Who's on wrong side of tracks?

  • Brian Hicks
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
  • Posted: Friday, March 14, 2008 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:44 a.m.
  • Text size: A A A
Rocks and broken railroad ties are all that remain of a section of railroad tracks along McMillan Avenue near the old Navy base in North Charleston. The Noisette Co. has been tearing up tracks and disputes that the state has access to the lines.
Tyrone Walker /The Post and CourierRocks and broken railroad ties are all that remain of a section of railroad tracks along McMillan Avenue near the old Navy base in North Charleston. The Noisette Co. has been tearing up tracks and disputes that the state has access to the lines.

The Noisette Co. and the state are playing chicken over some railroad tracks, and one of them is about to be derailed.

While the private development company has been ripping up old rail lines on its property at the north end of the former Navy base, it also has threatened to press charges against state employees for trespassing on its land to repair the one operating line that cuts through it.

The state claims it has a right of way and that Noisette is off the tracks.

The question now is this: If a developer is traveling in one direction, and the S.C. Division of Public Railways is going in another, which one reaches the courthouse first to file a lawsuit?

"The Noisette Co. just jumped the gun, which we don't mind," said Lou Mintz, acting chairman of the Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority. "We are going to deed the rails to the companies whose tracks the property are on. That benefits everyone on the waterfront."

There are two issues in question here: Whether the state has the right of access to tracks on Noisette property and whether the developer had the right to tear up any railroad tracks.

At its regular meeting next week, Mintz said, the Redevelopment Authority will give the Division of Public Railways a right of way to the main line through Noisette's property, which serves several businesses on the base. The plan also gives Noisette the right to continue disassembling most of the railroad tracks that cover its property.

Noisette officials call the RDA's plan a "creative idea" but say it has no authority to actually carry it out.

In a letter from Noisette attorney Andrew Gowder to attorneys for the Division of Public Railways, the developer claims the RDA never gave the state control of railroad tracks on Noisette property.

Art Titus, director of operations at Noisette, said Thursday that the company gave notice to the RDA about removing the tracks and began tearing up the lines after that. The company, Titus said, hasn't torn up any active tracks.

"There's an old railyard and a strip of track from Spruill Avenue that runs parallel to McMillan Avenue," Titus said. "It's not even connected to a live line."

The biggest dispute here involves the main line that runs through Noisette and serves several business on the base. The RDA says the tracks are a public utility, but Noisette disagrees.

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said employees of the Division of Public Railways have been on Noisette property replacing cross ties on the main line.

"They should really seek permission. They really have no claim to the land," Summey said. "If Noisette came to us and asked us to enforce no trespassing laws, I'd feel obligated to enforce it."

Noisette partnered with North Charleston to redevelop the Navy base and improve surrounding neighborhoods. In the deal, there is a provision that the main rail line through the north end of the base remain open to serve businesses that depend on it. Some officials have also thought that line might serve the new State Ports Authority terminal, but the permit for that terminal includes no provision for rail service.

If there is ever rail service at the new Ports terminal, a new line coming onto the property from the south will have to be built. If that happens, Noisette then has the right to tear out the main north line. But not until then.

"If those workers out there took out part of the main line, that would create a problem," Mintz said. "That line's the lifeblood for those businesses."

Mintz said the RDA will take no action against Noisette at this time, but if there is ever a need for rail lines that the development company removed without permission, they would be liable for replacing them.

Titus said the two sides have a meeting planned for late next week, and he would hope the RDA holds off on any action until then.

State Sen. Glenn McConnell said Noisette had asked him and other lawmakers to settle the dispute with the RDA but that he did not respond.

"It's a legal matter. There's nothing for us to do," he said.

The Commerce Department, which controls the Division of Public Railways, would not talk about the dispute.

"There are ongoing legal negotiations," said Kara Borie, Commerce Department spokeswoman. "It's not appropriate to comment on this issue."

Titus said the bottom line is that Noisette has every right to get rid of unused tracks on its property. And even though the company concedes the main line through its property will remain in place for the time being, Titus said the state doesn't have the right to come onto its land and leave its equipment sitting around anytime it wants.

"We prefer that if people are going to come onto our property, we are told when that's going to occur," Titus said.