Railroad closes off part of Crozet lot

The local railroad branch closed off parking at The Square in Crozet on Friday afternoon.

The area has been used for decades as a parking lot for customers of several Crozet businesses, but a recently discovered contract caused the Buckingham Branch Railroad to erect a fence — limiting customers to only a small portion of the parking lot.

Some business owners were in a frenzy Friday as they tried to understand why the fence was put up so soon. Some business owners said they thought negotiations were incomplete and were surprised to see workers directing vehicles out of parking spaces and putting up a fence.

But Steve Powell, senior vice president of the Buckingham Branch’s Dillwyn Station, said the railroad company recently discovered that it is leasing the property and that the contract prohibits the company from allowing non-workers on the property.

If someone were to fall in the parking lot and get hurt or walk in front of a train, for example, the railroad could be subject to a lawsuit.

The railroad had been trying to reach a deal with Albemarle County or business owners that would keep the railroad company from breaking its contract, and relieve the railroad from risk of a lawsuit.

The railroad company drafted two contracts. One version would pass the liability to the county, Powell said, and the other would punt liability to business owners.

The contracts would also require the county, or business owners, to build a fence toward the back of the parking lot — near the railroad — which would block off only the back row of the parking lot and eliminate about 20 parking spots.

Regardless of whether a deal is struck in coming days or weeks, the railroad company wants the back row of the lot to be fenced off, so that maintenance workers can access the tracks and pedestrians can’t walk in front of trains.

Neither county officials nor business owners have signed a liability contract, Powell said, which is why workers started putting up an orange plastic mesh fence with “no trespassing” signs Friday. That work cost a few thousand dollars, Powell said, but the railroad company would be willing to tear the fence down in exchange for the county or business owners taking responsibility for the lot.

Parts of the parking lot are in poor condition, and there are some potholes. The back row of the lot is within a few yards of railroad tracks. Two elderly women died several years ago after being hit by a train while crossing the tracks behind The Square.

Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Ann H. Mallek, a Democrat, sent an e-mail to highly ranked railroad employees Friday morning stating that business owners met Thursday night and weren’t willing to sign the contract. Workers started putting the fence up just hours later.

“At the meeting last night, there were no business owners who felt they could sign given the uncontrolled nature of the lot. I do hope that CSX sees the good sense in donating the 30-foot strip to the county,” Mallek wrote. “We could worry about the management, and CSX would be free of a hazard and also the legal uncertainty of what they have been renting all these years.”

Mallek could not be reached Friday afternoon.

Powell told a business owner Friday: “The indication we got from the e-mail was this was a dead subject.”

“The property owners and the town aren’t willing to take on any liability,” he said. “We can’t take on the liability.”

As it stands now, a few dozen parking spaces are fenced off from the public. There are still about 20 parking spots available directly by the storefronts. But customers and business owners say the parking lot had often been crowded even with several dozen spaces available.

Rick Ruscher, owner of Crozet Hardware Co., said that even if the railroad company blocks off the single back row of spaces, it could hurt business. If the bulk of the parking lot stays fenced off — as it is now — it could doom businesses in The Square.

Ruscher said the railroad company acted too abruptly.

“I haven’t even had a chance to read the contract,” Ruscher said.

Brenda Plantz, owner of Parkway Pharmacy, told Powell that there seems to be a lack of communication, adding: “It wasn’t that we weren’t willing to talk.”

“I don’t think we were totally informed,” Plantz said. “At eight o’clock this morning, I’m at the computer reading this proposal.”

Powell responded: “And maybe we weren’t totally informed either.”

“We’re more than happy to let one or more of you use it,” Powell said. “But one of you have to sign.”

Powell said the railroad company isn’t requiring signatures from all of the businesses. If only some business owners want to sign the contract, those business owners could take over the parking area — and they could decide whether to limit parking to just their own customers or open the lot to all customers.

The railroad company had recently been researching potential work and found a contract that shows the railroad company is leasing much of The Square from CSX. Powell had said the railroad branch is leasing land that holds more than 200 miles of track, and in most cases, the railroad branch is given only a small amount of land surrounding the tracks.