A long legal fight over land restrictions tied to a road project in North Carolina has reached a key point.
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fight → tie → point
The state Supreme Court has sent a Wake County landowner's compensation case back to trial judges so they can decide how much the property was worth.
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property → send → much
Elizabeth Mata bought 94 acres of land in 1973.
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Mata → buy → 1973
Decades later, state transportation officials set aside a 9.93-acre strip across her property for the planned Interstate 540 outer loop.
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officials → set → loop
The restriction limited her ability to build on or sell that part of the property for nearly 20 years.
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restriction → limit → years
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the restrictions imposed under the state's former Map Act amounted to an indefinite taking of property rights.
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restrictions → rule → rights
The justices sent the case back to a lower court to decide exactly how much money the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) must pay Mata.
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Department → send → Mata
Decade-long restrictions on private property
The dispute began with the Transportation Corridor Official Map Act, a state law passed in 1987.
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dispute → begin → 1987
The law allowed the NCDOT to file maps showing the planned routes of future highways.
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NCDOT → allow → highways
Once a map was filed with local officials, owners of property inside the marked area could not get building permits or develop their land.
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owners → file → land
State officials said the law was meant to control infrastructure costs.
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law → say → costs
By stopping development in areas planned for future roads, the state could avoid higher costs later.
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state → stop → costs
But the restrictions left thousands of acres across North Carolina in legal uncertainty for long periods, without the state officially buying the affected land.
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state → leave → land
In Mata's case, state officials filed a corridor map in 1996 for an extension of the I-540 outer loop around Raleigh.
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officials → file → Raleigh
The planned highway route covered 9.93 acres of her 94-acre property.
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route → plan → property
This effectively stopped development on that part of the land.
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This → stop → land
The North Carolina General Assembly repealed the Map Act in 2019 after a series of legal defeats.
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Assembly → repeal → defeats
The repeal came after a major 2016 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Kirby v. North Carolina Department of Transportation.
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repeal → come → Transportation
That ruling found that corridor map filings were an unconstitutional taking of private property rights and required the state to provide just compensation under eminent domain rules.
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filings → find → rules
Although lawmakers repealed the law, dozens of lawsuits were still open over how courts should calculate payments for owners affected by old corridor maps.
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courts → repeal → maps
During arguments before the North Carolina Supreme Court, attorneys for the NCDOT argued that the 2019 repeal changed the historical restrictions into temporary takings.
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repeal → argue → takings
The state's lawyers said damages should cover only the period when the corridor map was officially active.
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map → say → period
Howard Rhodes, an attorney for the NCDOT, told the justices during oral arguments reported by the Carolina Journal that property owners affected by the Map Act should be fully compensated once.
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owners → tell → Act
Rhodes argued that treating the restrictions as indefinite would require the department to pay much more than earlier legal decisions required.
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decisions → argue → more
He said the state was trying to provide fair compensation under Supreme Court guidance.
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state → say → guidance
Mata's lawyers argued that filing the corridor map created an indefinite restriction on her property rights.
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filing → argue → rights
They said the restriction could not later be called temporary simply because lawmakers repealed the law.
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lawmakers → say → law
Her legal team said the state had effectively controlled the parcel for almost 20 years, greatly reducing its value and limiting how it could be used.
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it → say → value
In its ruling, the North Carolina Supreme Court again found that corridor map filings created takings of indefinite duration, rather than short-term restrictions.
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filings → find → restrictions
In its opinion, the justices said the state's original action permanently limited basic property rights from the date the map was recorded.
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map → say → date
The Supreme Court overturned lower court decisions that had used different methods to calculate compensation.
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that → overturn → compensation
It ordered the trial court to reconsider the damages using established legal standards for indefinite takings.
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It → order → takings
The ruling now allows a Wake County trial judge to hold hearings and determine the exact amount of money Mata should receive for the 9.93-acre section of her property.
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Mata → allow → property
According to court filings in the North Carolina Judicial Branch docket system, the case will now return to Superior Court.
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case → accord → Court
Real estate appraisers and expert witnesses are expected to present evidence about the property's exact value and the financial effect of the state's long-running restrictions.
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appraisers → expect → restrictions
The Aporia
