Land acquisition for high-speed rail moving slowly
“The body overseeing plans to build California’s bullet train has started the daunting and expensive process of acquiring thousands of acres in the Central Valley, where the rail line’s proposed path would slice through farms, stores and motels.
But months after shovels were supposed to be in the ground, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is in escrow on just one parcel of the 370 it needs to buy or seize through eminent domain for the first 30 miles of construction. The agency says it is within 30 days of reaching deals on another 38 parcels and is negotiating over hundreds of others.
For some owners, a buyout is welcome relief in an economically battered area where unemployment remains high. For many others, it’s a traumatic and confusing experience that often pits financial considerations against sentiment and history.
In downtown Fresno, not far from the city’s historic train station and the proposed high-speed rail stop, commercial buildings are scattered among shuttered factories.
Three of the buildings still in use are owned by ValPrint, a printing business that also leases rental space. Owner Jack Emerian says he supports high-speed rail, but the offers he and his neighbors initially received were too low, “not even close to replacement value.””
Williams, Juliet. San Jose Mercury News 9 November 2013.