Panel considers road list next month
Nov. 1—The Cumberland County Planning Commission will consider the 2022 county road list when it meets in November.
The list contains only two changes from last year: removing Tanner Trail, which was closed by the county commission in July, and changing the right-of-way for Wilson Rd. from 40 feet to 30 feet.
"My mother-in-law gave 100% of the land for the road," said Sandra Davis when she brought the matter to the panel in July. But there is no documentation she ever deeded additional right of way to the county, Davis added.
The right of way is an easement reserved for future transportation or utility purposes. The county road list details each road the county maintains, and roads must be on the list to have any county funds spent on them.
The right of way is typically measured from the centerline of the road. With a 30-foot right of way, 15 feet is measured on each side. A 40-foot right-of-way extends that by 5 feet in each direction.
Davis said her deed reflected only a 30-foot right of way when the land was purchased in 1988. She was concerned because the larger right of way would mean the masonry entrance constructed on her property would be several feet within the county road's easement, and it would reduce the usable property on her land over about a mile of road frontage.
"If you've got a farm and you're fixing to lose 20-30 feet, it's kind of tough," she said.
Davis was also concerned about the historic Tate Town Cemetery on Wilson Rd. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for residents of a small community of freed slaves who settled in Cumberland County in the 1800s.
County Attorney Philip Burnett began researching the matter. The road list and the deed showed the differing measurements. The key, he said, would be the county's tax maps.
"It's like any other property dispute, even though the county is involved," Burnett told the planning commission in September. "One of those is who is paying taxes on the property."
After consulting with the Cumberland County Tax Assessor's Office and mapper Tory King, Burnett said the Davises and others on Wilson Rd. were paying property tax on the 5 feet of property in question.
"It varies, but most of the measurements were 25 feet wide to 34 at the widest," Burnett said. "Most were around 30 feet on his mapping. His conclusion was people out there are paying taxes on the property up to 15 feet from the center of the roadbed.
"What that means is they're paying taxes outside of a 30-feet right of way, and as far as we know, have been since the 1990s."
Cumberland County Road Superintendent Scott Blaylock said he could maintain the road at the smaller right of way.
Tommy Lee, with Upper Cumberland Development District and the county's planning officer, explained the county didn't have an official road list until the 1990s, and it was possible there were errors within it.
"When these roads were adopted all across the state of Tennessee, there were clerical errors that were made," Lee said. "We see it all the time.
"I would be willing to bet that it was a clerical error."
Lee advised the committee could either move to correct the error by recommending 5 feet of right of way be closed on both sides of Wilson Rd.
The panel would have to hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the county's environmental committee, which would also hear from the public. Then it would have to go to the full commission for a vote.
Or, the panel could note the correction when it considered the annual road list.
It would be January before either process would be complete.
The panel agreed to go forward with making the change with the annual road list adoption.
The planning commission meets Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Cumberland County Courthouse.
Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.
