North Carolina General Statutes 136-44.36D. Recreational leasing requirements
Portions of rail corridors held by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in fee simple absolute may be leased by the Department for interim public recreation use provided the following conditions are met:
(1) Before requesting trail use, a sponsoring unit of local government has held a public hearing in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-318.12 and notified the owners of all parcels of land abutting the corridor as shown on the county tax listing of the hearing date, place, and time by first-class mail at the last addresses listed for such owners on the county tax abstracts. A transcript of all public comments presented at the hearing has been sent to the North Carolina Department of Transportation at the time of requesting use of the corridor.
(2) A unit of local government has requested use of the rail corridor or a portion thereof for interim public recreational trail use, and agrees in writing to assume all development costs as well as management, security, and liability responsibilities as defined by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
(3) Adjacent property owners are offered broad voting representation by membership in the organization, if any, that is delegated most immediate responsibility for development and management of the rail-trail by the sponsoring local government.
(4) The North Carolina Department of Transportation has determined that there will not likely be a need to resume active rail service in the leased portion of the rail corridor for at least 10 years.
(5) Any lease or other agreement allowing trail use includes terms for resumption of active rail use which will assure unbroken continuation of the corridor’s perpetual use for railroad purposes and interim compatible uses.
(6) Use of the rail corridor or portions thereof as a recreational trail does not interfere with the ultimate transportation purposes of the corridor as determined by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. ?(1991, c. 751, s. 1; 1997-443, s. 11A.119(a); 2015-241, s. 14.30(u).)
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 136-44.36D
- Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.