Hancock County Board of Supervisors voted June 16 to deny a petition to abandon about 1,500 feet at the end of East Ridge Road, to approve a separate petition from Polychem, Inc. to abandon roughly 600 feet in the Portland Harbor area, and to deny petitions to add Whitfield Drive (about 1.23 miles) and Englewood/Angelwood Lane (about 1,700 feet) to the county-maintained road registry.

The decisions came after a public hearing during which county road staff, property owners and counsel for Polychem presented maps, maintenance history and concerns about landlocked parcels. Board President Scottie Adams presided over the hearing and supervisors recorded 5-0 votes on each final motion.

Board staff said county crews had maintained parts of East Ridge within the last five years, and supervisors said the record did not show whether abandoning the 1,500-foot stretch would leave a neighboring property owner without legal access. Leroy (county roads staff) told the board he could not confirm whether the petitioner’s action would create a landlocked parcel; Supervisor District 4 moved to deny the petition on that basis, and the motion carried 5-0.

Ann Taylor, counsel for Polychem, presented a survey and told the board the company owned both sides of the section proposed for abandonment and that no other properties behind that stretch would lose access. The board found, on the record, that the statutory factors cited by county counsel — including lack of county maintenance for five or more years and low traffic volumes — were satisfied for the Polychem segment and voted 5-0 to approve Polychem’s abandonment petition.

Whitfield Drive drew substantial public comment from a resident identified as Kent, who argued the county could not support taking over the road because projected tax receipts would be insufficient to cover maintenance. County staff said the proposed 1.23-mile addition did not meet the county’s subdivision and road-acceptance standards. A motion to deny the petition carried 5-0.

Discussion at the hearing also surfaced recurring concerns about the county’s road-acceptance process and developer-built surfaces. Speakers and supervisors said some developers had constructed unpaved or limestone road surfaces to standards that county staff later questioned; speakers asked for clearer, documented engineering approvals, compaction testing and plan review before acceptance. Alex (county staff/engineering) and Leroy described instances where contractors said they had built to county direction, and supervisors directed staff to follow up on documentation and to have engineering reports available when road-acceptance petitions come before the board.

For one petition — an extension identified as Road 541 — the board appointed a supervisor and a county engineer to examine the contemplated acceptance and report back at the next meeting on July 7. That motion carried 5-0.

Decisions recorded in the meeting minutes: denial of East Ridge abandonment (5-0), approval of Polychem abandonment (5-0), denial of Whitfield Drive acceptance to the county road registry (5-0), denial of Englewood/Angelwood acceptance (5-0), and appointment of a committee and county engineer to examine Road 541 and report back July 7 (5-0). The board’s actions were procedural and limited to the county road registry and the statutory standards presented at the hearing; no changes in property deeds or access rights were recorded at the meeting.

Looking ahead, supervisors asked staff to provide clearer engineering sign-offs and compaction test reports for developer-built roads and to return with proposed updates to subdivision and road-acceptance procedures so future petitions present complete documentation for the board’s review.