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Ware County hearing on proposed Center Street closure draws split comments
Summary
The Ware County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 10 held a public hearing on a request to close an unopened 50-by-400-foot segment of Center Street. Applicant Dale Poole said the open road endangers his grandchildren; nearby landowners opposed the closure citing loss of access. The board closed the hearing and put the item on the Dec. 8 agenda.
Chairman Elmer Thrift called the Ware County Board of Commissioners to order on Nov. 10, 2025, at a public hearing to consider a request to close and abandon a roughly 50-foot-by-400-foot unopened right-of-way along Center Street.
Interim Planning Director Dustin Minchew summarized the application, saying applicant Dale Poole seeks to close and abandon an unopened stretch of road that runs parallel to South Augusta Avenue and ends in a dead end; Minchew said Poole owns both sides of the right-of-way and has installed a culvert and a private driveway on the parcel.
Dale Poole, the applicant, told the board he paid to have the driveway installed and urged the county to close the access. “Having that section of road open to the public would be a danger to his grandchildren,” Poole said, asking that the county allow the area to become a closed-access private driveway.
Neighbors opposed the request. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Kirkhart said their 30-acre parcel extends behind Poole’s property and is bisected by a roughly 4-foot ditch that complicates access; they said they have considered a farmstand and housing on that portion but rely on access across the unopened right-of-way. The Kirkharts said a possible alternate entry at Ketterer Street is limited because the owner there has erected a fence they described as “grandfathered in.”
Assistant County Attorney Jennifer Herzog advised the board that some may contend the strip was never a county road, but recommended following established practice: the county should search for evidence that the road was platted and used. Herzog also noted that installing a culvert could be a remedy to provide the Kirkharts access and that aerial photos show logging equipment crossing the area, which could bear on historical use.
Commissioner Jon Tindall moved to close the public hearing; Commissioner Leonard Burse seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and Chairman Thrift closed the hearing at 6:40 p.m. The record notes the item was added to the regular meeting agenda for further consideration, with a proposed approval date of Dec. 8, 2025.
No formal decision on abandoning the road was recorded at the hearing; the board set the matter for its regular meeting on Dec. 8, 2025, for further action.
