McIntosh County v. Fisher
| Decision Date | 06 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 33682,33682 |
| Citation | 247 S.E.2d 863,242 Ga. 66 |
| Parties | McINTOSH COUNTY et al. v. FISHER et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Daniel H. White, Darien, for appellants.
William E. Dismer, St. Simon Island, for appellees.
The plaintiffs filed this complaint against the Commissioners of McIntosh County, alleging that the commissioners had declared abandoned a county road, which provided the only means of access to a dock on Black Island Creek. The stated purpose for abandoning the road was its diminishing use by the public, such that no public purpose would continue to be served by maintaining the road at public expense. In the complaint, which was filed by persons residing in the general vicinity, it was alleged that the road and dock had been in continuous and frequent use by numerous citizens of the county since the road had been deeded to the county in 1955. It was further alleged that the action of the commissioners in abandoning the road was a manifest abuse of discretion and constituted an illegal gift of the road and dock to the successors-in-interest to the original grantor. Wherefore, it was prayed that the commissioners' abandonment of the road be canceled and set aside. The case was submitted to a jury, and a verdict was returned adverse to the commissioners. We have determined that the trial court erred in overruling the commissioners' motion for directed verdict. We, therefore, reverse.
It was held in Marietta Chair Co. v. Henderson, 121 Ga. 399, 403, 49 S.E. 312, 314 (1904) that, Accord, Lee County v. Mayor, etc. of Smithville, 154 Ga. 550(1), 115 S.E. 107 (1924).
Through enactment of Code Ann. §§ 95A-618 and 95A-619 (Ga.L. 1973, pp. 947, 1023; 1974, pp. 1422, 1430) the General Assembly has delegated to the Department of Transportation, and to the counties and municipalities throughout the state, the authority to relocate or abandon public roads within their respective jurisdictions. Code Ann. § 95A-619(b) provides, in material part, that "When it is determined that a section of the county road system has for any reason ceased to be used by the public to the extent that no substantial public purpose is served by it, the county, by certification recorded in its minutes, accompanied by a plat or sketch and after notice to property owners located thereon, may declare that section of the county road system abandoned."
This court did state in Marietta Chair Co....
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Scarborough v. Hunter, S13A0060.
...from the charge of maintaining a street or highway that is no longer useful or convenient to the public.” McIntosh County v. Fisher, 242 Ga. 66, 67–68, 247 S.E.2d 863 (1978). In sum, the question before the trial court in this case was not whether, in the court's judgment, the Road had “cea......
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Scarborough v. Hunter
...from the charge of maintaining a street or highway that is no longer useful or convenient to the public....” McIntosh County v. Fisher, 242 Ga. 66, 67–68, 247 S.E.2d 863 (1978). Torbett v. Butts County, 271 Ga. 521, 522, 520 S.E.2d 684 (1999). 5. In Cherokee County v. McBride, 262 Ga. 460, ......
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Peppers v. Elder, 37597
...have been given to him because he does not own property located on the road in issue. Code Ann. § 95A-619(b); See, McIntosh County v. Fisher, 242 Ga. 66, 247 S.E.2d 863 (1978); see also, Avery v. The Berry Schools, 211 Ga. 581, 87 S.E.2d 401 (1955). Instead, he asks, in essence, that this c......
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Torbett v. Butts County, S99A0690.
...from the charge of maintaining a street or highway that is no longer useful or convenient to the public...." McIntosh County v. Fisher, 242 Ga. 66, 67-68, 247 S.E.2d 863 (1978). Thus, the county commission's consideration of the economic factors involved in the decision whether to abandon t......