Walker County officials, in the waning days of the administration of Commissioner Bebe Heiskell said they have obtained a court order against a couple they say is illegally blocking a trail at Vulcan along the old Durham Railroad line.
The officials said, "Since the 1950s, Walker County has maintained a section of the Old Durham Rail line as a 'public' and 'county' road known as South Vulcan Drive. Walker County has ownership of South Vulcan Drive via prescriptive title by and through maintenance of South Vulcan Drive from Vulcan Road south beyond the O’Neal Tract, Tax Parcel 0002 006, in Land Lot 264.
"South of Parcel 0002 006, Walker County has received from the current property owners fee simple deeded title to the railroad corridor and/or substitute route all the way to Cloudland Canyon State Park at Durham Road, and maintains that public roadway as a public trail, with no public vehicular access.
"On Oct. 8, 1890, H.M. Miller, who at that time owned the entire Land Lot 264, deeded in fee simple to the Railroad Company, a 66-foot-wide corridor through Land Lot 264, north to south. Over the next 100 years, Land Lot 264 was divided among numerous owners. After decades of ownership by the O’Neal family, their tract was recently purchased by Tennessee residents, Jill Wyse and Stanley Lowe. They own property next door and were aware of Walker County’s claim when they purchased this tract.
"On or about March 9, 1979, the Railroad deeded the rail corridor to the Georgia Conservancy, and on or about February 21, 1981, the Georgia Conservancy deeded the Railroad corridor to Walker County. These deeds were all promptly recorded and everyone is on notice of them as a matter of public record. Via the deeded chain of title, the 66 foot wide rail corridor in Land Lot 264 is still owned by Walker County, separate and apart from its prescriptive ownership by virtue of the corridor being maintained as a “county road” for over 50 years.
"From the 1970s through the 1990s, South Vulcan Drive, particularly around and south of Trestle #14, began to regularly be used as a place to dump used cars, appliances and garbage, as well as being used as an isolated spot for drug related activities and other illegal purposes.
"On or about mid-summer of 2002, Walker County and local property owners received a request from Gaston Raoul who owned property around and south of Trestle #14 immediately south of the O’Neal tract, to be allowed to close the road to general public vehicular traffic, in order to stop the dumping and illegal activities. Walker County agreed to a change its use of this county road by allowing Mr. Raoul, at his expense, to place a gate across South Vulcan Drive about ½ mile south of Vulcan Road. This gate closed South Vulcan Drive to public vehicular traffic south of the gate. Walker County and the contiguous property owners all had keys and continued to have access to the roadway for personal and official vehicular traffic, but the public was limited to pedestrian use (horse, foot, bicycle and other non-vehicular) traffic only.
"In the last few years, two groups of out of state property owners have become increasingly more aggressive in trying to claim the roadway as their own private property, and have gone so far as to put up barriers, posted signs, and other effects to limit the use of South Vulcan Drive by the other contiguous owners as well as the public. There is no question these two out of state property groups purchased their tracts with full knowledge that South Vulcan Drive was and is a public and County road. Deeds in their chains of title refer to this section of South Vulcan Drive as a “County Road”.
"Walker County has an obligation under Georgia law and the Georgia Constitution to be a proper steward of public property. Walker County can no longer allow two property owner groups to cause such interference with the ownership, enjoyment and use of the County Road and public property by its 70,000 citizens.
"Walker County itself, in addition to owning title to the railroad corridor and roadway, is a substantial property owner of real estate south of both tracts owned by the out of State groups. Public access to this public property must be guaranteed. These many acres were donated to Walker County as a public park. But the public has been denied access their public park real estate because of the two out of state owners illegally blocking the public road. The Sheriff’s Office has understandably refused to remove and damage the gate without a Court Order. That Court Order was obtained today."