HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Hearing - BOCC (004)The Commissioners held an Open Record Public Hearing to consider vacating M -NW roadlog 33790
south of Rd 24 -NW in S 1 and 2. T 22 N, R 24 E WM as petitioned by Raymond Mayer/ Loretta Mayer
and Billingsley Ranch LLC (Brent Billingsley).
Keith Elefson, County Engineer, provided the below engineers report and stated he is hesitant to
recommend vacation:
The Board of County Commissioners of Grant County Washington has received a petition to
vacate that portion of County Road and Rights -of -Way b e in g a portion of R o a d M N W f o r
1.0 6 m i 1 e s south of R o a d 2 4 N W; lying along the section line between Section 1 and
Section 2 of Township 22 North, Range 24 East W.M., all in Grant County, Washington, as
shown on the attached Exhibit A.
The Board of County Commissioners determined that consideration should be given to the
petition and directed the County Road Engineer to prepare a report on the proposed vacation
and abandonment for a public hearing to be held at 1:10 PM, Monday, the 21St Day of June,
2021. The Notice of Hearing was published in the County Official Newspaper and the Notice of
Hearing was posted at each termini in compliance with RCW 36.87.050.
The proponents of the petition own the frontage along the petitioned County Right-of-way. The
petitioning owners desire to prevent illegal dumping that currently occurs within this
right-of-way. M NW is an unimproved road on the County road system. This road provides
access from Road 24 NW to Washington State Department of Natural Resources land, which can
also be accessed utilizing Road 23 NW. The original dedication of M NW is Old County Road 520,
which provides access to federal land. Road 520 also provides access from the south, and
connects to Road 687, which provides access from the west. These roads are all unimproved
roads on the County system.
1 find that this section of County Right-of-way provides limited benefit to the traveling public,
and use would be primarily for recreational purposes. Itis unlikely that the County would
improve these roads due to cost of construction and the rural nature of the area. However,
access to state and federal lands maybe considered a valid reason to not vacate this section of
right-of-way. Itis feasible to allow gates be placed at both ends with a limited access signage, to
be purchased by the 2 proponents. There is precedence for this, one of which is a Nature
preserve in Quincy, and a temporary "must remain open" gate at the Gorge on Baseline.
Therefore 1 recommend gates being placed at owners expense, that the gates be required to be
open during hunting season and other times of high recreational use, and to deny outright
vacating recreational access
Loretta Mayer, one of the petitioners, stated that she is surprised by the engineer's hesitation to
recommend. She stated there is a lot of negativities to the road due to ORV's who bring in noxious
weeds, fire dangers, and a lot of garbage dumping.
Sam Dart, Assistant Public Works Director, assisted the commissioners by sharing his screen with a
bigger arial map. The gate option was discussed further.
After discussion, Commissioner Carter stated she would be in favor of continuing the hearing. The Clerk
of the Board recommended continuing to June 29, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. and keep the public comment
portion open.
A motion was made by Commissioner Stone, seconded by Commissioner Jones to continue this hearing
to June 29, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. The motion passed unanimously