Residents of Stonehill Subdivision, just outside of The Plains, said they have had enough with a poorly built road in their subdivision and are taking their complaints to the Athens County Commissioners.
We want to see what pressure we can put on these guys to finish the road
said subdivision resident Sean Jones, 10 Shady Lane.
The residents claim Shady Lane was improperly built from the beginning.
Jones said the road was built upon a faulty area and has no berm (shoulder) to protect drivers from an 18-inch drop. The main problem, Jones said, is that the subdivision entrance was built before the subdivision, itself, when road regulations were much different. A berm was not installed at that time but would now be required for the county to take ownership over the road. The rest of Shady Lane, according to Jones, is in a condition that would support the addition of berms without any major renovations.
More than 30 condominiums are being constructed in the subdivision, and Jones said the berm needs to be installed at the entrance, which would require road expansion. The subdivision is currently comprised of seven lots, which have all been sold. Jones owns three of them.
One problem with Jones' argument is that the road is technically not a public road. The road was built by private contractors hired by the owners, meaning that neither the county nor any other government has any obligation to provide maintenance for Shady Lane. This problem surfaced during the county's recent ice storm, when the road was covered with ice and snow and there was no hope of getting a plow for the snow or salt for the ice.
Over the nine years that Stonehill has existed, it has gone through three different groups of owners. The newest owners are Tom Cassady and David Young, who have owned the subdivision for about two years, and also own subdivisions in the Columbus area.
According to Cassady, the Stonehill project is still under construction, which is why the road has not been turned over to the county. Cassady said that he is more than happy to hand Shady Lane over to the county as soon as construction is complete on the condominiums.
We want to be a good neighbor and improve the area around The Plains Cassady said.
At the meeting yesterday, Jones presented his case to the commissioners and asked them at least
to send a letter to the owners of the subdivision, telling them the residents are not alone in their struggle.
The commissioners agreed to send the letter and also renewed a verbal agreement stating the county would send an engineer to inspect the road, which commissioners said might be the first step in having the county take ownership of the road. In early March, Athens County engineer and the Athens County planner will inspect the road based on the county subdivision regulations, which take width, depth and quality of the road into account, among other things.
But as of now, the commissioners don't have jurisdiction over the road.
We don't have any authority to make them do anything Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
The probability is, however, that the road will not pass inspection in its current state, he said. Without the road passing inspection, the county cannot legally claim Shady Lane.
Jones said he does not understand why the owners do not simply finish the road.
It's entirely in the subdivision's best interest to finish this road
he said.
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Chris Yonker
