county road closures

[joycul]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I am in dire need of advice. We have lived on our property for 23 years and a county road is behind us. Recently the land on the opposite side of the road was inherited and they have blocked the county road with a pasture fence. This county road has a road sign and stop signs on both ends. My question is if i go over his gate and walk up the middle of this road and he calls the law what if anything can i be charged and took to jail for?

 

[justalayman]

Before you do anything that may or may not get you in trouble, try calling the county road commission and speaking with them as to the current status of the road. If it was abandoned at some time, they would know.

 

[joycul]

We have already went there they have to send both owners a court order before the road can be closed and we have not recieved ours. The neighbor just took it upon himself to do this thinking we didn't have enough pull or money to do anything about it.

 

[justalayman]

So did the road commision state the road is not closed or is it simply that you have not reieved any info regarding the fact the road is closed and abandoned?

 

[kNOwtheLAW]

As part of your preparation in contacting the 'Road Commissioner' of your county you may also want to go to the courthouse and visit the tax-mapping-assessment office to review the property tax map of your area. If it is a county road it should be clearly marked with a county route number. Regardless of whether a route number is assigned, once you have this information it will be easier to refer the individual you talk with to direct them to the exact location in question via the tax map number, parcel number, etc.

I would not confront or challenge the ‘new’ property owner. It’s much better to allow your county to deal with the issue in an official capacity. Good luck!

KTL

 

[joycul]

The way it's been working is as long as we stay quiet about it nothing is going to be done, Our county road commissioner will not return our phone calls. At county meetings we ask and only get told they are considering closing it and we will be notified. It has been 2 years and i'm tired of being put off and i want to make a statement a bold one!

 

[justalayman]

OK, now you finally get to the meat of the situation.

Do you normally use the road? Apparently not so why worry about it. The property, if abandoned will either revert back to the origianl owners or be offered for purchase from the county.

You have no right to remove the fencing, only the county can. As it stands with what you have posted, it is still an official road adn you would not be subjected to legal action if you walk down the road.

Actually if you want to raise a stink, send a letter certified rrr to the county commissioners requiring them to have the fencing removed so you may use the road. If they do not respond, contact the local district attornies office. If this fails, contact the states AG office.

Somebody through all of this should give you some answer that at least clarifies this whole thing for you.

 

[joycul]

Yes we used the road and so did other neighbors, our children used it for safety to go back and forth to each others houses because in front of our house is a state highway.
He blocked his part off and still uses the other part to haul his chicken litter in for his pasture land. We had a truck parked on this road one day and he told us we had to move it so he could get into his pasture, granted he has entrances from the other side and several other places he can go in, but he wanted to piss us off and go in this entrance.
I'm just tired of being pissed on and it's time to get someones attention.

 

[kNOwtheLAW]

It sounds as if the county may want to abandon the road and is quietly condoning the action of the property owner. You should follow justalayman's advice in his last post if you want to make this an issue. There generally is a specific procedure required to abandon a highway right-of-way. Start reading the legal notices in the newspaper as the county may be required to hold a public hearing on the matter. You may find a local attorney who feels as incensed as you who might be willing to take on the cause pro bono.

KTL