Landowner urges Fremont County to resolve Big Ridge Lane access after records show missing easements

Michelle Song, a Bay Ridge landowner, told the Fremont County Board of Commissioners she and neighbors are effectively landlocked because a stretch of Big Ridge Lane lacks a recorded easement or right-of-way. "I live on Bay Ridge, which, there has been I'm a landowner, and there is no easements or no right of ways, which essentially means that people are landlocked as landowners on the west side of the road," Song said during public comment. She asked the board to help secure access for property owners.

County planning commissioner Steve Bauman summarized decades of record problems, saying a handwritten county map placed the road in the wrong location and earlier survey and appraisal work stalled when a proposed subdivision and tribal land boundaries complicated the effort. "There is a paper plot map that was in our files that was had or handwritten on it that it was Big Ridge Lane... the location map that was filed was incorrect," Bauman said, recounting the historical record and prior county action. Commissioners discussed options cited by staff — voluntary easement donations, landowner petitions to establish a county road, court action by landowners, or condemnation — and directed county staff to research options and return with recommendations.

The board did not adopt a substantive remedy immediately. Chair acknowledged the issue and asked county attorney and staff to prepare a menu of options, including appointing a viewer to research record evidence, assessing whether a petition by landowners is feasible, and outlining potential costs and timelines for each path. The commissioners emphasized they would avoid creating new obligations for neighboring landowners without clear statutory authority.