RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina House voted Wednesday to give the state and Raleigh officials time to renegotiate a major land deal, setting up a confrontation with a Senate chamber that wants to scrap the agreement entirely.
The bill that passed the House with near-unanimous support would give officials until April 2014 to rewrite a deal over the 325-acre Dorothea Dix property and give the city a chance to add an adjacent piece of land to link two parks. The Senate, which has publicly opposed the House proposal, earlier passed a bill that would dissolve the lease altogether.
The site overlooking downtown Raleigh is named for Dix, an early mental health advocate who was instrumental in launching institutions in the 19th century, including the now-shuttered hospital on the property named for her 150 years ago. The city of Raleigh wants to build a destination park. Former Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue inked a 75-year lease valued at $68 million with the city in the closing days of her administration.
Republican lawmakers have complained the original deal wasn’t fair-market value and failed to protect health services as the property was originally intended. They say those and other issues make the lease legally invalid.
City officials support the House bill but have also threatened to sue if the Senate has its way. Gov. Pat McCrory also supports the House bill.
The House proposal forces the city to give up 30 acres on the site for a consolidated headquarters for the Department of Health and Human Services, but it also adds the prospect of obtaining the nearby Gov. Morehead School Property as a deal sweetener for Raleigh.
Supporters of the House bill have argued their proposal strikes a balanced approach that helps both sides.
But Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, said he opposed the bill because it allows the legislature to dissolve the lease, setting a dangerous precedent.
Outgoing Rep. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, said the deal is imperfect but offers the best chance at resolving the dilemmas amicably. However, Ross, who is resigning to serve as general counsel for the Triangle Transit regional bus service, urged House lawmakers not to bend to the Senate’s wishes. “I will vote (‘yes’), but if the Senate does not agree with this, please let the situation stay the way it is between the city and the state,” she said. “What the Senate has offered up is bad, bad policy.”