Subdivision's roads in legal limbo
GREENCASTLE -- No one seems to know for sure who is responsible for the upkeep of the roads in the Lazy Acres Estate subdivision.
On Monday, a group of residents from Lazy Acres, which is located about 6 miles east of Greencastle on C.R. 675E, questioned the Putnam County Commissioners about the roads.
Kenneth Harrell said it was his understanding that the roads at Lazy Acres are under the jurisdiction of a neighborhood association that has been defunct for nine years. The taxes for the roads have been paid by one resident since the neighborhood association disbanded.
The resident who has paid the taxes does not plan on paying them again, Harrell said -- which means the taxes will go delinquent at the end of 2010 and will likely end up on the sheriff's sale list next year.
Harrell, who came to Putnam County from Indianapolis, purchased his property in Lazy Acres through a sheriff's sale three years ago.
"It's kind of a poor, rundown little neighborhood," he said. "I don't think anyone is interested in resurrecting the neighborhood association because no one would really want to pay the dues. People who live there have been pretty much just left to run wild and do whatever they want."
Harrell said the roads at Lazy Acres are "in horrible shape."
"They're destroyed," he said. "And with no one taking responsibility for them, you have to wonder where the liability would be if there were an accident."
Commissioner Gene Beck said he was somewhat stymied by Harrell's queries, and suggested Harrell contact representatives of the Putnam County Highway Department to investigate the matter further.
"I guess we can't really give you any advice," Beck said.
Harrell lives in a small modular that was already on the property when he bought it. He has also put up a pole barn.
He had every intention of putting up a new modular, but with the condition of the roads and the uncertainty over who is responsible for repairing them, he isn't sure he will be doing so.
"The ordinances are not enforced, and we're not even sure they're in effect anymore," he said.
Also at Monday's meeting, several downtown Greencastle business owners came to ask the commissioners what, if anything, they could do about the lack of parking downtown.
"There is no parking near our stores," said Robert Givans, owner of Swaps. "People are not going to walk two or three blocks to buy my toys. It's getting harder and harder to make it, and it's getting worse. I'm seriously considering closing the store."
Givans said he has seen vehicles belonging to courthouse employees parked in two-hour parking spaces all day, and that the two-hour parking limit is not strictly enforced.
Beck said while he sympathized with the business owners, the commissioners could not really help.
"We don't police the downtown parking," Beck said. "You really need to take it up with the city."