Jefferson County officials and residents clashed Thursday at a public meeting after county staff began issuing compliance notices for trees, rocks, mailboxes and irrigation that sit inside county rights-of-way.

Planning Director Milton Allerton told the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners the county has issued “over 450 compliance letters in just in the last 6, 7 months” and that the county is trying to balance safety and road maintenance with homeowners’ expectations. “We ... realized that, there’s been over 450 compliance letters issued in just in the last 6, 7 months,” Allerton said during the meeting.

The meeting centered on the county’s road ordinance (Jefferson County code 53-55) and related public-works guidance. Road and Bridge staff said repeated irrigation and standing water at the road edge, plus obstructions, drive up maintenance costs. “To replace the one subdivision that we need to redo, the cost of the asphalt in that subdivision was nearly a million dollars,” the county’s road manager said, describing how a small number of badly damaged subdivisions can consume the county’s maintenance budget.

Why it matters: County staff say enforcement is intended to protect public safety and a limited road-maintenance budget. Residents said the county’s approach has been inconsistent, that letters felt abrupt and legalistic, and that removing long-established landscaping, hardscape or mailboxes can destroy property value and impose unaffordable costs.

What officials said they will do: Planning and Road & Bridge staff told residents they will revise the courtesy/notice letters to be less legalistic, treat many cases on an individual basis, and give residents more opportunity to work with staff. Allerton said staff will update the county public-works manual and the road ordinance to clarify what is allowed in rights-of-way and to make rules more tailored for low-speed subdivision streets.

Residents pushed for clearer rules and more notice. At least a dozen residents spoke, describing long-standing decorative pillars, brick mailboxes and mature trees they said had been in place for years without prior enforcement. Several speakers asked whether existing installations would be grandfathered; county staff said no blanket grandfathering is planned but that staff will consider driveway type, road speed and sight-line risks on a case-by-case basis.

Budget context: Road staff provided figures showing how water damage and roadside obstructions affect costs. The road manager said his maintenance program runs in the millions each year — “our total budget for our road is about 6 to 7 million” — and provided recent line-item examples: about $50,000 for tree trimming, roughly $75,000 for patching material, $44,000 for patching labor and equipment, and larger amounts for asphalt overlay and scrub coating work.

Next steps: Commissioners and staff asked planning and road personnel to (1) rewrite the courtesy/enforcement letters, (2) meet with subdivisions on a schedule to address cluster problems rather than individual homes in isolation, and (3) prepare proposed ordinance language and a public-engagement plan so changes are visible before further enforcement. Staff also invited residents to participate in drafting ordinance updates.