SMART Train Board Fights Off Challenges

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART) board of directors voted to use eminent domain to ward off a legal challenge by property owners to a strip of land along the railway corridor.

The commuter rail's plan to expand a pathway for bikes and pedestrians is under attack by landowners who continue to fight the agency's plans.

Calling the move an "extraordinary and unusual step," board members authorized the use of eminent domain over an area along the agency's rail corridor pathway contested in a lawsuit only partly settled in 2021.

SMART owns and operates the passenger and freight rail corridor that runs through Marin and Sonoma counties. California law entitles the agency to build a bicycle and pedestrian pathway within its active rail corridor as part of the transit system.

SMART directors argue the agency already holds the property interests and rights necessary to construct, operate, and maintain the pathway.

The residents argue otherwise. The law firm Stewart, Wald and Smith, representing the property owners, has said the agency wants to “have their cake and eat it too” by applying an easement to both train and pedestrian services.

The attorneys have argued the pathway “does not serve a railroad purpose” and contends adjacent owners should be compensated for SMART’s use of its own rail corridor for a public pathway that supports transit.

Directors offered the plaintiffs $1,000 for a 12-foot pathway easement located within the already existing rail corridor belonging to the agency.

The District’s goal is resolution—not litigation, according to the statement, and the agency intends to negotiate a settlement despite the board's adoption of a "resolution of necessity."

“SMART has been clear from the start: we are a responsible steward of public resources and a good neighbor,” SMART board chairman Chris Coursey said in a statement released today. "We will not allow outside interests to jeopardize a core public asset or drive up costs for our communities."

Coursey was referring to the Missouri-based Stewart, Wald and Smith.

The disputed land includes:

• Lakeville Boulevard to Payran Street
• Southpoint Boulevard to Main Street
• Golf Course Drive to Bellevue Avenue
• Airport Boulevard to Windsor River Road

To date, according to the agency, more than 39 miles of pathway have been built, including about 29 miles of mult-use paths within and along the railroad right-of-way.

An additional 11.3 miles are scheduled to begin construction, with the full pathway planned to extend the 70-mile length of the SMART rail corridor from Larkspur to Cloverdale.

Check back for more details.