County should toss rural right-of-way policy
Private property rights are the bedrock of our Republic and one of the key principles on which our system is based. Property rights are a component of natural law, the basis of democracy and one of the motivations for the founding of the United States. Property is so essential to a free state that even with the huge bloat of government the past century into every aspect of public life, property rights have escaped the intrusion that the 1st and 2nd Amendments have suffered.
All of which is why the Ward County Commission should follow the recommendation of the planning commission and end a controversial rural right-of-way policy that doesn’t pass the smell test when it comes to observing property rights.
The policy requires anyone who plats 40 acres or fewer to dedicate and donate land to the county for a 75-foot right of way from the center of the road on county roads. They would have to donate a 40-foot right of way on township roads. In all other situations, by state statute, the county and townships hold 33-foot easements from the center of their roads, and landowners continue to own those properties and pay taxes on them. The county then purchases the amount of right of way necessary when road projects are built.
The chief opponent of the policy has been the Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau has objected to the taking of the land from platted properties without compensation and has called for the county to provide compensation going forward and pay landowners who have been previously affected.
On March 16, the planning commission supported a motion to drop the policy and leave only the 33-foot statutory right of way when land is platted for any purpose. The county or townships would have to purchase any right of way should there be future road projects.
While right of ways are perfectly reasonable in public policy terms, the first consideration must be – must always be – the sacrosanct nature of property rights. Current policy doesn’t adequately reflect this and the county commission would be wise to make the change.