As a matter of long-standing county policy, Ward County property owners who plat fewer than 40 acres are required to donate a share of that property for additional road right of way.

The Ward County Farm Bureau is protesting that uncompensated taking, citing the financial loss to property owners and the inequity created in the overall handling of rights of way.

The Farm Bureau hopes to open a dialogue on this topic and other issues facing rural Ward County landowners at a public forum Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the North Central Research Extension Center. The Farm Bureau has invited county commissioners and is encouraging other farm organizations and affected property owners to participate.

“The Farm Bureau just doesn’t feel the taking of this land without compensation is right,” said local board member John Pietsch, Minot. “Once this is done, the landowner no longer has any say or control over this land. It’s actually as if it’s been sold.”

In cases where land has not been platted, such as land used for agriculture, the county holds a 33-foot easement on each side of the center of a road for public transportation. The landowner owns the property to the center of the road and pays taxes on it.

If fewer than 40 acres have been platted, Ward County requires a 75-foot right of way on each side of the center of a county road and a 40-foot right of way from the center of a township road. At the time of platting, that right of way is removed from the landowner’s possession and taken off the tax rolls, according to the Farm Bureau.

Farm Bureau board member Linda Anderson said she experienced that loss due to platting during the purchase of a farmstead west of Minot. The value loss amounted to $8,000, she said.

That’s value lost by a landowner who paid to acquire the land but no longer has the ability to sell the land, Pietsch said.

Owners of unplatted land or larger plats are compensated when the county acquires right of way for an active road project.

“It creates kind of an inequity among landowners,” Pietsch said, adding that owners of platted land lose their property even when there is no road project. It particularly makes little sense along township roads in areas far from an urban center, he said.

A number of townships have come out in opposition of the county policy and the taking of additional right of way along township roads.

“The township is actually unaware – the same as the landowner – that this land has been taken,” Pietsch said. Landowners often find out when they go to sell the land or if the county stages a project that uses the right of way.

Although the policy has been in place for many years, it has become controversial as more people have become aware of it and more landowners are being affected with the increase in the numbers of plats.

Farm Bureau board member Chad Rubbelke, Minot, said the organization has approached the county commission with its concerns about the policy but was unable to obtain a change.

“Our stance at Farm Bureau is we are going to make this right somehow,” he said.

Pietsch said the best solution is to eliminate the policy so all acquired right of way would be compensated. Ideally, a way could be found to compensate landowners already affected, he said.

To obtain data to support its efforts, the Farm Bureau is asking landowners who have been affected by the county policy to complete confidential questionnaires about their experiences. The questionnaire will be available at Wednesday’s meeting or can be obtained upon request by writing Ward County Farm Bureau, 2201 6th St. SE, Minot, ND 58701, or by email to wcfarmbureau@srt.com.