NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 1319

HOUSE BILL 1651

AN ACT TO ALLOW BRUNSWICK COUNTY TO NAME PRIVATE ROADS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS, AND SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS OF NAMING ROADS IN THAT COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1. G.S. 153A-239 is rewritten to read:

"§ 153A-239.  Public road defined. – In this Article 'public road' or 'road' means any road, street, highway, thoroughfare, or other way of passage that has been irrevocably dedicated to the public or in which the public has acquired rights by prescription, without regard to whether it is open for travel, except that in G.S. 153A-240, the word 'road' means both private road and public roads."

Sec. 2. G.S. 153A-240 is rewritten to read:

"§ 153-240.  Naming roads and assigning street numbers in unincorporated areas. – A county may by ordinance name or rename any road within the county and not within a city, and may assign or reassign street numbers for use on such a road. In naming or renaming a road, a county may not

(1)       change the name, if any, given to the road by the Board of Transportation, unless the Board of Transportation agrees;

(2)       change the number assigned to the road by the Board of Transportation, but may give the road a name in addition to its number of; or

(3)       give the road a name that is deceptively similar to the name of any other public road in the vicinity.

A county shall not name or rename a road or assign or reassign street numbers on a road until it has held a public hearing on the matter. At least 10 days before the day of the hearing, the board of commissioners shall cause notice of the time, place and subject matter of the hearing to be prominently posted at the county courthouse, in at least two public places in the township or townships where the road is located, and shall publish a notice of such hearing in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county. After naming or renaming a road, or assigning or reassigning street numbers on a road, a county shall cause notice of its action to be given to the local postmaster with jurisdiction over the road, to the Board of Transportation, and to any city within five miles of the road."

Sec. 3. This act applies to Brunswick County only.

Sec. 4. This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 25th day of June, 1980.