As we learned at this week’s Shaftesbury Society luncheon, North Carolina property rights are at risk by DOT road building practices under the Map Act.  This report tells us more. Ken Bell is one of hundreds property owners affected by the Map Act. You could be next.

Take a long drive north from downtown Greensboro on North Elm Street, past Buffalo Lake, across Pisgah Church Road, and you’ll find the 400 acres that Ken Bell’s father bought around 1935.
Bell’s father began selling or developing pieces of the land — even naming Kenneth Road after his son.
The land is now covered with middle-class houses and apartments.
Bell, 74, is an unassuming man who wears jeans and drives his pickup with his golden retriever riding shotgun.
On Tuesday, the dog jumped in the back, and Bell drove through suburban streets, showing off the land as though it still belonged to his family.
In his heart, it still does.
He’ll point out the small houses his father built just after World War II to house returning veterans.
Now, about 15 densely wooded acres of the Bell property are left, one small corner of the family legacy.
Two small pieces of that land that add up to 4 acres straddling North Elm Street sit in the Urban Loop’s protected corridor between Lawndale Drive and U.S. 29, which is set for construction in 2018, said Mike Mills, Division 7 engineer for the DOT.
The state designated the corridor in 1996 — 18 years ago.
Since then, Bell has been effectively prohibited from doing anything with it.
The state’s regulations say he can apply for a building permit — but must wait three years for DOT approval.
And no developer would wait that long before building on a piece of land, Bryant said.
Bell says he can’t sell that land because state maps show it is likely to become part of a cloverleaf interchange.
The state hasn’t offered to buy the land.
And Bell is worried the land he owns nearby will be worth less if it is in the shadow of the highway.
“If they’re going to compensate and pay for it, it’s pretty good,” Bell said. “But I hate to see it go.”