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Jackson County relinquishes claimed maintenance rights to easement through private property on County Road 175
Summary
After a public hearing, the Jackson County Commission approved a resolution to vacate the county's claimed right to improve and maintain a portion of County Road 175 that crosses property owned by Shadowlands LLC; the commission did not rule on whether the road is a public road, saying that would be a matter for the circuit court.
The Jackson County Commission voted to sign a resolution relinquishing the county's claimed right to improve and maintain an easement running through private property off County Road 175.
County Attorney Mister Porter told the commission the easement originated in a 1969 blanket right-of-way deed that purported to grant the county the privilege to improve and maintain a public road across multiple privately owned tracts. Porter said county records and staff inquiries indicate Jackson County never accepted that easement into the county's road inventory and never undertook maintenance on the corridor. He recommended the commission vacate the county's claimed maintenance rights.
Charles Ray, attorney for the landowner, said the client (identified in filings and meeting comments variously as Shadow Locks LLC and Shadow Long Farms) has invested six figures maintaining the road and faces a continuing inability to control access while the easement remains. "The first impediment my client has ... is the inability to control his own land and this road that goes through it. It's it's only true access into this property," Ray said during the public hearing.
A resident, Stan Vander Brink of 5137 County Road 175, described frequent weekend noise and safety problems from off-road vehicles using the track, saying vehicles had damaged fencing and endangered livestock.
The commission voted to approve a resolution that vacates the county's claimed easement and relinquishes the county's right to improve or maintain the portion that runs through the property. County officials and counsel emphasized that the resolution does not adjudicate whether the track is a public road; that determination, Porter said, would be decided by a court if disputed.
Staff said the portion discussed begins near the end of pavement on County Road 175 and continues across state land into the private property toward the Tennessee line. The county will publish and file the resolution as required; the decision will be recorded with the probate office as part of the formal vacation process.
The resolution passed by voice vote after a motion and a second; no individual roll-call votes were recorded in the meeting transcript.
