Saline Residents Want to Close Road to River; Public Hearing April 18th

UPDATE 04/29/2019:

• County Judge Sets May 30th for 2nd Hearing on Whether to Close River Roads

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ORIGINAL 04/03/19:

Several Saline County property owners want roads near their home changed from public to private. They say there is crime and other activity that they want to cease. This road is the only access to a stretch of the Saline River known as Paul Wright Ford, or as Nickel Bill Access.

The property owners have filed a “Petition to Vacate” with the County. This is asking the County to end their maintenance of sections of  two roads – Mountain View Road and Tony Kelly Road – and change those sections to become private, so the public would not be able to use them and the property owners could gate them. The property owners state in the Petition that, “trespassing, criminal mischief and unsavory activities regularly take place.”

Michael Sacomani, owner of Saline River Canoe, a company that rents canoes and guides trips in that area, says that this cuts off access to a five-mile stretch of the Saline River. Closure of these two roads leading to the area would also cut off his ability to do business there. It would also limit individuals who take those roads to get to the river to swim, fish, float, etc.

Saline County Judge Jeff Arey will hold a hearing on Thursday, April 18th at 10 a.m. on the matter. The hearing is open to the public, so both sides of the issue may be heard.

According to the statute, if someone is wants to formally object to the County vacating those sections of roads, they need to file a written objection in the County Clerk’s Office by April 15th. An objection could be sent by email to [email protected] and CC [email protected]. Reference “Petition to Vacate” #CC2019-7 and state your objection.

County Attorney Clay Ford stated, “If there are written objections filed, the County Judge will appoint three impartial residents to view the road and write a report of their opinion on whether or not the road should be vacated.

Ford provided a copy of the petition; the notice that must be published; a copy of Arkansas Code Annotated 14-298-117 that deals with the “Vacation of Road(s);” and maps of the road sections at issue and the property owned by the petitioners.

MAPS:

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STATEMENTS FROM ARKANSAS GAME & FISH; AND SALINE COUNTY SHERIFF:

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NOTICE OF PETITION TO VACATE PORTIONS OF COUNTY ROADS:

Notice is hereby given that on the 15th day of March, 2019, a Petition was filed in the County Court of Saline County, Arkansas, by Michael Callahan, et al, asking that portions of certain roads be vacated, said portions of roads located in Saline County, Arkansas, and described as follows:

*See Legal

That Petitioners state that the Petition has been signed by more than 10 legal residents in the area in question and owners of all boundaries of the roads to be vacated and have authorized Robin Bray to act on their behalf. This Petition will be heard by the Judge of said County Court on the 18th day of April, 2019, at 10:00 A.M., at the Saline County Courthouse, by which time all persons, firms and corporations are hereby notified to file any and all objections, if they have any, to said vacation of road, in writing, with the County Clerk, or be forever barred; said date being not less than thirty (30) days from the date of filing of said Petition.

[Signed by] Robin Bray

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IN THE COUNTY COURT OF SALINE COUNTY, ARKANSAS IN THE MATTER OF VACATING CERTAIN ROADS IN SALINE COUNTY, ARKANSAS PETITION TO VACATE:

Comes the undersigned and for their Petition state:

1. That more than ten (10) Petitioners, as required by law are residents of the area in question and are the sole owners of all boundaries of the portions of Mountain View and Tony Kelly Roads described as follows, to wit: *See Attached Legal* and do respectively request this Court to enter an order vacating the above described portions of said roads in Saline County, Arkansas; that said portions of roads be made private, and that a date for hearing of the Petition be sert and notice thereof be published as provided by law.

2. That said portions of the roads are useless and County roads, that they are frequently inaccessible dead-end gravel roads that lead to often dangerous waterways, and that these portions are not useable or necessary for county, public, or school services, and are not a functioning part of any road system or necessary for the traveling public.

3. That trespassing, criminal mischief and unsavory activities regularly take place and that the Saline County Sheriff’s Department is often unable to patrol portions of the roads as described above due to flooding and unsafe conditions of the road the majority of the year.

4. That said criminal activities include, but are not limited to, drug use, public indecency, underage drinking, property damage, illegal dumping, pollution of waterways, trespass on private lands, poaching and shooting of guns on and toward private properties, breaking and entering and theft from petitioners property.

5. That the area has become a public nuisance, that the area is often dangerous due to flooding, and that this is a matter of public safety as well as private security.

6. That various agencies, such as Arkansas Game and Fish, Army Corps of Engineers, and as well as the Saline County Sheriff’s Department, agree that any portion of the river, including any sandbars or islands, are not public property but the exclusive titled and vested private property of the petitioners with land abutting said river, subject only to any rights of the above stated agencies and/or public utilities.

7. That petitioners therefore request under Arkansas Code 14-298-117 that the above portions of Mountain View Road and Tony Kelly Road, be vacated as part of the County road system, returned to private ownership, and that petitioners be allowed to place a gate at the beginning of said descriptions, with the understanding that certain governmental interests, such as Army Corps of Engineers, Arkansas Game and Fish, and County and State agencies and /or any utilities requiring access, shall have said access.

8. Petitioner herein designates Robin Y. Bray, to act in its behalf. WHEREFORE, Petitioners pray the Court that this Petition be granted and that the above described property be vacated as a county road.

Respectfully Submitted: [Signed by] Michael Callahan; Lisa Callahan; Jimmy Jones; David L. Stewart, MD; Walter Woodard; Sandy Woodard; Keaton Harper; Megan Harper; Annette Nutt; Virgil Elwood Smith; Kenneth Orrell; Kevin Mansfield; Loretta Mansfield; B&S Outdoor Properties; Nikcolette Jones; and Edward Jones.

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Ark. Code 14-298-117 Vacation of road (Arkansas Code (2018 Edition))

14-298-117 Vacation of road.

(a)

(1) When any county road or any part of any county road is considered useless, any ten (10) citizens residing in that portion of the county may make application by petition agreeable to § 14-298-124 to county court to vacate the road, setting forth in the petition the reason why the road ought to be vacated.

(2) The petition shall be publicly read by the county court at the hearing on the petition, with the proof of notice and publication required by this chapter.

(b) If no objections are made and filed, the county court may declare the road vacated, or any part thereof that it may deem necessary.

(b) If no objections are made and filed, the county court may declare the road vacated, or any part thereof that it may deem necessary.

(d) The costs thereof and expenses incident thereto shall be paid by the petitioners unless the county court shall order the costs and expenses paid out of the county treasury.

History

Acts 1871, No. 26, § 58, p. 56; C. & M. Dig., § 5247; Pope’s Dig., § 6966; A.S.A. 1947, § 76-918; Acts 2005, No. 1200, § 10.