Couple appeals county decision on access road

A local couple has filed an appeal with the Athens County Court of Common Pleas after a decision by the Athens County Commissioners set allowable dimensions for an unmaintained township roadbed that the couple previously petitioned to have vacated.

Stan and Paige Alost submitted their petition for road vacation after local developer Brent Hayes asked the commissioners to reopen the roadbed to access a portion of his property. The commissioners denied the petition for vacation, as well as a petition by Hayes to set a 50-foot road width. However, the commissioners are recognizing a 40-foot right-of-way surveyed in the 19th century, which apparently would give Hayes the access he wants.

The Alosts have previously said that reopening the road, Athens Township Road 31A, would "destroy our property, taking out 50 to 100 trees with a 40-foot easement and 22 foot road width."

Hayes has said that when he purchased the site, maps showed the roadbed in question as the access road to his property.

He noted that other options were vastly more expensive, and he'd be willing to pursue them if somebody else were willing to pay the difference. He said that coming from Shaw Road "“ the other option "“ would mean a lot more clearing, tree cutting and land moving, which he said increases costs.

Early last month, the commissioners unanimously voted to recognize a land survey from 1868 establishing a 40-foot right-of-way for the roadbed with a 16-foot surface area, including 2 feet of berm. The commissioners were unaware of the survey earlier this summer when they set a 16-foot easement for the roadbed. Hayes appealed that decision in Athens County Common Pleas Court.

In their appeal, the Alosts argue that the decision they're appealing "affected the rights, duties, privileges or benefits of certain real property" of which the Alosts are the owners of record.

"Further, the aforesaid final order and decision is not supported by the reliable, probative and substantial evidence, and is unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious and not in accordance with the law," the appeal states.

The Alosts are asking that the court determine the commissioners' decision to be without merit, null and void, and to be of no effect.

The appeal also names Hayes, his wife Cynthia, and the Athens Township Trustees as appellees.

At this point, Commissioner Larry Payne explained at the time of the decision, if Hayes wants to continue with construction of the roadbed to make it usable, he will have to file a road-improvement petition with the commissioners.

"We were just recognizing the fact that there was a footage already established," Commissioner Larry Payne explained. "It was already set back in 1868 and that was the question. Nobody could find anything before."

Originally, Hayes wanted 40 or 50 feet, Payne continued, so the commissioners decided to reject that petition because the road was already surveyed in the 19th century to around 40 feet.

Alost has said that, seeing as Hayes owns the property on the other side of the tracks, the developer could put in a railroad crossing if that's what he wanted to do.

Hayes has previously maintained that the combination of the railroad tracks and Margaret Creek takes out the option of getting access to the property from that direction.

The Alosts argued that the law states that any roadbed not maintained for a period of 21 years or more can be officially vacated upon petition of an abutting landowner.

The Alosts said they cannot find anyone who has ever traveled on the road and that it apparently has been unmaintained over the past 60 years that they have been able to document.

"We cannot find anyone who's ever been on the road," they said previously. "It was dedicated in the late 1800s, but never really used as a road. We have spoken with property owners dating back to 1960 and cannot find anyone who has ever seen it open for public use."

Hayes is developing a retirement center on part of his property near the old River Valley School west of Athens. However, the property in question is to the east of that site, and Hayes said he hasn't decided what to do with it.