As used in this Subtitle, the following terms shall have the
following definitions:
Any road which is listed in the classification of "county
road" within the Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester County, as
from time to time may be adopted by the County Commissioners by resolution,
and which is also inventoried with the Maryland State Highway Administration
as a "county road."
The Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester County shall be
as set forth in the resolution of the County Commissioners adopted
pursuant to § PW 1-202 hereof.
Any road which is listed within the Inventory of Public Roads
of Worcester County, as from time to time may be adopted by the County
Commissioners by resolution, not being a county road, as herein defined,
and being in the classification of "other public roads."
Any road, including the bridge or bridges that it crosses
over, which is listed within the classification of “public easement
road” in the Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester County,
as from time to time may be adopted by the County Commissioners by
resolution. A “public easement road” shall be included
as a County road in the inventory submitted to the State Highway Administration.
[Added 10-11-1988 by Bill No. 88-17; amended 11-17-2009 by Bill No. 09-8]
Any public or private way set aside as a permanent right-of-way
for vehicular travel by the general public and affording the principal
means of access to abutting properties.
Those specifications as may be from time to time adopted
by the Worcester County Commissioners by resolution for the construction,
reconstruction, maintenance and repair of roads within Worcester County,
Maryland.
[Amended 10-11-1988 by Bill No. 88-17]
The County Commissioners shall, by resolution, adopt an Inventory
of Public Roads of Worcester County. Such inventory shall include
the following classifications: county roads, other public roads and
public easement roads. Such resolution shall identify all roads by
name or number, approximate length and other pertinent information
desirable for identification of the road. The resolution shall be
accompanied by a map or maps identifying the road by classification.
The Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester County adopted by
the County Commissioners pursuant hereto by resolution, as the same
may be amended from time to time by the County Commissioners pursuant
to the terms hereof, by resolution, shall be deemed to be complete;
and any road, path, trail, street, right-of-way or route not listed
in such Inventory shall be deemed to be abandoned and no longer a
public road of Worcester County. The abandonment of any road pursuant
hereto shall in no way adversely affect property rights of adjacent
property owners with regard to private roadways or private rights-of-way
over said road which has been so abandoned.
(a)
Authority to amend. The County Commissioners
shall have the power, by resolution, to amend the Inventory of Public
Roads of Worcester County, subject to the provisions of this section
and in accordance with the procedures set forth herein. The Commissioners
are empowered to make the following types of amendments to the Inventory
of Public Roads of Worcester County:
(1)
Other public roads may be transferred from the other public
roads classification to the county roads classification.
(2)
Roads not included in the Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester
County may be included in the Inventory under the county roads classification.
(3)
Other public roads may be deleted from the Inventory of Public
Roads of Worcester County.
(4)
County roads may be deleted from the Inventory of Public Roads
of Worcester County.
(5)
Alterations in physical characteristics and names of roads may
be made.
(6)
Public easement roads may be added to or deleted from the Inventory.
[Added 10-11-1988 by Bill No. 88-17]
(b)
Other amendments restricted. No additions
may be made to the other public roads classification unless it is
shown by a preponderance of the evidence that such road existed as
another public road prior to the adoption of the then current Inventory
of Public Roads of Worcester County and was not included in such Inventory
by oversight or clerical error and then may only be added to the Inventory
as another public road by a vote of a five-sevenths majority of the
entire Board of County Commissioners.
[Amended 8-20-2002 by Bill No. 02-11]
(c)
Procedure for amendment.
(1)
Amendments may be by the County Commissioners at their own initiative
or by the County Commissioners upon petition of any citizen or property
owner. In the event that the amendment is upon petition of a citizen
or property owner, all costs incurred pursuant thereto shall be borne
by such petitioner.
(2)
The County Commissioners shall schedule a hearing on any proposed
amendment to the Inventory of Public Roads of Worcester County. Thirty
days notice of such hearing, describing the proposed amendment, shall
be given by at least three separate insertions of such notice at weekly
intervals in one or more newspapers of general circulation in Worcester
County. Amendments shall be made by resolution subsequent to such
hearing.
(d)
Minimum requirements for "county road" classification.
(1)
A fifty-foot right-of-way must exist unless such road is either:
A.
Constructed wholly within the confines of an approved Residential
Planned Community and in conformance with all County specifications
for said roads; or
B.
Listed in the county road classification of the Worcester County
Road Inventory as of January 3, 1978, unless included pursuant to
Subsection (e) hereof, provided that a right-of-way of less than fifty
feet may qualify in the following cases:
1.
Roads platted in subdivisions for which a variance or exception
has been granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals pursuant to Title
1, Zoning Regulations, of the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article,
and subdivision plat approval given by the Planning Commission and
all other planning and zoning criteria complied with;
2.
The road has at least a forty-foot right-of-way and is shown
on a plat subdividing the property for the purpose of building lots
duly recorded among the land records of Worcester County prior to
January 4, 1978; or
3.
The road has at least a thirty-foot right-of-way with a five-foot
easement along both right-of-way lines for drainage and utilities
and is shown on a plat subdividing the property for the purpose of
building lots duly recorded among the land records of Worcester County,
Maryland, prior to January 4, 1978, and the road is not or is not
contemplated to be a collector road as designated by the Planning
Commission or as defined by the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article.
Even if such requirements are met, amendments are discretionary with
the County Commissioners, and the Commissioners may make additional
requirements as they deem appropriate. In the case of roads qualifying
under the transitional provisions hereof, the Commissioners shall
consider the assessable basis of improvements constructed upon the
proposed road and may defer acceptance of the road into the county
road classification pending the completion of more substantial and
valuable improvements.
4.
In no event shall a right-of-way of less than thirty feet qualify.
[Amended 5-15-2001 by Bill No. 01-6]
(2)
Such right-of-way must be surveyed and transferred to the County
Commissioners free of all liens and encumbrances by fee simple deed
or valid dedication, at the expense of the person requesting that
such road be included in the Inventory.
(3)
Utilities shall be as prescribed in § PW 1-207 of
this Subtitle.
[Amended 9-13-1988 by Bill No. 88-11; 4-6-1993 by Bill No. 93-4]
(4)
The road must be graded, drained, base constructed and surface
treated to county specifications.
(5)
All zoning and subdivision requirements must be met.
[Amended 1-20-1987 by Bill No. 86-11; 1-20-1987 by Bill No. 86-12; 11-10-1987 by Bill No. 87-7]
(e)
Transfers from "other public road" classification to "county
road" classification.
(1)
Other public roads listed on the Inventory of Public Roads of
Worcester County may be transferred to the county roads classification
of such Inventory following the procedures set forth in Subsection
(c) hereof, provided that such roads meet the minimum requirements
set forth herein. Even if such requirements are met, the transfer
is discretionary with the County Commissioners, and the Commissioners
may also make additional requirements as they deem appropriate.
A.
A thirty-foot right-of-way must exist.
B.
Such right-of-way must be transferred to the County Commissioners
free of all liens and encumbrances by fee simple deed or valid dedication
at the expense of the person requesting that such transfer in classification
be made.
C.
Prior to commencing amendment procedures or improvements, the
County Commissioners may require written commitment from all affected
property owners to transfer sufficient right-of-way to provide a thirty-foot
right-of-way.
[Amended 2-7-1984 by Bill No. 84-2]
(f)
Temporary classification as "other public road." Roads which have been approved for county road classification may
be temporarily placed in the other public road classification pending
acceptance by the State Highway Administration for the next fiscal
year as being classified as county roads.
(g)
Effect of subdivision approval. Approval of
a subdivision plat by the Planning Commission of Worcester County
in no way commits the County Commissioners to the inclusion of any
road shown on such plat into the Inventory of Public Roads in Worcester
County. All amendments shall be governed by the provisions hereof,
and all standards, specifications, requirements and conditions hereof
or adopted pursuant hereto shall be adhered to.
(h)
Requirements for public easement roads. A
road may be included in the classification of a "public easement road,"
provided that all the following conditions are met:
(1)
The road is under the ownership of an incorporated nonprofit
community organization or homeowners association.
(2)
The owner of the road has granted an easement to the County
Commissioners for the general free public use of the road.
(3)
The owner has entered into an agreement with the County Commissioners
providing that the road shall be constructed and maintained by the
owner to standards adopted by the County Commissioners for county
roads. The agreement may provide that the County Commissioners may
allocate that portion, less any inspection fees or other direct county
expenses, of the highway user revenues received by the county on account
of the inclusion of said public easement roads in the State Highway
Administration inventory to the owner for the purpose of the maintenance
of said roads.
[Amended 10-11-1988 by Bill No. 88-17]
[Amended 4-20-1999 by Bill No. 99-2]
Roads shown on plats which had received final approval from
the Worcester County Planning and Zoning Commission as subdivision
plats on or before April 8, 1975, roads shown on subdivision plats
approved by the Worcester County Planning and Zoning Commission as
subdivision plats which were exempted from the provisions of a resolution
by the County Commissioners dated April 8, 1975, by appropriate act
of the County Commissioners prior to the enactment hereof, roads shown
on any subdivision plat which subdivides properties into building
lots and which was recorded among the land records of Worcester County,
Maryland, prior to April 8, 1975, and roads for which individual,
specific, affirmative, written commitments of acceptance into the
county roads system have been made by the County Commissioners prior
to the adoption hereof may be included in the Inventory of Public
Roads of Worcester County as county roads by resolution in the same
manner, under the same conditions and subject to the same requirements
as another public road may be transferred to the county roads classification;
provided, however, that in the case of roads so platted after July
25, 1967, all conditions and requirements are met and necessary actions,
including appropriate resolution of the County Commissioners, are
taken and completed prior to January 1, 1980; provided, however, that
for those roads on which all construction has been completed and approved
by the Public Works Director, or his designee, prior to January 22,
1980, the hearing and resolution required by § PW 1-204(c)
hereof may be held after January 1, 1980.
(a)
Construction standards. The County Commissioners
shall from time to time adopt construction standards by resolution
providing for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair
of county roads and other public roads within Worcester County, Maryland.
(b)
Preference to "county roads." Preference as
to construction, reconstruction, maintenance and snow removal shall
be given to "county roads" over "other public roads".
[Added 4-6-1993 by Bill No. 93-4; amended 11-14-1995 by Bill No. 95-15; 5-16-2000 by Bill No.
00-4; 5-15-2001 by Bill No. 01-6]
Subject to applicable construction standards as established
by resolution of the County Commissioners, utility lines may be located
underground within the right-of-way, provided that only water lines,
sewer lines, stormwater management drainage lines, and crossovers
for other utilities may be located within the paved section of the
right-of-way, that electrical and gas utilities may not be located
less than ten feet beyond the paved section, and that in the case
of utility lines in the paved section, all required laterals must
be provided upon initial installation of the utility line. This shall
not prohibit later installation of laterals upon replatting or changes
in service. No utility structures or other obstructions may be located
within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant.
