Residents press Louisa County over access to Spring Street and FEMA lots

Unidentified Speaker 2, a member of the public, urged the Louisa County meeting to address long-running access problems on Spring Street and adjacent lots the speaker described as FEMA parcels, saying “I’ve been fighting this for 7 years” and asking whether the county intends to sell the street or otherwise change access rights.

The speaker said multiple private owners and a history of informal maintenance have complicated access and asked how the county will ensure legal right-of-way to those lots. “How does the county pay all the people to their lots? Because this is FEMA lots that should have a right of way to them right now,” the speaker said during public comment.

Unidentified Speaker 3 (counsel as referenced in the discussion) responded that litigation is ongoing and that staff were advised not to pursue sale or other actions affecting the road until the legal matter is resolved. “There’s litigation under underway on it now … we were advised not to pursue [or] take any action,” the speaker said, indicating the board should defer substantive action.

Board members and the public discussed whether long-term maintenance by the county could imply ownership, whether leases could place parcels on the tax roll, and the difficulty of finding definitive documentary proof of county ownership. No formal motion or directive to staff was made during the meeting.

The next step, according to participants, is to let the litigation run its course and reconvene on any administrative or property actions only after counsel advises that it is appropriate to do so.

The matter was raised during public comment and no vote or policy change was recorded at this meeting.