County sets hearing for RFL road changes

By Stephen Clearheart Johnson
North Forty News

Larimer County Commissioners will hold a public hearing in Red Feather Lakes on Oct. 21, 6:30 p.m., at the Property Owners Association building to hear opinions on designating some roadways as public roads.

The Red Feather Lakes Planning Advisory Commission has requested that certain road segments within the village be declared public roads. The PAC made the request in an effort to stabilize road locations, reduce disputes and provide written legal access to certain areas.

The location and nature of the traveled ways in the village have been uncertain for more than eight decades since the village was founded. Original plats contain descriptions of both private and public roads, but no surveys or written dedications were filed with the Larimer County Clerk. Some roads were not built in the locations mentioned by the original survey, and some roads have been moved.

The PAC has delineated nine road segments that, if declared public, would link the major roads and neighborhoods in the area. Some important segments will require a dedication by a private landowner, the Quaintance estate, to allow public designation of roads currently in use. Representatives of the estate have indicated a willingness to do this.

The commissioners will hear testimony from both supporters and opponents. PAC members will be particularly interested in presenting testimony from "old timers" that the public has in fact used the named roads for over 20 years.

Nine roads are included in the request: Hiawatha Highway, Firehouse Lane, a portion of Main Street, a portion of Grand Avenue, Nokomis Road, Letitia Drive, Monoma Road, Eagle Tree Circle and Ramona Drive.

PAC members are quick to point out that a declaration by the commissioners that the roads are deemed public does not mean that they will be county roads. No provisions for maintenance or improvement are included in the proposed declaration.

If the request is approved, the PAC will hire surveying contractors to determine the centerline of the roads through a GPS survey. The road locations, with their existing width plus room for drainage, will become fixed.

The monthly PAC meeting has been changed to Oct. 15, 1:30 p.m., at the firehouse meeting room. More information about the meetings is available online at www.larimer.org/redfeather.