Get the State to pave my private driveway

drumgod

New Member
I would like for the state to pave our private road.


I live in Charles county, on a private driveway that has 9 houses. I am interested in finding a way for the state of MD to convert my private road to a public road that is maintained by the state/county. I want for MD to pave my driveway and be responsible for things like pot hole, snow removal, ect..

Does anyone know how to do this?
 

Blister

Active Member
Yes I know how, but that info ain't free. If you got a big enough sack o' cash I'll tell you.
 

alicejohn

Member
I suspect it will be impossible to get the state to do so. The state does not maintain neighborhood roads.

However, you may be able to get the county to do it.

-Ask the county if they will take over the road.
-If yes, get together with your neighbors. Hire companies to survey, design, and install the road to county road standards.
-Give the road to the county.

With nine people footing the bill and depending on how long the road is, how complicated your stormwater management might be, etc, you might be able to do it for less then $100,000 per neighbor.

Sounds like an interesting project. Let us know how it goes.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
The county will only accept roads that are built to county standards. Unless your driveway is already built to those standards (x feet wide, crowned, with a ditch, y in of gravel, z inches of asphalt), the county wont accept it*. They also want a wide enough right of way to include the ditches and a turn-around. Any crossings or culverts have to be rated for commercial trucks and they want things like turning lanes where you join the county road.

What tends to happen is that cheapskate developers put a number of houses on a shared driveway and the driveway is built to driveway rather than road standards. 20 years in, the driveway crumbles and the homeowners are looking at $30,000 each to keep it useable. Now suddenly they want the county to take over the 'road' and upgrade it.







*unless you make the right donations to the right county commissioner.
 

limblips

Well-Known Member
I would like for the state to pave our private road.


I live in Charles county, on a private driveway that has 9 houses. I am interested in finding a way for the state of MD to convert my private road to a public road that is maintained by the state/county. I want for MD to pave my driveway and be responsible for things like pot hole, snow removal, ect..

Does anyone know how to do this?

Vote for Bernie, everything gonna
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
What tends to happen is that cheapskate developers put a number of houses on a shared driveway and the driveway is built to driveway rather than road standards. 20 years in, the driveway crumbles and the homeowners are looking at $30,000 each to keep it useable. Now suddenly they want the county to take over the 'road' and upgrade it. .

I know of at least two landowners who had to abandon plans to develop their property entirely because of the prohibitive cost of putting in the approved/required street and drainage infrastructure. Curbing..road construction standards...drainage... runs to millions on even a smallish development of 8-10 homes.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
I know of at least two landowners who had to abandon plans to develop their property entirely because of the prohibitive cost of putting in the approved/required street and drainage infrastructure. Curbing..road construction standards...drainage... runs to millions on even a smallish development of 8-10 homes.

That works if you can sell the lots for 250k a pop, but given the weak demand for custom homes in chuck co, that isn't happening anymore. The state and county have jacked up the requirements to a degree that building a custom home is out of reach for most. The big developers that cram 50homes on 10 acres have less of a problem, but then you can hear your neighbors radio.
 

drumgod

New Member
Im actually not building anything new. All the homes and driveway are pre-existing. But its always a struggle to keep up with the road maintenance and i am trying to find a way for the county to do that for us.
 

PrchJrkr

Long Haired Country Boy
Ad Free Experience
Patron
Im actually not building anything new. All the homes and driveway are pre-existing. But its always a struggle to keep up with the road maintenance and i am trying to find a way for the county to do that for us.

Just buy or build yourself one of these. :yay:
 

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bilbur

New Member
Im actually not building anything new. All the homes and driveway are pre-existing. But its always a struggle to keep up with the road maintenance and i am trying to find a way for the county to do that for us.
Just to let you know, if you turn over your road to the county you loose all rights to that road. If a development is looking for access any ware around your road they will tie in to that road. The road also needs to be wide enough for their paving equipment. Also, as mentioned before they will need to ensure proper drainage which means they could dig up your yard to put a drainage pipe in. It might not be worth the hassle. An alternative could be to talk to all of your neighbors and start a fund to pave the road with a private contractor. If all of your neighbors chip in X amount of dollars a month you might have enough in a couple of years. Then you could continue the fees to have it sealed every few years. Just a suggestion, good luck with whatever you decide.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Im actually not building anything new. All the homes and driveway are pre-existing. But its always a struggle to keep up with the road maintenance and i am trying to find a way for the county to do that for us.

When you bought the home, which part of private driveway did you not understand?
I believe your question was answered above - the poster informed you that before you can petition to have the driveway / lane accepted as a public road you would have to get it built to code.
Then petition the county to take it.
This could prove costly in itself as the driveway / lane is probably included in all the deeds as a right of way and all the property owners would have to have their deeds amended to reflect the public road (which could require more land for a right of way on either side of the new road.
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
I would like for the state to pave our private road.


I live in Charles county, on a private driveway that has 9 houses. I am interested in finding a way for the state of MD to convert my private road to a public road that is maintained by the state/county. I want for MD to pave my driveway and be responsible for things like pot hole, snow removal, ect..

Does anyone know how to do this?

Buy another house that is on a state or county road. Why should I feel bad for you because you willingly accepted the purchase? Now that you've decided it's too difficult to maintain to your standard, someone (anyone) else should foot the bill? You have a road maintenance agreement that you signed (or should have, see your settlement attorney).
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
When you bought the home, which part of private driveway did you not understand?
I believe your question was answered above - the poster informed you that before you can petition to have the driveway / lane accepted as a public road you would have to get it built to code.
Then petition the county to take it.
This could prove costly in itself as the driveway / lane is probably included in all the deeds as a right of way and all the property owners would have to have their deeds amended to reflect the public road (which could require more land for a right of way on either side of the new road.

Depending on when it was developed, the right of way won't be the problem . The problem will be when the homeowners realize that it wasn't all theirs to begin with. Kinda like when the utility has to dig up the yard and garden and the homeowner finds out they don't have to replace to the homeowner's standard.
 

BernieP

Resident PIA
Depending on when it was developed, the right of way won't be the problem . The problem will be when the homeowners realize that it wasn't all theirs to begin with. Kinda like when the utility has to dig up the yard and garden and the homeowner finds out they don't have to replace to the homeowner's standard.

From what I saw these lanes come with a deeded right of way clause as well as the typical easements for utilities.
The deeded right of way portion can be a killer in that any change to the lane would have to be approved by all the homeowners - one nay and it can't be done.
Actually the party with the least rights are the ones at the top of the lane. The people at the end are less affected, their rights are the most protected.
 
Careful what you wish for!

I would like for the state to pave our private road.


I live in Charles county, on a private driveway that has 9 houses. I am interested in finding a way for the state of MD to convert my private road to a public road that is maintained by the state/county. I want for MD to pave my driveway and be responsible for things like pot hole, snow removal, ect..

Does anyone know how to do this?

Even if the county were to agree to your (and your neighbors) wishes, you need to really give it some thought. Not only would they take the road, they would also have to take some property on each side of it for easements. That also means that each and every public utility company can come in and dig to their hearts content. Good luck in your quest, but seriously doubt the county will want to take it on.
 

Vince

......
Im actually not building anything new. All the homes and driveway are pre-existing. But its always a struggle to keep up with the road maintenance and i am trying to find a way for the county to do that for us.
I live in a private community in which all the roads are owned and upkeep paid for by the people living there. We have been trying to turn our roads over to the county for years and I mean years. You have to bring the roads up to county standards before the county will take them over. We have been successful in turning a few over to the county, but it took a long time and a lot of money. Good luck doing that with a driveway.
 
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