INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING A ROAD CLOSING PETITION FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners must follow the procedures set forth in N.C.G.S. 153A-241 for closing public roads or easements.
There is a fee of $750.00 for each portion of the road or easement for which a separate legal description is provided. The fee must be submitted to the County Attorney's office and made payable to Cumberland County, before the request is placed on an agenda for consideration by the Board of Commissioners. The fee covers the cost of advertising the public hearing for three successive weeks and providing notice to abutting owners who are not submitting petitions.
A petition form must be filled out, signed and notarized for each property owner requesting the road or easement to be closed. In order to submit a petition, the owner's property must abut the road or easement. All abutting owners should submit petitions. The abutting owners who have initiated the request are responsible to contact all the other abutting owners.
The abutting owners who have initiated the request are also responsible to obtain a letter from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) stating that the road or easement is not under its control or supervision. The NCDOT may be contacted at the Fayetteville District Office.
If the description of the closure in the petition does not include a reference to a recorded plat of the road or easement that shows the boundaries of the area for which closure is requested, a recordable plat prepared by a North Carolina licensed surveyor must be presented with the petition by the abutting owners initiating the request.
The legal description that will be incorporated into the order of closure must also be presented with the petition of one of the adjoining property owners. The legal description must indicate the name of the surveyor or attorney who prepared it.
Please contact the County Attorney's office at (910) 678-6672 to request a copy of the Road Closing Petition form.