Acceptance Of Private Dirt Roads

DATE ADOPTED: 10-10-06
MINUTE BOOK: 35 PAGE 366
DATE AMENDED: 7-28-08
MINUTE BOOK: 36 PAGE 207

POLICY: In certain unusual circumstances where the welfare of citizens is in question, the Houston County Commission may vote by majority of elected members to accept a private dirt road as a county road under the following conditions:

1. The County must be able to obtain a 60 foot dedicated right of way given by the landowners of the road. The condemnation process will not be used in this procedure.
2. All dead end roads must have a minimum 100-foot cul-de-sac or a fifty-foot radius.
3. The road must have at least two residences to be considered for acceptance.
4. The road must have been a private dirt road prior to September 1, 1995 to be considered for acceptance.
5. Each road will be considered on its own merit and must be an unusual circumstance detrimental to the residents of the road before it will be considered.
6. The County will accept no more than one mile of private dirt roads per fiscal year.
7. The County Engineer will prepare a full report for the Commission including number of landowners, houses, extenuating circumstances, and his recommendation on the road. The report will be provided to the Commission before the item is placed on an Administrative or Regular agenda for a vote.
8. Only roads in the unincorporated parts of Houston County will be considered for acceptance.

It is understood that this policy is not designed to create a tool for Commission members to add additional roads for the taxpayers of Houston County to maintain, but instead is to be used in the rare instance when all other options have been excluded.

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POLICY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF PRIVATE ROADS

For a private road to be accepted into the Houston County road system, the road must have a 60 foot dedicated right-of-way with ten (10) houses per mile. It has to have been a dirt road for ten (10) years and must be recommended by the County Engineer. Houston County will accept one (1) mile per year into the maintenance system.

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