County Refuses to Repair a Private Road That Was Not Built Up to Code
County refuses to repair road-says not built up to code-North Carolina
Sorry to bother anyone.
Bough a home in 2001
On a hill/cul-de-sac
Was not told it was a private road
Nothing in writing saying such
Built by a large company NVR homes listed on New York Stock Exchange
County/City refuses to repair road (asphalt gatoring)
1. The 9 of us who bought homes up here were ignorant in seeing that the plat for each showed we all owned part of the hill including the road/common grass center ---OR--- or that at least the plat showed we each had a triangle for an easement that extends to the entrance at bottom of hill. One entrance to cul-de-sac
2. Called county offices and was told road was not built up to code. However when I built my houe there were already 7 of the 9 houses built
Hence the city would not (I guess) take over the road since it was not built up to code OR perhaps they never told us it was a private drive and not to be turned over to the city for maintenance
Not sure what trumps what here. Does the law prevail in allowing the building of houses on a road not built up to code and never repaired?
So this would be county and home builder issue I guess
Or perhaps they deemed it a private road all along, never told us, the plat backed it up and we are SOL?
Thanks
Peter
Re: County Refuses to Repair Road-Says Not Built Up to Code
Do you know what the term Caveat emptor means? It means let the buyer beware. So the fact that you and/or your neighbors did not do your due diligence and know that the road was private (according to the plats) is now your problem.
The town or county does not have to accept a road dedication that is not built to code. Does the road have a proper road bed, storm drainage, curbs, etc.? If not then until the owners of the road bring it up to standard, the town, city, or county doesn't have to accept the offer of dedication.
You can get together with your neighbors and fix the road up to code then offer the dedication to the town or keep it a private road and come to an agreement with your neighbors about maintenance and repair of the private road.
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However, you can check with the planning office to see what the conditions of the subdivision approvals were. If the memorializing resolution stipulated that the road would be built to code standards (and that is a fair assumption), then you might have a chance to argue that the developer did not comply with the conditions of the approval. And then you can argue that the performance bond should have been kept to guarantee performance.
Re: County Refuses to Repair Road-Says Not Built Up to Code
Of course if the neighborhood was built over ten years ago, any bonds were probably released long ago. Arguing that it should have been kept isn't going to get you anywhere.
The county is still not going to help you. Your best bet would be to band together with the affected properties and see if a lawyer can do anything for you. Otherwise, it's going to pretty much be on you to repair the road and maintain it as private or to get it to the point the county/state will take it up.
Re: County Refuses to Repair Road-Says Not Built Up to Code
It sounds like the plat described it as a private road; otherwise you would have seen language on the plat dedicating it as public right-of-way. Developers sometimes do that because they can build the road narrower/cheaper/easier than if they were planning to give it over to a jurisdiction. As was indicated above, you might be able to have the local road jurisdiction take it over, but they are not likely to do so until you (and your neighbors) have fixed up the road to their standards.
How is road maintenance addressed on the plat or in your CC & R's?
Re: County Refuses to Repair Road-Says Not Built Up to Code
Thank you all. Yes 9 of us were stupid and learned a lesson. We did consult a large law firm a few months after we bought our houses BUT they said the public company had the deep pockets to stall foreverand we would prob run out of money. So........................
A learning experience. I did however get the public company to refund 8k to me since they misrepresented the lot size by including the easements of the road.
Thanks again!!