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Appeals Court Orders NCDOT To Pay Deposits To Landowners

NCDOT image of Winston-Salem's Northern Beltway

The N.C. Court of Appeals has ordered the state Department of Transportation to pay deposits on properties in the path of a Triad beltway.

The ruling on Tuesday means NCDOT has to begin appraising hundreds of properties in the path of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway and paying deposits. The decision could be appealed to the N.C. Supreme Court, which had already sent the case back to the lower courts.

Landowners began suing the state in 2011 to force NCDOT to buy their property. They argued that the declaration of a beltway corridor in effect caused a taking of their properties by limiting their rights to subdivide or develop.

The appeals court agreed and implied the state was using the appeals process to stall payments to the landowners.

The state Attorney General's Office said it was reviewing the decision and would work with NCDOT to determine its next steps.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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