2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes Article 7 - Miscellaneous Provisions.

Article 7.

Miscellaneous Provisions.

§ 136‑90.� Obstructing highways and roads misdemeanor.

If any person shall willfully alter, change or obstruct any highway, cartway, mill road or road leading to and from any church or other place of public worship, whether the right‑of‑way thereto be secured in the manner provided for by law or by purchase, donation or otherwise, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.� If any person shall hinder or in any manner interfere with the making of any road or cartway laid off according to law, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1872‑3, c. 189, s. 6; 1883, c. 383; Code, s. 2065; Rev., s. 3784; C.S., s. 3789; 1993, c. 539, s. 989; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 136‑91.� Placing glass, etc., or injurious obstructions in road.

(a)������ No person shall throw, place, or deposit any glass or other sharp or cutting substance or any injurious obstruction in or upon any highway or public vehicular area.

(b)������ As used in this section:

(1)������ "Highway" shall be defined as it is in G.S. 20‑4.01; and

(2)������ "Public vehicular area" shall be defined as it is in G.S. 20‑4.01.

(c)������ Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. (1917, c. 140, ss. 18, 21; C.S., ss. 2599, 2619; 1971, c. 200; 1993, c. 539, s. 990; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2001‑441, s. 3.)

 

§ 136‑92.� Obstructing highway drains prohibited.

It is unlawful to obstruct a drain along or leading from any public road in the State. A person who violates this section is responsible for an infraction. (1917, c. 253; C.S., s. 3791; 1993, c. 539, s. 991; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1995, c. 163, s. 15.)

 

§ 136‑93.� Openings, structures, pipes, trees, and issuance of permits.

No opening or other interference whatsoever shall be made in any State road or highway other than streets not maintained by the Department of Transportation in cities and towns, nor shall any structure be placed thereon, nor shall any structure which has been placed thereon be changed or removed except in accordance with a written permit from the Department of Transportation or its duly authorized officers, who shall exercise complete and permanent control over such roads and highways.� No State road or State highway, other than streets not maintained by the Department of Transportation in cities and towns, shall be dug up for laying or placing pipes, conduits, sewers, wires, railways, or other objects, and no tree or shrub in or on any State road or State highway shall be planted, trimmed, or removed, and no obstruction placed thereon, without a written permit as hereinbefore provided for, and then only in accordance with the regulations of said Department of Transportation or its duly authorized officers or employees; and the work shall be under the supervision and to the satisfaction of the Department of Transportation or its officers or employees, and the entire expense of replacing the highway in as good condition as before shall be paid by the persons, firms, or corporations to whom the permit is given, or by whom the work is done.� The Department of Transportation, or its duly authorized officers, may, in its discretion, before granting a permit under the provisions of this section, require the applicant to file a satisfactory bond, payable to the State of North Carolina, in such an amount as may be deemed sufficient by the Department of Transportation or its duly authorized officers, conditioned upon the proper compliance with the requirements of this section by the person, firm, or corporation granted such permit.� Any person making any opening in a State road or State highway, or placing any structure thereon, or changing or removing any structure thereon without obtaining a written permit as herein provided, or not in compliance with the terms of such permit, or otherwise violating the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor:� Provided, this section shall not apply to railroad crossings.� The railroads shall keep up said crossings as now provided by law. (1921, c. 2, s. 13; 1923, c. 160, s. 2; C.S., s. 3846(u); 1933, c. 172, s. 17; 1943, c. 410; 1957, c. 65, s. 11; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 7.1; 1993, c. 539, s. 992; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 136‑94.� Gates projecting over rights‑of‑way forbidden.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect, maintain or operate upon his own land, or the land of another, any farm gate or other gate which, when opened, will project over the right‑of‑way of any State highway.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. (1927, c. 130; 1993, c. 539, s. 993; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

 

§ 136‑95.� Water must be diverted from public road by ditch or drain.

When any ditch or drain is cut in such a way as to turn water into any public road, the person cutting the ditch or drain shall be compelled to cut another ditch or drain as may be necessary to take the water from said road. (Code, s. 2036; Rev., s. 2697; C.S., s. 3790.)

 

§ 136‑96.� Road or street not used within 15 years after dedication deemed abandoned; declaration of withdrawal recorded; joint tenants or tenants in common; defunct corporations.

 

Every strip, piece, or parcel of land which shall have been at any time dedicated to public use as a road, highway, street, avenue, or for any other purpose whatsoever, by a deed, grant, map, plat, or other means, which shall not have been actually opened and used by the public within 15 years from and after the dedication thereof, shall be thereby conclusively presumed to have been abandoned by the public for the purposes for which same shall have been dedicated; and no person shall have any right, or cause of action thereafter, to enforce any public or private easement therein, except where such dedication was made less than 20 years prior to April 28, 1953, such right may be asserted within one year from and after April 28, 1953; provided, that no abandonment of any such public or private right or easement shall be presumed until the dedicator or some one or more of those claiming under him shall file and cause to be recorded in the register's office of the county where such land lies a declaration withdrawing such strip, piece or parcel of land from the public or private use to which it shall have theretofore been dedicated in the manner aforesaid; provided further, that where the fee simple title is vested in tenants in common or joint tenants of any land embraced within the boundaries of any such road, highway, street, avenue or other land dedicated for public purpose whatsoever, as described in this section, any one or more of such tenants, on his own or their behalf and on the behalf of the others of such tenants, may execute and cause to be registered in the office of the register of deeds of the county where such land is situated the declaration of withdrawal provided for in this section, and, under Chapter 46 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, entitled "Partition," and Chapter 1, Article 29A of the General Statutes of North Carolina, known as the "Judicial Sales Act," and on petition of any one or more of such tenants such land thereafter may be partitioned by sale only as between or among such tenants, and irrespective of who may be in actual possession of such land, provided further, that in such partition proceedings any such tenants in common or joint tenants may object to such withdrawal certificate and the court shall thereupon order the same cancelled of record; that where any corporation has dedicated any strip, piece or parcel of land in the manner herein set out, and said dedicating corporation is not now in existence, it shall be conclusively presumed that the said corporation has no further right, title or interest in said strip, piece, or parcel of land, regardless of the provisions of conveyances from said corporation, or those holding under said corporation, retaining title and interest in said strip, piece, or parcel of land so dedicated; the right, title and interest in said strip, piece, or parcel of land shall be conclusively presumed to be vested in those persons, firms or corporations owning lots or parcels of land adjacent thereto, subject to the provisions set out herein before in this section.

The provisions of this section shall have no application in any case where the continued use of any strip of land dedicated for street or highway purposes shall be necessary to afford convenient ingress or egress to any lot or parcel of land sold and conveyed by the dedicator of such street or highway. This section shall apply to dedications made after as well as before April 28, 1953.

The provisions of this section shall not apply when the public dedication is part of a future street shown on the street plan adopted pursuant to G.S. 136‑66.2.� Upon request, a city shall adopt a resolution indicating that the dedication described in the proposed declaration of withdrawal is or is not part of the street plan adopted under G.S. 136‑66.2.� This resolution shall be attached to the declaration of withdrawal and shall be registered in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the land is situated. (1921, c. 174; C.S., ss. 3846(rr), 3846(ss), 3846(tt); 1939, c. 406; 1953, c. 1091; 1957, c. 517; 1987, c. 428.)

 

§ 136‑96.1.� Special proceeding to declare a right‑of‑way dedicated to public use.

(a)������ A special proceeding under Article 3, Chapter 1 of the General Statutes may be brought to declare a right‑of‑way dedicated to public use if:

(1)������ The landowners of tracts constituting two‑thirds of the road frontage of the land abutting the right‑of‑way in question join in the action;

(2)������ The right‑of‑way is depicted on an unrecorded map, plat, or survey;

(3)������ The right‑of‑way has been actually open and used by the public; and

(4)������ Recorded deeds for at least three separate parcels abutting the right‑of‑way recite the existence of the right‑of‑way as a named street or road.

(b)������ In a special proceeding brought pursuant to this section, the clerk of court shall issue an order declaring the right‑of‑way to be dedicated to public use upon finding that the provisions of subsection (a) of this section have been proven.

(c)������ Any right‑of‑way found to be dedicated to public use pursuant to this section that is proposed for addition to the State highway system shall meet the requirements of G.S. 136‑102.6.

(d)������ This section shall not apply to any right‑of‑way established by adverse possession or by cartway proceeding. (2001‑501, s. 1.)

 

§ 136‑97.� Responsibility of counties for upkeep, etc., terminated.

(a)������ The board of county commissioners or other road‑governing bodies of the various counties in the State are hereby relieved of all responsibility or liability for the upkeep or maintenance of any of the roads or bridges thereon constituting the State highway system, after the same shall have been taken over, and the control thereof assumed by the Department of Transportation.

(b)������ The Department of Transportation, as part of maintaining the highways, bridges, and watercourses of this State, may haul all debris removed from on, under, or around a bridge to an appropriate disposal site for solid waste, where the debris shall be disposed of in accordance with law. (1921, c. 2, s. 50; C.S., s. 3846(dd); 1933, c. 172, s. 17; 1957, c. 65, s. 11; 1973, c. 507, ss. 5, 20; 1977, c. 464, s. 7.1; 1989, c. 752, s. 102; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1066, s. 139; 1991, c. 689, s. 209.)

 

§ 136‑98.� Prohibition of local road taxes and bonds and construction of roads by local authorities; existing contracts.

(a)������ From and after the first day of July, 1931, no county or road district by authority of any public, public‑local, or private act shall levy any taxes for the maintenance, improvement, reconstruction, or construction of any of the public roads in the various and several counties of the State, nor shall any county, through the board of commissioners thereof or the highway commission, nor shall any district or township highway commission, issue or sell or enter into any contract to issue or sell any bonds heretofore authorized to be issued and sold, but unissued and unsold, for the purpose of obtaining money with which to improve, maintain, reconstruct, or construct roads, except for the purpose of discharging obligations entered into prior to the ratification of this section, and all acts authorizing the board of county commissioners, the county highway commissions, district highway or township commissions, to issue and sell bonds for the purpose aforesaid, are hereby amended so as to conform to this section. No board of county commissioners nor county highway commission, nor district nor township highway commission from and after the passage of this section shall enter into any contract to build or construct roads in the various and several counties except for such projects as can be completed and paid for prior to July 1, 1931. All contracts heretofore entered into by any county through the board of county commissioners, county highway commission, and all contracts heretofore entered into by any district or township highway commission which shall be incomplete on July 1, 1931, shall be taken over by the Department of Transportation and completed by the Department of Transportation by the use of money and funds applicable thereto, by the terms of the said contracts. Nothing in this section or in any section of Chapter 145 of the Public Laws of 1931 that may appear in this Code shall be construed to prohibit the levying of taxes authorized by law for the payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds or other evidences of debt lawfully issued. Any county or road district which has heretofore issued bonds or other evidences of debt by authority of law for road improvement purposes may refund said bonds or other evidences of debt under and pursuant to the laws of the State of North Carolina relative thereto.

(b)������ Nothing in this Article prohibits counties from establishing service districts for road maintenance under Part 1, Article 16 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes. (1931, c. 145, s. 35; 1957, c. 65, s. 11; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 7.1; 1995, c. 434, s. 2.)

 

§§ 136‑99 through 136‑101.� Repealed by Session Laws 1971, c. 1106.

 

§ 136‑102.� Billboard obstructing view at entrance to school, church or public institution on public highway.

(a)������ It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to construct or maintain outside the limits of any city or town in this State any billboard larger than six square feet at or nearer than 200 feet to the point where any walk or drive from any school, church, or public institution located along any highway enters such highway except under the following conditions:

(1)������ Such billboard is attached to the side of a building or buildings which are or may be erected within 200 feet of any such walk or drive and the attachment thereto causes no additional obstruction of view.

(2)������ A building or other structure is located so as to obstruct the view between such walk or drive and such billboard.

(3)������ Such billboard is located on the opposite side of the highway from the entrance to said walk or drive.

(b)������ Any person, firm, or corporation convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and punished only by a fine of ten dollars ($10.00), and each day that such violation continues shall be considered a separate offense. (1947, c. 304, ss. 1, 2; 1993, c. 539, s. 994; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14 (c).)

 

§ 136‑102.1.� Blue Star Memorial and American Ex‑Prisoners of War Highway.

All of the United States Highway #70, wherever located in North Carolina shall be known and designated as the "Blue Star Memorial and American Ex‑Prisoners of War Highway." The designation shall pay tribute to the many North Carolinians killed during World War II and to all North Carolina's ex‑prisoners of war. (1963, c. 140; 2001‑196, s. 1.)

 

§ 136‑102.2.� Authorization required for test drilling or boring upon right‑of‑way; filing record of results with Department of Transportation.

No person, firm or corporation shall make any test drilling or boring upon the right‑of‑way of any road or highway, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, until written authorization has been obtained from the owner or the person in charge of the land on which the highway easement is located. A complete record showing the results of the test drilling or boring shall be filed forthwith with the chairman [Secretary] of the Department of Transportation and shall be a public record. This section shall not apply to the Department of Transportation making test drilling or boring for highway purposes only. (1967, c. 923, s. 1; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 7.1.)

 

§ 136‑102.3.� Filing record of results of test drilling or boring with Secretary of Administration and Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

Any person, firm or corporation making any test drilling or boring upon any public land, owned or controlled by the State of North Carolina[,] shall, forthwith after completion, file a complete record of the results of the test drilling or boring with the Secretary of Administration and with the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, of each test hole bored or drilled. Such records filed shall become a matter of public record. Provided, that after exploratory drilling and boring has been completed, and a lease or contract has been executed for operation, production or development of the area, the results of test drillings or borings made incidental to the operation, production or development of the area under lease or contract shall not be subject to the provisions of G.S. 136‑102.2 to 136‑102.4 unless otherwise provided in such lease or contract. (1967, c. 923, s. 2; 1973, c. 1262, s. 86; 1975, c. 879, s. 46; 1977, c. 771, s. 4; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(90); 1997‑443, s. 11A.119(a).)

 

§ 136‑102.4.� Penalty for violation of §§ 136‑102.2 and 136‑102.3.

Violation of G.S. 136‑102.2 and 136‑102.3 shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1967, c. 923, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 995; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14 (c).)

 

§ 136‑102.5.� Signs on fishing bridges.

When requested to do so by any county or municipality that has enacted an ordinance under G.S. 153‑9(66) and 160‑200(47) regulating or prohibiting fishing on any bridge of the North Carolina State highway system, the Department of Transportation shall erect signs on such bridges indicating the prohibition or regulation of the ordinance enacted under G.S. 153‑9(66) and 160‑200(47). (1971, c. 690, s. 5; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 7.1.)

 

§ 136‑102.6.� Compliance of subdivision streets with minimum standards of the Board of Transportation required of developers.

(a)������ The owner of a tract or parcel of land which is subdivided from and after October 1, 1975, into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for sale or building development for residential purposes, where such subdivision includes a new street or the changing of an existing street, shall record a map or plat of the subdivision with the register of deeds of the county in which the land is located. The map or plat shall be recorded prior to any conveyance of a portion of said land, by reference to said map or plat.

(b)������ The right‑of‑way of any new street or change in an existing street shall be delineated upon the map or plat with particularity and such streets shall be designated to be either public or private. Any street designated on the plat or map as public shall be conclusively presumed to be an offer of dedication to the public of such street.

(c)������ The right‑of‑way and design of streets designated as public shall be in accordance with the minimum right‑of‑way and construction standards established by the Board of Transportation for acceptance on the State highway system. If a municipal or county subdivision control ordinance is in effect in the area proposed for subdivision, the map or plat required by this section shall not be recorded by the register of deeds until after it has received final plat approval by the municipality or county, and until after it has received a certificate of approval by the Division of Highways as herein provided as to those streets regulated in subsection (g). The certificate of approval may be issued by a district engineer of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation.

(d)������ The right‑of‑way and construction plans for such public streets in residential subdivisions, including plans for street drainage, shall be submitted to the Division of Highways for review and approval, prior to the recording of the subdivision plat in the office of the register of deeds. The plat or map required by this section shall not be recorded by the register of deeds without a certification pursuant to G.S. 47‑30.2 and, if determined to be necessary by the Review Officer, a certificate of approval by the Division of Highways of the plans for the public street as being in accordance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation for acceptance of the subdivision street on the State highway system for maintenance. The Review Officer shall not certify a map or plat subject to this section unless the new streets or changes in existing streets are designated either public or private. The certificate of approval shall not be deemed an acceptance of the dedication of the streets on the subdivision plat or map. Final acceptance by the Division of Highways of the public streets and placing them on the State highway system for maintenance shall be conclusive proof that the streets have been constructed according to the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation.

(e)������ No person or firm shall place or erect any utility in, over, or upon the existing or proposed right‑of‑way of any street in a subdivision to which this section applies, except in accordance with the Division of Highway's policies and procedures for accommodating utilities on highway rights‑of‑way, until the Division of Highways has given written approval of the location of such utilities. Written approval may be in the form of exchange of correspondence until such times as it is requested to add the street or streets to the State system, at which time an encroachment agreement furnished by the Division of Highways must be executed between the owner of the utility and the Division of Highways. The right of any utility placed or located on a proposed or existing subdivision public street right‑of‑way shall be subordinate to the street right‑of‑way, and the utility shall be subject to regulation by the Department of Transportation. Utilities are defined as electric power, telephone, television, telegraph, water, sewage, gas, oil, petroleum products, steam, chemicals, drainage, irrigation, and similar lines. Any utility installed in a subdivision street not in accordance with the Division of Highways accommodation policy, and without prior approval by the Division of Highways, shall be removed or relocated at no expense to the Division of Highways.

(f)������� Prior to entering any agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer, the developer and seller shall prepare and sign, and the buyer of the subject real estate shall receive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a separate instrument known as the subdivision streets disclosure statement (hereinafter referred to as disclosure statement). Said disclosure statement shall fully and completely disclose the status (whether public or private) of the street upon which the house or lot fronts. If the street is designated by the developer and seller as a public street, the developer and seller shall certify that the right‑of‑way and design of the street has been approved by the Division of Highways, and that the street has been or will be constructed by the developer and seller in accordance with the standards for subdivision streets adopted by the Board of Transportation for acceptance on the highway system. If the street is designated by the developer and seller as a private street, the developer and seller shall include in the disclosure statement an explanation of the consequences and responsibility as to maintenance of a private street, and shall fully and accurately disclose the party or parties upon whom responsibility for construction and maintenance of such street or streets shall rest, and shall further disclose that the street or streets will not be constructed to minimum standards, sufficient to allow their inclusion on the State highway system for maintenance. The disclosure statement shall contain a duplicate original which shall be given to the buyer. Written acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure statement by the buyer shall be conclusive proof of the delivery thereof.

(g)������ The provisions of this section shall apply to all subdivisions located outside municipal corporate limits. As to subdivisions inside municipalities, this section shall apply to all proposed streets or changes in existing streets on the State highway system as shown on the comprehensive plan for the future development of the street system made pursuant to G.S. 136‑66.2, and in effect at the date of approval of the map or plat.

(h)������ The provisions of this section shall not apply to any subdivision that consists only of lots located on Lakes Hickory, Norman, Mountain Island and Wylie which are lakes formed by the Catawba River which lots are leased upon October 1, 1975. No roads in any such subdivision shall be added to the State maintained road system without first having been brought up to standards established by the Board of Transportation for inclusion of roads in the system, without expense to the State. Prior to entering any agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer of a lot in any such subdivision, the seller shall prepare and sign, and the buyer shall receive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a statement fully and completely disclosing the status of and the responsibility for construction and maintenance of the road upon which such lot is located.

(i)������� The purpose of this section is to insure that new subdivision streets described herein to be dedicated to the public will comply with the State standards for placing subdivision streets on the State highway system for maintenance, or that full and accurate disclosure of the responsibility for construction and maintenance of private streets be made. This section shall be construed and applied in a manner which shall not inhibit the ability of public utilities to satisfy service requirements of subdivisions to which this section applies.

(j)������� The Division of Highways and district engineers of the Division of Highways of the Department of Transportation shall issue a certificate of approval for any subdivision affected by a transportation corridor official map established by the Board of Transportation only if the subdivision conforms to Article 2E of this Chapter or conforms to any variance issued in accordance with that Article.

(k)������ A willful violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1975, c. 488, s. 1; 1977, c. 464, ss. 7.1, 8; 1987, c. 747, s. 21; 1993, c. 539, s. 996; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1997‑309, s. 4; 1998‑184, s. 3.)

 

§ 136‑102.7.� Hurricane evacuation standard.

Evacuation Standard. � The hurricane evacuation standard to be used for any bridge or highway construction project pursuant to this Chapter shall be no more than 18 hours, as recommended by the State Emergency Management officials. (2005‑275, s. 5.)