Check out this Power Point presentation, sent our way by a North Carolina colleague. It's an explanation by the NC Department of Transportation of a "protected corridor," a "[t]emporary restriction on development placed upon properties located within a proposed highway alignment."
And what, pray tell, is the purpose of this protected corridor? To allow the NCDOT breathing room to come up with an orderly plan of development or something similar that is often used to justify moratoria? No, to "[h]elp[] insure availability of proposed locations for large-scale projects..."
In other words, to stop development in anticipation of NCDOT eventually -- maybe, someday -- condemning the land for a highway.
You see, those darn developers, they keep building subdivisions in the path of our future beltways (the nerve), so we have this plan to protect the land so we might eventually take it at reduced acquisition and relocation costs. And landowners: this will benefit you! You get an 80% reduction in tax rate on vacant properties, and a 50% reduction in assessed value for improved properties! See slide 35.
The last slide notes there are at least three lawsuits pending, which seems like a good thing. You want it for a future highway? Then take it now.
What is a Protected Corridor?
