Federal government settles over land claims

In a settlement with the federal government, eight Dutchess and Putnam County landowners, including five in Beacon, were awarded $1.06 million in compensation for property taken for a proposed 13-mile rail trail - apparently the first resolution in a slew of similar lawsuits.

Metro-North, which acquired the dormant Beacon Line in 1995, is negotiating to relinquish the tracks to the state for a Beacon-to-Hopewell Junction trail. It would wind from Beacon's train station for 4 miles around the city's southern perimeter before running parallel with Tioronda Avenue and the east end of Main Street. The entire Beacon Line is 41 miles long and stretches to the Connecticut border.

The eight plaintiffs are represented by Lewis Rice, a law firm in St. Louis that specializes in rail trail "takings" cases. Four own homes on Tioronda Avenue and another is the limited-liability company behind the condos at 1 East Main St.

The property under and adjacent to the tracks was seized in February 2024 under the National Trails System Act, which allows abandoned railroad lines to be converted to parks. A feasibility study commissioned by Dutchess County and released in August recommended tearing out the unused tracks between Beacon and Hopewell for $46 million to $56 million rather than installing a path alongside them.

Landowners adjoining the corridor can claim swaths of land likely lost in the 19th century, when railroads that needed the corridors purchased or condemned the land or acquired easements, according to Steve Wald of Stewart, Wald & Smith, another St. Louis law firm specializing in rail-trail property cases. The firms argue that modern owners are "predecessors in title" who "have the same rights as the original landowners."

The plaintiffs in this case and similar ones elsewhere in the country say that, in the event of a conversion of use to something other than rail access, they should receive "full possession and control" or be compensated. If a court agrees, appraisers determine the amount of land lost, as well as any damages related to loss of privacy and/or security from the trail construction.

More than 80 abandoned railroad lines in New York state have been converted to trails, including the 13-mile Dutchess Rail Trail that stretches from Hopewell Junction to the Walkway Over the Hudson and the 12-mile Putnam County Trailway between Baldwin Place and Brewster.

More lawsuits are pending. Stewart, Wald & Smith has at least three outstanding cases that name 260 landowners. In Beacon, their clients include the Elks, Lank's Automotive, Lori Joseph Builders, Levi Reavey Sr. and Whitefield Properties. On Aug. 21, Lewis Rice filed a lawsuit on behalf of G.P. Beacon LLC at 578 Main St. and property owners in Fishkill and Pawling. On Sept. 17, Stewart, Wald & Smith filed a claim for owners in Fishkill, Hopewell Junction, Pawling and Poughquag.