(4/8) Liberty Township officials are at a loss as to how to deal with the degraded condition of Rist Trail, being that road is a private development road, and thus, does not come under the purview of the local government.
Police and other emergency responders, as well as residents of the affected have consistently complained – as far back as 2015/2016 - about the condition of the road, which can even be rendered unusable at times.
The original builder of the development went bankrupt, leaving township officials to find a means for having the road repaired.
Supervisor Walter Barlow stated at the board’s April meeting that emergency services have discovered Rist Trail as being unpassable at times. "Of course, it’s (Rist Trail) an ongoing thing," he said, because no one is maintaining the road, adding, "The police chief and our police department can’t even patrol there because our cars bog down on the roads."
Barlow further stated that, although Rist Trail is a private road within a private, 68-home development, it was his opinion that the situation there constitutes a public nuisance.
Township Solicitor John Lisko declared he was not aware of any situation within his experience whereby a private road could be declared a public nuisance as a means of addressing maintenance issues, adding, "Generally, it’s up to the individual lot-owners to maintain and repair (development roads). It’s really not our responsibility."
He said, "If an emergency vehicle can’t get up there, they can’t get up there. Then maybe those individuals (lot-owners) will (ultimately) get together and improve that road,"
Lisko did suggest that the township staff should review the original development plans for any notes relating to infrastructure maintenance. "If there is some such note as that on the plan, then you can enforce the note. It doesn’t matter that the company went bankrupt, if there’s a note … they’re (the homeowners) bound to that note."
The solicitor stated that if there is no note on the plan which binds the lot-owners to make road repairs, then "my gut tells me we won’t be able to do anything."
