Planning & Zoning Discusses Road Maintenance

Jasper County Planning and Zoning Commission members took a considerable amount of time discussing the creation of a road maintenance policy for private roads during last Thursday’s regular monthly meeting.

Planning administrator Chris Anderson explained that the county commissioners had requested that the planning & zoning commission develop a policy on maintaining privately-held roads. The request originated from a select group of private road occupants wanting the county to assume maintenance of their road, though it has not been labeled as a county road, per se.

Mr. Anderson provided the zoning commission with a previously composed policy for acceptance of roads into the county system. Also provided was a list of 72 private roads, as given by the road department. All on that list did not necessarily qualify as private, he said, but rather were never assigned a county road number.
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The administrator submitted a list he deemed private, minus the forest service roads, which included approximately 34 totaling 7.53 miles in length. Some of them were “generally no more than glorified driveways” that served fewer that five houses, he noted.

In trying to seek clarity, spectator Robert Jordan asked if the discussion was about which roads will get maintenance. He said that the zoning commission would have a tremendous task before them if trying to determine maintenance status on private versus public roads.

The engineer said some roads on the list are maintained privately whereas others have been maintained by the county for years. He pinpointed their road issue as maintained or not maintained rather than private versus public.

Zoning members Debby Dammann, John Moore, Lee Holman, and Joe Lewis unanimously recommended that the county commission first develop a county standard for what constitutes a road and that maintenance be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Zoning members also voted unanimously to approve two applications that came before them for review. Martha Lindsey was granted approval to rezone 6.88 acres on the eastern corner of Hwy. 212 and Jackson Lake Road from agriculture to commercial heavy. Also the final plat for Jones Estates Phase III was approved. The County Line Road subdivision includes 44 lots on 41.80 acres.
A discussion of architectural standards was tabled for further review.