Live next to the Nickel Plate Trail? The feds could owe you tens of thousands of dollars.
Landowners along the Nickel Plate Trail in Hamilton and Marion County will share $7.8 million from the federal government for having their land taken to build the greenway.
The award will be divvied among 168 residential and commercial property owners in Indianapolis, Fishers and Noblesville who filed claims to get paid for the land the cities are using to build the trail, said Steven M. Wald, an attorney for Stewart, Wald & Smith, of St. Louis, which filed the suits in Washington D.C.
Under rules for converting rails to trails, the federal government is responsible for compensating property owners for land grabbed by local governments for trails. The amount of property is essentially the same as the railroad — in this case, Norfolk and Western Railway — was allowed to acquire originally without compensation, Wald said
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"The railroad never bought it but acquired an easement to use it for rail purposes,” Wald said. “Now that the rail doesn’t need it, it reverts back to the deed holder.”
The land is in the backyards of most homeowners, and generally extends to about 50-feet on each side of the center of the trail.
The payouts average about $45,000 per homeowner but vary by the value of land and amount taken — from the low thousands of dollars to more than $100,000. Wald’s is one of a handful of St. Louis-based law firms specializing in rail cases that is representing homeowners here
Stewart, Wald & Smith is still negotiating settlements for 175 other landowners. In all, about 1,000 property owners are eligible but they can’t get paid unless they file suits. The deadline to do so is Dec. 21, 2024, six years after the Surface Transportation Board approved the rail conversion plan.
Marcy Kellar, of Fishers, is part of the second group that is still negotiating. She declined to disclose how much money she stands to gain if successful, but said it would be used to increase privacy for her home.
"Since they put in the trail people can see right into my home," Kellar said.
She said the dimensions of the land taken for the trail are 109 feet across and eight feet deep.
The Nickel Plate is a 20-mile-long trail stretching from Noblesville to 42nd Street in Indianapolis. The Noblesville and Fishers portions are finished and Indianapolis has begun paving.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on X/Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Feds pay property owners $7.6M for Nickel Plate Trail land grab
