State Supreme court rules railbed to return to property owners!!!!

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In an unanimous decision late yesterday afternoon, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that the railbed (53 miles long) that stretches through Blount (our) county and into two adjacent counties, had been abandoned before it was deeded to the city of Oneonta and Blount County by Cheney Railroad and so the railbed/right-of-way should have reverted back to the adjacent property owners!!!!

This is a MAJOR victory for property rights!!!

I have been covering this story for nearly three years. The circuit judge ruled last year that the city and county now owned the railbed and I sat in on and wrote about that case. The property owners, some whose deeds clearly stated that when the right of way easement was granted the railroad in the late 1890's, that if the land was ever not used as a railbed it would revert back to the property owners!

The Supreme Court noted that that concurred with the landowners' argument that the matter violated the United State Constitution and the Alabama Constitution "as an unlawful taking of private property without just compensation. The landowners are entitled to the continued enjoyment of their property at issue in this case in fee simple absolute, without the burden of railroad easement."

Some folks were trying to push the city and county to make this into a rails-trails linear park even tho in this rural area neither body had enough money to maintain it...even with grants available.

This is a major victory for property rights and will not likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. I have the 16 page order in front of me!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), January 06, 2001

Answers

Suzy, was there any mention what will be done with the rails and ballast that we emailed about? Will the land owners get it, or will the railroads sell it off as salvage before returning the land to the rightful owner?

Thanks for letting us know about this issue that will be noted by all of the states.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), January 06, 2001.


did the rails to trails here in Mich, its ok, as long as I didnt live so close to it in the winter,, dang snowmobilers

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 06, 2001.

WOW! That's good news for me! My property is bordered by a railroad that could close down any day. I'd really hate to see it become a public trail because of all the riff-raff we have around here. I can't imagine it being safe for the legitimate users or my own family. This is one precedent that I don't mind seeing set.

-- Dan G. (stagecoach@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

My article on this decision is on the net: go to www.citizenalert.net and click on their topic about land issues and I think it is the last article there. They list me as a "freelance" writer, which I don't think my editors at the newspaper will like because I work FULL TIME for them, but other than that they left the article intact.

I did give them permission to use it.

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.


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