Riverwatch Trace Dropped from the County Road System

The County Commission Monday night rescinded action taken a year ago to add Riverwatch Trace to the County Road list.
The vote was 9-2-2.
The Mountain Harbor Property Owners Association originally sought to have Riverwatch Trace added to the county road system last year. After a favorable recommendation by the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission, the County Commission voted to make it official in July, 2015.
In the months since, members of the Mountain Harbor Property Owners Association have had a change of heart and recently petitioned the planning commission to ask the county commission to rescind the action taken last July and to make Riverwatch Trace a private road again.
After a May public hearing, in which there was no public opposition expressed, the planning commission voted in July to recommend to the county commission that action be taken to remove Riverwatch Trace from the county road system.
According to County Mayor Tim Stribling, the county has not spent any money on the road since it was added to the road system last July and that the county would no longer be responsible for its upkeep if removed from the list.
Sixth District County Commissioner Betty Atnip objected to the request. “Once its accepted as a county road, everybody in the county owns it. Legally we can’t give it back to them,” she said.
Atnip made a motion that Riverwatch Trace not be removed from the county road system but the motion died for the lack of a second.
The commission then voted to rescind its action from last July and to remove the road from the list. Commissioners Betty Atnip and Mason Carter voted against it. Commissioners Joe Johnson and Jerry Adcock passed.