By Taylor Boyd
The Stuart Town Council again tabled discussions on assuming ownership of a section of Landmark Drive until the town’s planning commission provides its recommendation.
The planning commission is scheduled to meet Oct. 21, and the council will revisit the topic at its Nov. 19 meeting.
Town Manager Bryce Simmons and Town Attorney Christopher Corbett supported waiting for the commission’s input.
“I’d feel more comfortable,” Corbett said, noting the commission will determine whether assuming ownership aligns with the town’s comprehensive plan and can answer other questions the council may have.
The topic was previously tabled at the September meeting while the council sought Corbett’s legal opinion.
“I have briefly talked to Chris about this. There have been a lot of questions about” the benefits for the town in “taking over this road, and ultimately, I’ve asked what’s best for the town regarding the property itself,” Simmons said.
Simmons said town ownership could benefit potential developers along the road by providing public access to attractive properties.
“Just because it is adjacent to some of the more attractive and developable properties in town,” he said.
Assuming ownership would also allow the town to establish an easement for future expansion of the Mayo River Rail Trail from Landmark Drive across Woodland Drive toward the Stuart Rotary Club building.
“As far as any financial benefit, I don’t think it would provide any. It wouldn’t provide revenue for the town. It would be a maintenance cost. But right now, it’s a private road that essentially serves a public function,” Simmons said. “That’s just my interpretation in looking at the route itself.”
However, Corbett said that’s why the council needs to make the decision.
“They may take the same trip I did and come back with a, ‘You know, developers need to know about this because there will be interest,’” Corbett said.
After last month’s meeting, Simmons said he also met with a resident who lives at the intersection of Woodland and Landmark drives.
“He informed me that he has a recorded ingress and egress easement for access to the back of his property. This is just information that I wanted to provide to council, that there would be another easement associated with taking over that road access,” he said.
Mayor Terry Dalton asked if the resident would be able to develop his property and still have access to Landmark Drive if the town decides not to purchase it.
“He can buy the road,” Simmons answered.
Dalton asked if the resident could access his property if use of Landmark Drive was not available.
“That’s a ‘his’ problem not an ‘us’ problem,” council member Erica Wade said.
Noting that the road is currently owned by the Williams family, Wade added there’s a shared easement for most of the residents along Landmark.
“If the property is truly abandoned, and I’ve come across this only in a couple of situations where there was a state right-of-way, that the state had no interest in maintaining from then on out, and they truly abandoned the property. It typically goes back to the local government,” Simmons said.
Corbett concurred.
Having encountered similar situations in his past jobs, Simmons asked if the road parcel would revert to the town even if council chose not to purchase it if the property owner decides to truly abandon the property.
Corbett noted he hadn’t seen the property’s plats or knew where the boundary lines are located.
From his experience working in county government, Vice-mayor Dave Hoback said when the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would abandon rights-of-way they would typically revert back to the adjacent property owners.
“But even then, that gets into the lines of like a prescriptive easement …, but the property line goes to the sale of the road,” Simmons said.
Hoback thinks this situation might be different since it’s a private road instead of a public right-of-way.
Simmons added the road is deeded as a separate parcel.
“There is a 50-foot right-of-way that includes the road that is its own separate parcel,” he said.
If abandoned by the current property owner, Wade said she thinks it would be put up for a tax sale like other properties.
“This doesn’t even follow VDOT rules because it is a private road. I don’t think the locality would ultimately get it unless we bought it at auction,” Wade said.
In other matters, the council:
*Scheduled a public hearing Nov. 19 on VML/VACo Finance team and procurement of funds for filter backwash improvements.
*Discussed the upcoming Spooktacular on Friday, Oct. 31, on Main Street.
*Heard updates on the Stuart Downtown Revitalization Project and public works projects.
*Discussed town employees obtaining Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL).
*Reviewed town policy, approved meeting minutes, and paid bills as amended.
