§ 136-44.36D. Recreational leasing requirements.
§136‑44.36D. Recreational leasing requirements.
Portions of rail corridorsheld by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in fee simple absolutemay be leased by the Department for interim public recreation use provided thefollowing conditions are met:
(1) Before requestingtrail use, a sponsoring unit of local government has held a public hearing inaccordance with G.S. 143‑318.12 and notified the owners of all parcels ofland abutting the corridor as shown on the county tax listing of the hearingdate, place, and time by first‑class mail at the last addresses listedfor such owners on the county tax abstracts. A transcript of all publiccomments presented at the hearing has been sent to the North CarolinaDepartment of Transportation at the time of requesting use of the corridor.
(2) A unit of localgovernment has requested use of the rail corridor or a portion thereof forinterim public recreational trail use, and agrees in writing to assume alldevelopment costs as well as management, security, and liabilityresponsibilities as defined by the North Carolina Department of Environment andNatural Resources and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
(3) Adjacent propertyowners are offered broad voting representation by membership in theorganization, if any, that is delegated most immediate responsibility fordevelopment and management of the rail‑trail by the sponsoring localgovernment.
(4) The North CarolinaDepartment of Transportation has determined that there will not likely be aneed to resume active rail service in the leased portion of the rail corridorfor at least 10 years.
(5) Any lease or otheragreement allowing trail use includes terms for resumption of active rail usewhich will assure unbroken continuation of the corridor's perpetual use forrailroad purposes and interim compatible uses.
(6) Use of the railcorridor or portions thereof as a recreational trail does not interfere withthe ultimate transportation purposes of the corridor as determined by the NorthCarolina Department of Transportation. (1991, c. 751, s. 1; 1997‑443,s. 11A.119(a).)