AGENDA ITEM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TITLE*
title
Property Acquisition for the North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT)
presenter
RESPONSIBLE STAFF, TITLE, DEPARTMENT*
Katy Fontaine, Transit Development Manager, Transit Department
STAFF RECOMMENDATION*
Staff recommends approving the resolution authorizing property acquisition for the purposes of constructing the North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT).
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ACTION/DECISION POINTS*
Council must approve a resolution authorizing NSBRT’S property acquisition in order to receive FTA funding.
LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT*
NSBRT’s construction requires acquiring 220 easements and/or rights-of-way on approximately 120 parcels along the project corridor (based on 60% design). The ability to acquire the property and property rights needed to construct NSBRT is a baseline requirement of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. Town Council must authorize staff’s negotiation and acquisition of property by donation, fee simple, and/or by exercising the Town’s eminent domain powers.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT*
Chapel Hill Transit is seeking a $150 million Small Starts Grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to construct the North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) project, a transformational investment in the Town’s mobility network. NSBRT formally entered FTA Project Development in 2016, making the project eligible for an FTA Small Starts Capital Investment Grant. Since then, staff have advanced the project through major milestones including:
• 30% design and selection of a “Locally Preferred Alterative” for NSBRT’s transit mode and corridor alignment in 2021.
• Completing the project’s federally required National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and receiving a Documented Categorical Exclusion (DCE) in 2023.
• Receiving an FTA Project Rating and a funding recommendation in 2024.
• Allocation of approximately $35 million in federal funding.
• Completing 60% design.
NSBRT’s construction requires acquiring roughly 220 easements and/or rights-of-way on approximately 120 parcels (based on 60% design), including temporary construction easements (87), permanent utility and/or drainage easements (48), and narrow right of way strips (87) required to construct NSBRT’s multiuse path. The total right of way acquisition is approximately 3.5 acres along the entire 8.2-mile project corridor (16.4 miles of corridor frontage). None of the project’s acquisitions impact buildings or structures, there are no acquisitions of entire parcels, and there are no anticipated relocations of residents, tenants, or buildings.
Staff anticipate submitting NSBRT’s Small Starts Grant Agreement (SSGA) request on or before December 2025. The SSGA is one of the project’s last remaining funding milestones and reflects FTA’s formal commitment of $150 million, roughly 80% of the project’s capital costs. When projects request an SSGA, FTA conducts a “Risk & Readiness” review and evaluates the project according to Oversight Procedures (OPs) encompassing all FTA requirements and best practices. The reviews include not just the project’s physical elements, but also the Town’s ability to manage and administer a significant capital project.
A key element of NSBRT’s Risk & Readiness review is the Town’s ability to acquire property and property rights to construct the project, as designed. Chapel Hill Transit must demonstrate that a governing body has authorized the project’s property acquisition activities up to, and including, acquisition by condemnation (exercise of eminent domain), if necessary. This requires Town Council’s approval of the resolution authorization acquisition prior to submission of the SSGA request. This resolution also mitigates the need for staff to bring each of the 220+ acquisitions, individually, to Town Council for consideration.
TRADEOFFS, ALTERNATIVES, IMPACTS
It is not possible to construct NSBRT entirely within the existing right-of-way. This makes property acquisition a basic element of NSBRT’s constructability. If Town Council does not approve NSBRT’s property acquisition activities, staff will not be able to request the FTA Small Starts Funding Agreement. There is no alternative funding source for the anticipated $150 million FTA grant.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
NSRBT has two primary categories of property acquisition expenses: property acquisition services and the purchase of easements and/or rights-of-way from property owners. Chapel Hill Transit is negotiating a contract with a full-service property acquisition firm for services. The value of this contract is approximately $1,800,000. NSBRT’s property and easement acquisition cost estimate is approximately $20,000,000, and includes both a value multiplier and a contingency budget, accounting for market volatility. Services and purchases will be funded by Orange County transit sales tax revenues allocated to NSBRT in the Orange County Transit Plan Update (2023) and/or the FTA Project Development grant awarded to CHT in 2023 up to the $8.1 million award amount.
COMPLETE COMMUNITY CONNECTION
NSBRT is a generational investment changing the ways people move around Chapel Hill, reducing dependence on single occupancy automobiles, expanding opportunities for connected, transit-oriented development, and enhancing housing and economic development. The NSBRT corridor forms the spine of Chapel Hill’s Everywhere to Everywhere Greenways network, the defining element of the Town’s Complete Community strategy, and BRT service and the project’s multiuse path both strongly support Chapel Hill’s economic development, housing affordability, transportation and mobility goals.
Community ENGAGEMENT
The NSBRT project has been in development for nearly 10 years and staff have conducted robust community outreach and engagement at multiple project phases. Staff are working closely with the Town’s Strategic Marketing and Communications Team and plan to launch an initiate to inform and educating property owners along the NSBRT corridor in Fall 2025. This includes providing general information about the acquisition process and acquisition-related activities (i.e., surveying, staking, notifications, etc.) and clearly communicating the categories of acquisition activities, the acquisition timeline and process, the minimal scope of possible acquisitions, and property owners’ rights. We are also working with the Town’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer to conduct a community impact analysis and will take action as directed.
Numerous federal and state acts, statutes, and legislation also strictly govern the required communications with property owners during the acquisition process. These include:
• Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.
• North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Right of Way Manual.
• Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
NSBRT_60_pct_Acquisition_Schedule
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