Private Roads brochure

Revised: 6/19/2012

C I T Y O F FAY E T T E V I L L E

Options For Property Owners

• This brochure provides property owners with information regarding private road maintenance in the event that self-maintenance is proving difficult due to any number of factors, including financial and right-of-way constraints.

City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA | www.cityoffayetteville.org

Responsibilities and Other Maintenance Alternatives We hope that you find this information to be of assistance.

Please feel free to contact the City with any questions or comments.

Maintenance of a private road is the responsibility of the owner. If you own a farm, business, or a home on a private road, you may appreciate the privacy and control that ownership of your property’s access offers. However, with those ownership rights comes the responsibility to maintain the road and any associated drainage improvements.

Maintenance involves ensuring that the road remains passable for other owners and that the drainage facilities work properly, so that the road is not damaged by rainfall and that stormwater does not negatively affect other adjoining or nearby properties.

In some cases, these maintenance responsibilities are beyond the capacity the it off th owner or owners to handle. City of Fayetteville officials are frequently asked about alternatives to maintaining private roads. As a result, the City has produced this brochure that describes maintenance options available to private road owners.

Is My Road Private?

Property owners often don’t know whether their road is private or public. Private roads may be paved or unpaved. You may contact the City of Fayetteville Engineering and Infrastructure Department at (910) 433-1650 or (910) 433-1798 to determine the ownership status of the road.

Emergency Vehicle Access The City’s emergency response staff (fire, police and EMS) has developed plans on how to get to your emergency, but response times could improve if private roads are maintained.

Alternatives To Private Maintenance Improve Road to City Standards This approach is commonly used by developers. The property owner(s) build or improve the road to City standards and petition the City to accept the road for maintenance.

Assessment Option #1 The City can use the “new special assessment� provision in State law to construct a road that is not to State standards but which can provide safe access. Property owners would be assessed the cost of construction and maintenance. This approach requires more than 25% of the property owners owning 75%+ of the value of the affected land to agree to the assessment.

Dedication of property would be required to provide sufficient R-O-W.

Private Options 1. Property owners could form an association to formally address road maintenance through private assessments.

2. Owners could periodically pool funds to provide maintenance on an informal basis.

3. Owners can pursue grants for road maintenance.

The City of Fayetteville, North Carolina does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, age, national origin, religion, or disability in its employment opportunities, programs, services or activities. www.cityoffayetteville.org Twitter @CityOfFayNC www.facebook.com/cityoffayettevillegovernment

433 Hay Street Fayetteville, NC 28301-5537 910.433.1FAY (1329)