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach wants a $15 million grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to help pay for the rail line that runs between Newtown and Birdneck roads if an agreement to sell it is ever reached.
The track is owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. and is considered the logical extension of Norfolk’s light rail project, which began construction this month with utility work at Harbor Park.
The $232.1 million rail line will run from Eastern Virginia Medical School to Newtown Road, a 7.4-mile route that stops at the threshold of the region’s most populous city.
Project proponents have long argued that extending the line into Virginia Beach is important for its long-term success. But that can’t move forward until an agreement is reached on the ownership of the rail property.
“This application means Virginia Beach is serious about pursuing the purchase of the Norfolk Southern right of way, with the assumption that it will be used for transportation and the possible expansion of the light rail system,” Robert Matthias, assistant to Virginia Beach City Manager Jim Spore, said Wednesday.
The application to VDOT is being made under the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund, which received about $305 million last year as part of the General Assembly’s efforts to bolster the state’s investments in transportation.
The application to Reta Busher , VDOT’s chief financial officer, says that Virginia Beach wants “to create more transit-oriented development along this corridor” and may include along the route a bicycle path directly linking the two cities.
The Norfolk Southern route is considered ideal because it runs parallel to Virginia Beach Boulevard and through the commercial heart of the resort city, including the thriving Town Center area.
Virginia Beach backed out of a larger light rail line in 1999. In 2003, Hampton Roads Transit, which is building the light rail project, agreed to negotiate the sale of the entire 15-mile rail line on behalf of Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
The joint negotiations were unsuccessful. Norfolk eventually reached agreement with the corporation to run part of light rail along a segment of the Norfolk Southern tracks, while talks with Virginia Beach continued.
Norfolk Southern reportedly wants $40 million for the 10.6 miles of unused track, which includes a 66-foot-wide right of way, while the Beach has offered less based on an appraisal it had done.
“The two entities remain very far apart in their estimates of the value of the line,” the application said.
In November, Norfolk Southern began the process of officially abandoning the rail line while retaining ownership of it, a move federal regulations required before it can be sold.
During its most recent meeting, the Virginia Beach City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of the rail line, giving the city the right to buy it.
If an agreement cannot be reached, the city is prepared to use its powers of eminent domain to seize property, an option that could prove costly.
Virginia Beach City Attorney Les Lilley said the negotiations thus far have been “cordial.”
“We both seek to reach a fair price, but we have been unable to do that so far,” Lilley said. “We have been waiting for them to abandon the rail line, and they are in the process of doing that.”
Virginia Beach has retained attorney Hunter W. Sims Jr., of Kaufman & Canoles, to represent its interests in the matter, Lilley said.
Susan M. Terpay , director of public relations for Norfolk Southern, said in a written statement that the company is “open to receiving an offer and prepared to negotiate a sale” of the property based on its “fair market value.”