BROOKHAVEN — Paul Jordan, a Lincoln County landowner in district 5, asked the board of supervisors to make a road private Monday morning. No immediate action was taken on his request and instead a tentative hearing for the road was set for Dec.16. 

Jordan lives on Crosby Trail NW which was made a public road before District 5 Supervisor Doug Falvey entered office. Falvey said the road is physically impossible to maintain which is one reason Jordan requested the county abandon the road and to make it private. 

His request also stems from safety concerns as people drive down the road at odd hours of the night and are alleged to be doing illicit activities. It is a complicated matter due to the nearby landowners theoretically having access to the public road and Jordan owning about a 16 foot section of it where it forms a right angle with his driveway. 

“I would like to have the dirt road gated off. People are driving up that gravel road and are up to no good,” Jordan said. “Their headlights point right into my house in the middle of the night.” 

Lincoln County Board Attorney Greg Malta suggested the board could pass a resolution to abandon the road. Further discussion with supervisors and Lincoln County Engineer Ryan Holmes settled on the matter needing to be investigated further. Holmes suggested they discuss the survey of the road and other questions regarding the issue in executive session. 

After the executive session, Malta explained to Jordan there were a few legal concerns about how landowners could be affected. He explained to Jordan he could try and get signatures from landowners to make the road private. 

“From a general perspective, you either have everyone agree to it being private or you have a public hearing. We usually give a form to the applicant and see if you can get your neighbors to agree,” Malta said. “If they don’t agree we will have a public hearing.”

Supervisors voted to have a hearing on the road on Dec. 16 with the regularly scheduled board meeting at 9 a.m. to give any of the neighboring landowners the opportunity to come and speak. Malta told Jordan he would need to have a survey of the property lines done, a deed and the signatures of those who consented to making it a private road.