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Highway committee approves individual driveways for Friendship Edge Estates lots on County Trunk Highway J
Summary
The Adams County Highway Committee on April 10 approved individual access points for lots 6–13 along County Trunk Highway J in the Friendship Edge Estates subdivision, reversing the shared-access pattern shown on the 2006 plat at the owner's request.
Pat, highway department staff, told the Adams County Highway Committee on April 10 that Friendship Edge Estates (also referred to as the Mountain View Golf Course area) was platted in February 2006 and that the recorded plat shows several lots sharing access points along County Trunk Highway J.
Mr. Thiessen, the owner of most vacant lots in the subdivision, asked the committee to allow individual access points for the lots currently grouped to share drives. He said joint driveway agreements can create future disputes and that separate driveways make lots more marketable: "they sometimes can turn out not very good ... ideally being able to access each property and make it, you know, more marketable," Mr. Thiessen said.
Pat and committee members discussed safety and technical issues. Pat said there are no sight-distance problems at the proposed locations and noted the posted speed limit in the area is 55 mph. Committee member Phil asked about drainage; Pat said they have not experienced water or drainage issues there. Phil also asked whether a sewer pressure line is buried deep enough; Pat replied the pressure line "should be, 6 feet or greater in-depth."
Committee member Scott expressed concern that the subdivision may originally have limited access to reduce the number of driveways on a county trunk highway and said he was "apprehensive" about agreeing to individual access for each lot. Pete Nikkater noted there are other separate entrances on the same stretch of highway and said he did not expect the change to make a substantial difference.
The committee debated whether to approve access only for vacant lots or for all lots now; members ultimately agreed to approve single access points for lots 6 through 13 on County Trunk Highway J. The owner said existing aprons that show on Google Street View would be removed and that any portion of a current driveway extending past a lot line would be cut back so it does not cross lot lines.
A motion to approve individual access for lots 6–13 on County Trunk Highway J was made, seconded and carried. The committee did not adopt any additional changes to the recorded plat; Pat noted the plat language allows departures "unless otherwise approved by the highway department."
