Published April 20, 2006
Pickens County Progress

Rules of the Roads
Bull Gap and Windy Ridge offer contrasting views
of public/private situations on thoroughfares
By Dan Pool

Bull Gap Road and Windy Ridge Road, both in eastern Pickens County, aren't far apart as the crow flies.
Both are mostly dirt. Neither are considered "county roads." And both have been the subject of public discussion this year, but for very different reasons.
Windy Ridge intersects with Grandview Road at its southern terminus and dead ends into one of the largest undisturbed tracts in the county to the north. It was listed as an access to a proposed 70-home subdivision in a zoning change request before the Planning Commission in March.
Homeowners along the route, and others from the nearby Grandview area, turned out in force to oppose the subdivision.
Much of the case against Narrow Gate LLC's development plans hinged on the status of private Windy Ridge Road. The planning commission told the developer to come back only when they had clear, public access.
Among points presented in opposition to proposed new homes was one that Windy Ridge Road is privately owned all the way to its centerline in many place, leaving no public thoroughfare. In essence, the road belongs to homeowners along its path, and they don't want to give any of it to a developer.
John Wright is among those who live along the route, and he opposes the new subdivision.
Wright's family has owned property on Windy Ridge (where he lives and operates a business) for more than 50 years. He said the community there is very content to live on a dirt road and has no desire to see the road paved or any way improved.
"I have dogs and cats here all the time and grandchildren on the weekend," he said. "I don't want to see anything to increase speeds."
Or to facilitate 70 additional homes farther down the road.
Based on discussion with county officials, Windy Ridge residents have a strong point.
County Land Development Officer Rodney Buckingham said for permits necessary for a subdivision, the county requires a road with a 60-foot right-of-way from the nearest county road to the property entrance. No exceptions, says Buckingham, at least in the more than seven years he's been here.
Wright said residents along Windy Ridge are aware of this requirement. And, in informal meetings, all have said they aren't willing to sell any right-of-way, even if it means maintaining the road themselves.
"I know everyone has a price, but the consensus is we'll maintain it ourselves if it means giving away any control," Wright said. "I'll do it by hand if it comes down to it."
Not far away on Bull Gap Road, 30 residents signed a petition in January asking the county to begin maintaining the rough and winding road connecting Highway 136 (Jones Mountain Road) to Price Creek Road. Despite the fact Bull Gap Road is also owned to the centerline in places, it has been publicly used and documented on maps as a county road since 1903, according to the petition.
Judy Gardener, who lives off a road accessed by Bull Gap, spoke at the January commissioner's meeting, presenting the petitions. She has hired an attorney to press the county to acknowledge that Bull Gap is a county road.
Among Gardener's arguments is the 1903 County Map (drawn by Henley) which shows a clearly marked Bull Gap Road noted as a public road. Her research found nothing to indicate the county ever formally abandoned it.
Gardener said she and other residents had never discussed whether having the county acknowledge Bull Gap as a county road would have any effects on possible developments there.
She said they don't want the road paved or changed. They would just like to have the potholes filled and to see it graded occasionally. The county, however, says they don't work on private roads.
At Bull Gap and on the majority of Windy Ridge, road crew consists of homeowners and their tractors.
The county does maintain a short portion of Windy Ridge nearest the paved section.
One place the two roads differ drastically is, according Wright, where Windy Ridge's rock-hard base rarely requires maintenance and is passable year round with minimal work. Oldsmobiles, vans and even a sporty low-riding car or two ply the thoroughfare with little difficulty. But Bull Gap, according to Gardener, often requires a sturdy four-wheel drive vehicle during winter rainy periods.
At this time of year, the road is rough, bumpy and rutted, but passable in a two-wheel drive.
Discussing the road situations, Buckingham said the county has stuck fast to a system of requiring all roads presented to the county for official acceptance, either for a new subdivision or for maintenance, to meet the same strict requirements.
To submit a road for county takeover, it must meet the following points: (1) a 60-foot right-of-way must be deeded to the county and (2) there must be a 20-foot-wide paved driving surface down the middle of the right-of-way, meeting all county standards on things like ditches and thickness of asphalt and road base.

Buckingham, whose office is the first stop for anyone planning a new subdivision, said, as far as the county is concerned, if a road is not up to county road standards, it can't be used for anything more than a driveway, which allows two homes.
Obviously some county roads in Pickens don't meet these requirements, but, according to Buckingham, none have been accepted by the county in the past decade without meeting all standards.
The only exceptions to county road standards that he could think of are inside a gated community where the owners recognize the county will never maintain the roads. Even then the roads leading to the front gate must meet all county road standards.
He said Windy Ridge with no right-of-way and no pavement isn't technically a road of any kind under county standards, "more a glorified driveway."
The dirt drive didn't have a name until the county instituted the 911 system and residents there were forced to call the route something, according to Wright.
Buckingham said, when identifying roads as public, private or driveway, it's actually more accurate to say county-maintained or not-county-maintained. According to Buckingham, roads privately owned to the centerline are still public thoroughfares, as in the cases of Bull Gap and Windy Ridge roads.
When asked about cases where homeowners who own to the centerline have attempted or threatened to gate a road, Buckingham said the county has no role in these disputes. Comings and goings there are purely civil issues. It's not uncommon to see everything from road maintenance, to gates, to rights of access show up in civil disputes.
Buckingham said the county has no jurisdiction nor any interest in getting involved with issues on private roads. He said he receives numerous calls asking for county assistance in obtaining access to private property, but his flat answer is, "Civil issue. Get a lawyer."
However, as a professional observer, Buckingham said people who live on private roads can't gate them off or restrict travel. Not because of county rules, but because of established precedents of homeowners to access their homes.
"If you tried to gate a private road which served a lot of homes behind you, the cement wouldn't even have time to dry before someone could get an injunction against you," he said. However, the county would not take any action.
Buckingham said the courts have been steadfast in seeing every Georgian has a right to access their property to get to their home or for private use. This doesn't apply as readily for development issues.
"Traditionally, the courts are going to give you access, but that doesn't mean the courts are going to give you a right-of-way to put in a freeway to do whatever you want," he said.
There is one important aspect in access often confused: easement versus right-of-way. The simple explanation is that with an easement you get access to your property across someone else's land. For a development, you need a purchased, 60-foot right-of-way, which means you actually own the property beneath the road.
According to Buckingham, easements aren't rock solid. "You get 40 homes out there, and all of a sudden the easement gets taken away in some manner, and you've got a real problem," he said. "With a right-of-way, you own it. Nearby property owners can object until the cows come home, but it's yours."
County standards limit developments off easements to two homes--basically a driveway.
According to county standards, a developer must obtain the 60-foot right-of-way the entire length of the entrance road to a new development. So, if a single homeowner along the route balks at selling the 60-foot swath, the rest of the right-of-way is useless.
At this point, the only way to force a right-of-way is through the use of eminent domain, something Pickens County has never used for a developer.
Buckingham said when you see someone buying right-of-way, you can be pretty sure it is for a future development.
"If you are asked to sell a right-of-way in front of your home, you've got to know what's coming, especially if there's a lot of undeveloped property behind you," he said.
For anyone interested in determining whether they live on a county-maintained public road or a privately owned road, one quick way to find out is to check the color of the road sign. If the background is green and the letters white, it's generally a county maintained road. There are a few exceptions to this, notably in the Salacoa area, where the county inadvertently put the county-maintained colors on road never built to county specifications and not accepted.
Most private roads have a white background sign with green letters, county-installed for the 911 system.