Private Roads

Privately Maintained Roads:  Privately maintained roads are roads that have not been accepted in the County Maintained Road System by the Board of Supervisors; and therefore, are not maintained by the County. The County is prohibited from spending public funds to maintain non-County maintained roads. 

Road maintenance for privately maintained roads is the responsibility of those using the road. See Civil Code Section 845.  Check your title insurance policy; there may be a Road Maintenance Association that was formed in order to provide road maintenance for a privately maintained road. 

• If a Road Maintenance Association exists, contact the Road Maintenance Association to request road maintenance work.  
• If a Road Maintenance Association does not exist, one can be created.

Private Roads are to be signed in accordance with County Code Section 324-2 (black lettering on a yellow background).

Private Roads in the State (Fire) Responsibility Area are to be signed in accordance with County Code Section 3113-1 et seq. for street names and driveway addressing; Section 3114-5  for water sources/hydrant locations; and Section 3112-9 for bridges. While not required, private roads in all other areas should consider installing signage consistent with County Code Sections 3113-1 et seq., 3114-5, and 3112-9.  The extent of the State Responsibility areas can be identified on the County's GIS by navigating the layer tree to toggle on Hazards => Fire => Cal Fire SRA.

See Road Maintenance Association Formation Information & Recommendation Handout for more information.

Road Maintenance is expensive. Public Works recommends creating a funding plan where road users incrementally fund maintenance through annual assessments versus needing to urgently scramble to fund a large one-time assessment when the road fails. It is more realistic to expect that road users would have adequate cash-flow to pay monthly or annual assessments versus being able to have adequate cash-flow to urgently fund a one-time large assessment once the road fails.  When a private road fails or needs maintenance, there is no government program to provide monetary assistance. 

Ultimately, it is up to the road users to determine the level of road maintenance that they are willing to fund.  A road used by people with sports cars will likely want a paved road without potholes.  A road used by people with four-wheel drive pick-up trucks may be happy using a gravel surface road with lots of ruts and potholes.  Both of these roads require different levels of funding to maintain them to the standards that the road users desire.

Petition the County to take on maintenance of a Private Road: The majority of the roads in unincorporated County are not maintained by the County. The decision to make a road County maintained is with the property owners that use the road. The procedure to make a County maintained road is as follows:

1) 100% of the underlying landowners must be willing to grant public road easements to the County. However, in some rare instances, a public right of way may exist and therefore there is no need to grant public road easements;

2) the road must be fully improved to County standards; and

3) 2/3 of the properties that use the road must vote YES to establish an assessment district (Permanent Road Division) to fund future road maintenance.

After all three of the above criteria are met, the Department would then recommend to the Board of Supervisors that the road be accepted into the County Maintained Road System. See Permanent Road Divisions for more information on the procedures.

Private Easements versus Public Road Easements:  The nature of a road easement determines who can use a non-county maintained road. If the road has a public easement dedicated to the County, the public has the right to use the road and road cannot be gated. If the road does not have a public dedication, then the public may be excluded from using the road. Easements can be found by reviewing title reports, if available; otherwise, easements can be researched at the County Recorder’s Office or by utilizing the services of a title company. 

More information on the different types of right of ways can be found here.

How do I determine if a property has legal access to a pubic right of way?  A title report (which is usually provided during escrow) will indicate what easements provide the subject property with legal access to a public right of way.  The existence of an easement does not necessarily mean that a road has been developed in the easement (such roads are often referred to as a paper roads as they only exists on paper); or that it is even feasible to construct a road in the easement; or that an existing road is passable. It is also possible that portions of an existing road may not be constructed within the easement. It is also possible that the easement may not completely connect the subject property to a public right of way. 

The Planning & Building Department in consultation with Public Works can identify the minimum road standards that are needed for existing and proposed land uses. The Planning & Building Department should be contacted regarding any permits that will be necessary to improve and/or maintain the road. 

Your team of real estate professionals should be able to assist you in interpreting deeds and maps; determining the adequacy of access easements; how maintenance for the road is provided; the financial strength/viability (how much money is in the bank) for the road maintenance association to provide road maintenance; and determining if the road was constructed within the easements. This is something that the County is not able to assist you with.

Easement Agreements: As part of a subdivision or commercial development a developer may be required to improve a privately maintained road.  These improvements may in turn require an easement from a neighboring property owner.  To avoid acquiring an easement before the developer’s project is approved, the developer may enter into an agreement with the neighboring property owner(s) whereby the easement(s) is to be obtained only after the project is approved by the County.  See the Easement Agreement Template for more information.

Speed limits for non-county maintained roads:  Pursuant to California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 21107, law enforcement officers can enforce speed limits on non-county maintained roads in unincorporated areas of the County. In order for the law enforcement officers to conduct enforcement patrols, the Board of Supervisors must adopt a resolution to that effect. Vehicle Code enforcement in the unincorporated area of the County is the responsibility of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Approval of the resolution by the Board of Supervisors does not constitute a commitment by the CHP or Sheriff’s Department to provide enforcement patrols on a regular basis.  

On November 3, 2020, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2658 (codified in County Code Section 423-1 et seq.) which created an “opt in” program to allow law enforcement to enforce the California Vehicle Code on non-county maintained roads. See Petition for more information on the procedures. In addition to posting regulatory signs, as applicable, also post a Private Road - Vehicle Code Enforced (R101) sign (black lettering on white background) at the start of the roads subject to Ordinance 2658.

Questions:  If you have questions regarding forming a Road Maintenance Association, contact the Land Use Division at 707.445.7205. Staff can provide you with templates and sample documents in order to help you form a Road Maintenance Association.

If you have questions regarding forming a Permanent Road Division, contact the Land Use Division at 707.445.7205.