Township road law may change soon

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by Marc Kovac

Capital Bureau Chief

Legislation changing how county commissioners and township trustees place public roads on non-maintained status unanimously passed the Ohio House April 29.

House Bill 318, sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Republican from Lakeville, passed a final vote of 94-0 and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

The bill retains county and township authority for placing certain roads under a non-maintained status (meaning those public bodies no longer are required to maintain or repair, remove snow or conduct other work on them).

But it also would add several provisions to the process for making such designations:

* Roads designated as nonmaintained cannot be passable year-round by a "four-wheeled, two-wheel drive motor vehicle," nor can the status be used on roads that provide the "exclusive means for obtaining access" to other parcels, according to an analysis by the state's Legislative Service commission.

* Before adopting resolutions designating roads as nonmaintained, commissioner and trustee boards would be required to have two public hearings to accept citizen comments and request and obtain an advisory opinion from the county engineer about the consequences of the move, including its potential impact on area property owners.

* Finally, the legislation includes a provision that would disallow counties and townships from including non-maintained roadways in calculating of lane miles; that determination is used by the state in designating local shares of the motor vehicle fuel tax.

Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.