Commission Votes Removal of Gate Across County Road

A gate across a county road in the Belk community will apparently have to be removed.
The county commission last month went on record to direct the Road Supervisor to take the necessary action to have the gate removed on Sunset Drive off Allen Bend Road.
According to County Mayor Tim Stribling, the Planning Commission discussed the issue on Monday, November 9 and adopted a motion to recommend to the county commission that the existing gate on Sunset Drive be removed.
County Attorney Hilton Conger said that Sunset Drive has been on the county road map since 1998. “There’s a plat that was approved by the planning commission in 2004 and the people who owned that property subdivided a 1.8 acre tract off of that and it referred to two roads, Sunset Drive and Hidden Hollow. Those two roads are shown on the DeKalb County Road list and have been since 1998. They certainly don’t meet county specifications. One of them is nine feet wide. When this plat was approved there was a notation that was entered on the plat which provided that should the current owners sell that property or that property be otherwise transferred then the remaining acreage would not have its primary access along this 20 foot easement with a nine foot wide gravel driveway. The current owner of that residual property, he and one of the owners I think are in a dispute over this but at any rate the owner of the property put a gate across this road back a few months ago. It came to the attention of the planning commission and its the planning commission’s recommendation to the commission that the gate be removed. Of course the Road Supervisor has the authority by law to remove any obstruction on county roads. In fact if a person obstructs a county road and refuses to move it then that’s a misdemeanor. I’m not advocating that somebody be arrested because they put a gate across a road but I think the planning commission wanted to suggest to the commission that this ought not be a precedent and that it be removed. I think the Road Supervisor would like to have the county commission’s feelings on this. If you say remove it I’ll get with him and we’ll contact the landowner and take the appropriate steps,” said Conger.
The county commission voted unanimously to have the gate removed.
In a letter dated December 3, Conger wrote to the landowner, Robert G. Manning explaining the reasons for the commission’s decision and added that Manning had ten days to remove the gate or legal action would be taken.