A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that property within a transportation corridor shall not be regulated until a preferred alternative is selected and identified in the final environmental impact statement, to provide that failure to begin construction of a corridor within ten years following the establishment of a transportation corridor official map shall constitute an abandonment of the corridor, and to reduce to two years any delay in the issuance of a building permit or subdivision plat approval due to the filing of a transportation corridor official map.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 136‑44.50 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑44.50.  Transportation corridor official map act.
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(a1)	No property may be regulated under this Article until:
(1)	The governing board of the city, the county, the regional transportation authority, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, or the Department of Transportation has held a public hearing in each county affected by the map on the proposed map or amendment. Notice of the hearing shall be provided:
a.	By publication at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the hearing in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the transportation corridor to be designated is located.
b.	By two week written notice to the Secretary of Transportation, the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, and the Mayor of any city or town through whose corporate or extraterritorial jurisdiction the transportation corridor passes.
c.	By posting copies of the proposed transportation corridor map or amendment at the courthouse door for at least 21 days prior to the hearing date. The notice required in sub‑subdivision a. above shall make reference to this posting.
d.	By first‑class mail sent to each property owner affected by the corridor. The notice shall be sent to the address listed for the owner in the county tax records.
(1a)	The transportation corridor official map has been adopted or amended by the governing board of the city, the county, the regional transportation authority, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, or the Department.
(2)	A permanent certified copy of the transportation corridor official map or amendment has been filed with the register of deeds. The boundaries may be defined by map or by written description, or a combination thereof. The copy shall measure approximately 20 inches by 12 inches, including no less than one and one‑half inches binding space on the left‑hand side.
(3)	The names of all property owners affected by the corridor have been submitted to the Register of Deeds.
(4)	A preferred alternative for the corridor location is selected and identified in the final environmental impact statement filed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
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(d1)	The failure to begin construction of the corridor within 10 years following the establishment of a transportation corridor official map shall constitute an abandonment of the corridor, and the provisions of this Article shall no longer apply to properties or portions of properties embraced within the transportation corridor.
(e)	The term "amendment" for purposes of this section includes any change to a transportation corridor official map, 
	
	including deletion of the corridor from the transportation corridor official map by action of the Board of Transportation, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, or deletion of the corridor from the long‑range transportation plan of a city, county, or regional transportation authority by action of the city, county, or regional transportation authority governing Board.
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SECTION 2.  G.S. 136‑44.51 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑44.51.  Effect of transportation corridor official map.
(a)	After the requirements of subsection (a1) of G.S. 136‑44.50 are met, no building permit shall be issued for any building or structure or part thereof located within the transportation corridor, nor shall approval of a subdivision, as defined in G.S. 153A‑335 and G.S. 160A‑376, be granted with respect to property within the transportation corridor. The Secretary of Transportation or his designee, the director of a regional public transportation authority, or the director of a regional transportation authority, as appropriate, shall be notified within 10 days of all submittals for corridor map determination, as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b)	In any event, no application for building permit issuance or subdivision plat approval for a tract subject to a valid transportation corridor official map shall be delayed by the provisions of this section for more than two years from the date of its original submittal to the appropriate local jurisdiction. A submittal to the local jurisdiction for corridor map determination shall require only the name of the property owner, the street address of the property parcel, the parcel number or tax identification number, a vicinity map showing the location of the parcel with respect to nearby roads and other landmarks, a sketch of the parcel showing all existing and proposed structures or other uses of the property, and a description of the proposed improvements. If the impact of an adopted corridor on a property submittal for corridor map determination is still being reviewed after the two‑year period established pursuant to this subsection, the entity that adopted the transportation corridor official map affecting the issuance of building permits or subdivision plat approval shall issue approval for an otherwise eligible request or initiate acquisition proceedings on the affected properties. If the entity that adopted the transportation corridor official map has not initiated acquisition proceedings or issued approval within the time limit established pursuant to this subsection, an applicant within the corridor may treat the real property as unencumbered and free of any restriction on sale, transfer, or use established by this Article.
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SECTION 3.  G.S. 136‑44.53(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	After the requirements of subsection (a1) of G.S. 136‑44.50 are met, a property owner has the right of petition to the filer of the map for acquisition of the property due to an imposed hardship. The Department of Transportation, the regional public transportation authority, the regional transportation authority, or the local government that initiated the transportation corridor official map may make advanced acquisition of specific parcels of property when that acquisition is determined by the respective governing board to be in the best public interest to protect the transportation corridor from development or when the transportation corridor official map creates an undue hardship on the affected property owner. The procedure established by a regional public transportation authority or a regional transportation authority pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall provide for a hearing de novo by the Department of Transportation for any request for advance acquisition due to hardship that is denied by an authority. All hearings held by the Department under this subsection shall be conducted in accordance with procedures established by the Department pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Any decision of the Department pursuant to this subsection shall be final and binding. Any property determined eligible for hardship acquisition shall be acquired within three years of the finding or the restrictions of the map shall be removed from the property."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to maps filed before, on, or after that date.