More than a century after San Benito County assumed jurisdiction
of four roads near and inside the Clear Creek Management Area, a
federal agency is questioning whether the local government actually
has authority over them in talks that potentially could lead to a
smoother, permanent closure of the winding thoroughfares.
More than a century after San Benito County assumed jurisdiction of four roads near and inside the Clear Creek Management Area, a federal agency is questioning whether the local government actually has authority over them in talks that potentially could lead to a smoother, permanent closure of the winding thoroughfares.
The question goes back to what county officials refer to as “Civil War-era” jurisdictional issues. When those roads were opened at the time, they became dominion of the county by default in a sense, based on what appears to be a vaguely-written law more than a century ago. Ownership of the roads arose in recent talks between county and Bureau of Land Management officials because the federal agency since 2008 has considered options toward restricting or closing the 63,000-acre recreational area due to asbestos contamination.
A prime motive for the state in possibly gaining authority of the roads is to ease the complications with potentially closing the area and those connecting arteries, said Steve Wittry, the county’s public works administrator. Clear Creek has been closed temporarily – the county also has kept the roads in question off limits – since May 2008 when the BLM office released an assessment showing high asbestos levels.
The central point of the inquiry relates to an absence of deeds for the roads, but Wittry noted how that is the case with the “vast majority” of county roads while he also pointed out it is a common problem elsewhere, lacking the documentation for such ownership.
Those four avenues in question include Clear Creek Road, Mexican Lake Road, Wild Ass Road and Sawmill Creek Road. They total about 27 miles, according to the BLM.
The earliest documentation of their ownership is a map adopted by the county in the mid-1940s showing it owned and maintained the roads. In the mid-90s, meanwhile, San Benito signed an agreement with the federal government to have the BLM maintain them. Wittry pointed out San Benito simply does “not have the manpower to maintain them right now.”
“One of the things the BLM has brought up is that the county doesn’t have deeds,” said Wittry, who briefed supervisors about the matter at their meeting last week. “There are no deeds issued that show the county has ownership of those roads.”
Look for the full story in the Free Lance.
