Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Orphan Roads topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press county on orphan roads; board includes $2 million loan fund in FY26 budget
Summary
Several residents urged action on private 'orphan' roads left by developers; speakers cited pending state grants and uneven disclosures by realtors. The board's FY26 budget includes a $2 million fund to loan to neighborhoods for bringing roads to state standards.
Residents from multiple Onslow County neighborhoods pressed commissioners on June 16 to address private “orphan” roads, urging the county to use local and state funding to repair roads developers left unfinished.
Mark Kemp said he represents a subdivision of about 100 homes where residents have long borne road maintenance burdens and said they had petitioned the county in 2018 and received 75% homeowner support for improvements. “We would constantly get told that we have a problem that can't be resolved or fixed by the county,” Kemp said in public comment, asking commissioners to support budget line items that would help these communities.
Tim Bogie (Bogey) detailed state-level legislative activity he said affects orphan-road funding, naming bills he described as House Bill 159 (formerly HB733), HB927, and Senate bills he said were focused on other counties; he argued Onslow should also pursue comparable appropriations. David Williams, who said he has worked on orphan roads for more than 30 years, urged the county to explore grant, sales-tax and other mechanisms and suggested the county could use special sales-tax proceeds with voter approval.
The county's FY26 budget — adopted the same night — includes a $2 million orphan-roads loan fund to provide upfront capital for neighborhoods to bring roads to state standards required for NCDOT acceptance. County Manager David Smitherman explained the fund is intended as a loan program that will be administered through the budget process; commissioners described the $2 million as a start and said state funding will also be needed.
Speakers also raised concerns about realtors and deed language in some sales, arguing buyers sometimes do not get clear notice about private-road responsibilities. Tim Bogie said he filed a complaint with the North Carolina Real Estate Association about listings that he said failed to disclose maintenance agreements; county officials noted that standard closing disclosures often identify whether a road is state-maintained.
No immediate ordinance or program changes were adopted during the meeting; the board approved the budget that creates the loan fund and commissioners asked staff to continue pursuing state-level support and to determine administrative details for the fund.
The public comments and the budget vote together put orphan roads on the board’s near-term agenda with implementation work expected from staff.
