Montgomery County is planning on setting aside $750,000 to prepare for possible legal challenges from residents who have been asked to remove fences and sheds along the Purple Line’s planned route.
County Executive Ike Leggett in January asked the County Council to approve a total of $1.3 million for expenses related to the structures’ removal as part of the fiscal 2016 budget, which ends June 30. The council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the appropriation at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
On Dec. 31, the county sent letters to about 80 property owners whose fences, sheds or other structures were identified in a survey as sitting on a county-owned right-of-way where the light-rail Purple Line is set to be constructed. The county, which told the property owners the structures would have to be removed by April 30, is offering up to $3,000 per property for documented expenses to remove such structures.
Approximately $255,000 of the $1.3 million is being set aside for the $3,000 reimbursements, while another $750,000 is being set aside to handle legal costs associated with having the structures removed. County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said Monday the funds will be used only as needed.
The Washington Post reported in January some homeowners along the planned route may fight the demolition orders from the county.
The remaining $300,000 of the funding will go toward county staff costs associated with the Purple Line property issues, according to Lacefield.
The county won an appeals court decision in January in which the judges ruled that a Chevy Chase resident couldn’t claim adverse possession of fenced-in land that fell within the county’s right-of-way.
Construction on the 16-mile light rail line that will run from Bethesda to Prince George’s County could start later this year and is expected to be completed by 2022, according to the council memo about the appropriation. It’s estimated to cost $2.15 billion and the state is currently in the process of finalizing a deal with a private sector partner to build and help finance the project.
