The Chron's Rad Sallee takes a look today at the question of right of way in the Richmond rail debate, focusing on comments from Metro Chairman David Wolff about some property owners along Richmond Avenue "stealing" the public right of way. What Wolff meant was that some people have put things — lawns, parking spaces, driveways — on the right of way, which usually isn't a problem until the land needs to be used for something.
If the proposed University light rail line is run down Richmond Avenue, Wolff said Metro will need to take eight parcels of land east of Kirby and 82 pieces of land along the entire route, 52 of them strips 4 feet deep or less. According to the Chron, opponents of the Richmond rail alignment told Richmonders that Metro would take part of "your" property — but in reality, those pieces of property never really belonged to the property owners in the first place. "One of the things we have to communicate is that public right of way belongs to you, it belongs to me, it belongs to all the taxpayers," Wolff said at Thursday's Metro board meeting. "No adjoining property owner has any right to usurp public right of way for private purposes, and if taking something under misrepresentation, it is stealing public property."
Also in the Richmond rail saga, opponents of the Richmond alignment had a busy Friday, holding a streetside rally and press conference to show off how much land Metro would take on either side of the avenue and releasing the results of an informal survey of property owners showing enormous sentiment against a Richmond rail alignment. The rally took place around a blue line on the driveway of McClain Gallery showing where an 86-foot right of way — what Metro officials said last week they would need to run the proposed University Line down Richmond — would eat into properties, taking out trees, lawns and parking spaces. Metro spokesman George Smalley warned against such representations, saying they operate under a "potentially flawed assumption" that an equal right of way would be needed to both sides of Richmond. "We hope that business owners and residents will avoid those kinds of calculations because they're premature at this point," he told the Chronicle.
The survey, an informal walking poll of property owners along Richmond east of Kirby, was done by Richmond business owner (and ubiquitous Richmond rail opponent) Daphne Scarbrough. She found 100 property owners who oppose rail on Richmond and four who support it. Smalley again leapt to Metro's defense, pointing out that the survey may not be entirely accurate. "I'm not saying it was biased or unbiased, but it was conducted by people who are passionate against rail on Richmond," he said.
Meanwhile, on the north side, residents turned out Saturday to voice their frustration over their light-rail alignment, complaining that the proposed routes — from UH-Downtown to Northline Mall via North Main and Fulton or North Main, Irvington and Cavalcade — would ruin local businesses and could put kids at Roosevelt Elementary on Fulton in danger. Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson's reaction to the opposition: "[Metro] will listen carefully to what people are saying. ... I can't promise everybody I can make all their troubles go away. I can promise to try."
If you're interested in letting Metro know your opinion about the North Corridor or University Line (or if you just want to see what the whole thing is about), plan to stop by one of the coming public hearings:
University Line
• 5 p.m. today, Third Ward Multi-Service Center, 3611 Ennis
• 5 p.m. Tuesday, St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 5501 South Main
North Corridor
• 1 p.m. Aug. 5, Jeff Davis High School, 1101 Quitman
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