Waynesboro: City reaches tentative agreement on greenway easement

The City of Waynesboro has reached a tentative settlement with a city man who owns property along a proposed extension for the South River Greenway.

The agreement to pay Brian Collins $70,000 for acquisition of an easement that will allow the city to complete a new segment of the greenway beginning at Second Street and continuing north to Basic Park is on the agenda for Waynesboro City Council at its meeting on Monday, June 8.

AFP editor Crystal Graham first wrote about the issue involving Collins in 2025.

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ICYMI

• Waynesboro: Retiree planned to enjoy property along the river, city invokes eminent domain

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From that reporting, we know that Collins, a United States Navy retiree, purchased a 38-acre property adjoining the South River, located between North Park, the current terminus of the greenway, and Basic Park, in 2022, for $200,000, hoping to be able to use it for camping, fishing and canoeing with family and friends.

Temporary and permanent easements are necessary on Collin’s riverfront property for the completion of Phase IV of the South River Greenway, which will connect North Park to Basic Park.

The extension, funded by a combination of locally generated revenue and a Virginia Department of Transportation grant, was estimated last year to cost nearly $1.5 million to complete.

Once complete, the riverside path will connect Basic Park to North Park to Constitution Park and to the Loth Springs trailhead by the YMCA.

Eventually, the plan is to have the greenway end at Ridgeview Park.

The city had hoped to have the section of the greenway connecting North Park to Basic Park completed in 2024, but negotiations between the city and Collins broke down – Collins told us the city’s first offer for the purchase of the easements was $35,000, before eventually coming down to $4,100.

With the negotiations at a loggerhead, the city ended up taking Collins to court to initiate eminent-domain proceedings that would allow the city to obtain easements on the property, which is zoned heavy industrial.

The agreement that is going before the City Council on June 8 includes a provision in which the city drops its lawsuit against Collins, and another provision in which the city agrees to add Collins as an additional insured for coverage for claims of bodily injury sustained by users of the greenway.