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Boone County grants exception so 400 North can remain eligible for hard‑surface conversion
Summary
Landowners petitioned to convert 400 North from gravel to hard surface. The road scored above many petition roads except for a required 75% right-of-way dedication signature threshold; commissioners approved a special exception because one landowner who is a commissioner could not sign per attorney advice.
Dan Smith, a landowner on 400 North, asked the Boone County commissioners on April 14 for a special exception to the county’s petition-road scoring process so his road could remain eligible for conversion from gravel to hard surface.
Smith told the board residents began the petition in February 2018 and that the road ranks in the top 20% of petition roads by the county’s scoring criteria, notably scoring between 100 and 300 vehicles per day on average. The county’s conversion program uses several metrics and requires dedication of right of way signatures from landowners; to receive full points for that metric the county requires 75% or more of landowners to sign the dedication document.
Smith said seven of the 10 landowners had signed the dedication but that Commissioner Donnie Lawson — a landowner on the road — had been advised by his personal attorney not to sign because doing so might be viewed as a conflict of interest. Smith explained that excluding Lawson’s signature from the denominator would raise the percentage to just under 78%, making the road eligible for conversion under the current scoring rules, and asked the board for a special exception to account for Lawson’s conflict constraint.
County staff confirmed that the scoring threshold is 75% and that with Lawson counted among the ten owners the signatory share would be 7 of 10 (70%), below the threshold; excluding Lawson would yield 7 of 9 (~77.8%). A commissioner moved to grant the exception to the scoring system in this instance, another commissioner seconded the motion, and the board approved the exception by voice vote.
The approval means 400 North will retain the points associated with the right-of-way metric and remain in contention for hard‑surface conversion under the county’s petition-road program in 2025. Commissioners did not amend the formal scoring rules at large; this action was recorded as an exception based on the specific factual circumstance described by Smith.
Proper names, roadway references and the petition details were recorded into the meeting packet and provided by Smith during his presentation.
