Galen Scott
gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com
The Parker County Commissioners Court is getting serious about moving private property out of the strip of land alongside county roads.
The issue was aired publicly Monday after environmental officers, led by Parker County Fire Marshal Shawn Scott, requested some direction from the court. Local law enforcement was involved in several recent disputes where questions surfaced about what actually constitutes county-owned right of way.
“Part of what we want to do is get together and develop an agreed-upon policy,” Scott said. “Our biggest thing is, what is in the right of way and what isn’t?”
County Attorney John Forrest explained county roads are classified according to width, and that specific right of way distances correspond.
“In order to make a determination on whether something is or isn’t in the right of way, we’ll have to look at each road on a case-by-case basis,” Forrest said.
Environmental officers also expressed a need for clarification regarding how to legally store, return and/or destroy property removed from the right of way.
“If we collect a dumpster, and we haul it down the road, what’s going to be the process for giving it back to the individual, or for the disposal?” Scott asked. “If it’s a vehicle, our process is to tag it and if it’s still there after 72 hours, then we go back and remove it. The question is, who removes it? Does the precinct remove it? Or how are we going to cover the cost of the removal?”
County Judge Mark Riley noted the county’s legal responsibility to keep the right of way clear of objects.
“There’s a liability here,” he pointed out.
Precinct 3 Commissioner John Roth said some people simply aren’t aware their property is in the right of way. In other cases, he said there are houses where, “the people just let their stuff flow out on to the right of way.” He directed Scott and the environmental department to produce a draft policy for the Court to review at its next regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 10.
