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A judge has turned down Montgomery County's attempt to block a proposed intermodal rail yard in Elliston. In a decision that reached county officials Monday, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Melvin Hughes ruled Nov. 18 for Norfolk Southern Corp., which wants to build the yard, and the state of Virginia, which proposes to help pay for it. Montgomery County Administrator Craig Meadows said he had not discussed the matter with the county's attorney.

That left unclear whether the county might appeal its loss. "We just learned about it and are still evaluating our options," Meadows said. Joyce Howard, an Elliston resident whose home the railroad wants to buy, expressed regret. She said she does not want to move and had hoped the county would win.

The county challenged giving state support to the project as an unconstitutional giveaway of public funds for a private purpose -- the expansion of Norfolk Southern, a Virginia Beach-based railroad and major freight carrier. The judge disagreed, saying the project has primarily a public purpose and is in keeping with the state's function to maintain a quality transportation system.

It is unlikely that a county will have the legal standing to challenge a proposed acquisition, much less the legal basis.  The Department of Transportation and most jurisdictions supercede local control.  The Department of Transportation is limited under certain circumstances when there is specific legislation.  However, when issues are related to the roads and other transportation modes, the Department of Transportation will be given broad discretion in proceeding to acquire land for such activities as intermodal rail terminals.

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BLE.org

Martinez noted that about 400 acres are available near the preferred site for development of a business park, which could accommodate companies that would want to locate to New Market to take advantage of the railroad facility.

It would be Jefferson County's link to a system of rail lines and other interposal operations that Norfolk Southern is planning called the Crescent Corridor, Martinez said. The corridor would be a 2,500-mile route linking the Gulf Coast to New England with connections to the Port of Virginia and to the West Coast via a route to Chicago.

Martinez cited studies by the University of Tennessee and by Insight Research Analysis, which he said were done independently, that calculated the operation's economic benefits to New Market and the region. Insight Research estimated 1,801 jobs would be added in New Market by 2020 and the UT study predicted 26,000-27,000 new jobs for Jefferson County by 2025.

Martinez also addressed what he said was wrong information circulating in the community about the project.

Now that recent legislative skirmishes over port rail lines have ended, it's time to take a hard look at the idea of building intermodal rail facilities and rail lines on the Noisette and Clemson properties at the northern end of the old Navy Base. This idea is simply unworkable because of numerous legal impediments.

This spring, legislative leadership introduced a budget proviso and amendment to the ports authority-restructuring bill that sought to force rail access through the northern end of the old Navy base. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce and its Division of Public Railways offered up recommendations in the State Rail Plan 2008 Update to pursue options that included developing the Noisette and Clemson sites into rail facilities served by northern access.

Developing these sites as rail facilities and forcing northern access is the wrong choice for a number of reasons,

The fights in local communities over eminent domain utilization for intermodal facilities are a nationwide area of local dispute.  The above two article are good examples. 

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