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Beaufort County committee reviews backlog of legacy dirt roads and planned right-of-way ordinance
Summary
County staff told the Transportation Committee that decades of limited funding have left roughly 55 miles of unimproved "legacy" dirt roads; staff described a proposed ordinance to formalize homeowner right-of-way donations and a plan to move the ordinance to council for first reading.
Beaufort County Transportation Committee members heard a detailed update May 21 on the county's dirt-road program and a proposed ordinance to formalize right-of-way acquisition for legacy roads.
Brian (Presenter) told the committee that, based on county records and consultant evaluations going back to 1994, staff accounted for roughly 105 miles of road work completed over several hundred roads and said current funding levels have reduced paving to about 0.75 miles a year. "We keep getting the less and less roads a year to where we're down to 3 or 4 roads a year, totaling about 0.75 miles," Brian said. He described a remaining inventory of about 172 legacy roads (roughly 55 miles) that lack full right-of-way and therefore are not eligible for capital improvements until rights are formalized.
Why it matters: legacy roads can limit emergency access, complicate maintenance and extend the time needed to serve unpaved areas. Brian and other members noted fire department access and heirs'property issues as persistent obstacles to progress.
What staff proposed: Brian said the county has taken an ordinance to committee to standardize the right-of-way process. Under the proposal, staff will identify property owners on candidate roads, send a notice of intent to participate to affected owners, and seek voluntary donated right-of-way. If a sufficient majority volunteer, staff will return to council to request authority to formalize the right-of-way and proceed to negotiation. "So that's just went through committee now, and we'll move to council at the end of the month for 1st reading. It is an ordinance, so it's gonna have to go through 3 readings," Brian told the panel.
Next steps and contingencies: Brian said if outreach does not produce majority support staff will present alternatives to council, including continued maintenance at the current level, converting the road to private maintenance, or pursuing condemnation or friendly-condemnation paths for properties with unclear title. He also noted the county's primary funding source for these projects is a vehicle-registration tag program (about $20 per registration), and that at current funding rates a full program to finish all eligible roads would take multiple decades.
Committee reaction: Members pressed staff on timing for specific long-delayed projects and urged coordination with council members to resolve heirs' property titles to speed right-of-way acquisition. The committee did not take a formal vote on the ordinance at the meeting; staff said the measure would proceed to council for formal consideration.
