Sec. 38-711. - County roads.
(a) The county shall not improve or maintain any road unless such road is listed on the master list of
county maintained roads (the "master list"), an updated copy of which shall be kept at the county
transportation division office and made available for public inspection.
(b) A new or existing private road may be designated a county road, be incorporated into the county road
system, and included on the master list of all county roads only in the following four circumstances:
(1) Any residential, commercial or industrial road constructed by the county.
(2) Any private residential, commercial or industrial road constructed in conformance with the road
standards and subdivision regulations codified in this chapter 38 receiving approval by the county
engineer, and a decision by county council to accept the road into the county road system. The
application for county acceptance of any road shall be accompanied by a certificate of compliance
with the road standards contained in this article, and signed and certified by the professional
engineer of record. Any and all costs associated with obtaining the compliance certificate shall
be the responsibility of the applicant or sub divider.
(3) Any private road having continuous unrestricted use by the general public, as evidenced by maps,
aerial photographs, deeds of record, or affidavits, and deemed a public road by the circuit court.
(4) Through the creation of a special tax district, a legislatively created administrative division
of the county whereby resident freeholders fund, through the collection of uniform fees
included on the annual property tax bill, upgrades to existing private roads in order for
such roads to meet the standards of and for the purpose of acceptance into the county
road system.
(a) If requested by more than 25 percent of the local residents desiring such upgrades,
the county will provide an estimate of the costs necessary to update the private road
in order to meet the standards of and for the purpose of acceptance into the county
road system.
(b) The county will then prepare a petition containing a designation of the boundaries of
the proposed special tax district, a description of the nature of the services to be
rendered, and the maximum level of taxes or user service charges, or both, authorized
to be levied and collected. Seventy-five percent or more of the resident freeholders
who own at least 75 percent of the assessed valuation of real property in the proposed
special tax district must sign the Petition.
(c) Section 5-3-240 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as amended, defines
freeholder as: any person 18 years of age, or older, and any firm or corporation, who
or which owns legal title to a present possessory interest in real estate equal to a life
estate or greater (expressly excluding leaseholds, easements, equitable interests,
inchoate rights, dower rights, and future interests) and who owns, at the date of the
petition or of the referendum, at least an undivided one-tenth interest in a single tract
and whose name appears on the county tax records as an owner of real estate.
(d) The county assessor shall then certify that the petition contains the requisite number
of signatures necessary for the creation of the special tax district. Upon certification,
the county will prepare and adopt an ordinance creating the special tax district.
(e) The cost of the services required for the special tax district shall be paid from the
collection of a uniform user service charge, without interest, upon all parcels of real
property within the district for a period not to exceed ten years. The user service
charge will be included on the annual property tax bill and will be collected in the
same manner as county property taxes. The first-year user service charge will also
include all associated legal fees incurred in creating the special tax district. The user
service charges are a charge against and run with the parcels of real property included
in the special tax district, as set forth herein.