1. Ordinance on highway access-second reading

CASS COUNTY COMMISSION POLICY MANUAL 38.19 SUBJECT: ORDINANCE #2007-1 (CASS COUNTY HIGHWAY ACCESS ORDINANCE) ADOPTED DATE: APRIL 2, 2007 PAGE 1 OF 2 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING ACCESS ONTO HIGHWAYS IN CASS COUNTY: WHEREAS, The County of Cass has a Home Rule Charter, enacted in 1994 pursuant to North Dakota Century Code Section 11-09.1; and WHEREAS, within the Home Rule Charter Article 2, the electors granted the Cass County Board of Commissioners authority to provide for the adoption, amendment, repeal, initiation, referral, enforcement, and penalties for violation of ordinances, resolutions, and regulations to carry out its governmental and proprietary powers and to provide for public health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS, within the Home Rule Charter Article 2, the electors granted the Cass County Board of Commissioners authority to layout or vacate public grounds, and provide for the construction, use, operation, designation, and regulation of a county road system; and WHEREAS, N.D.C.C. 924-01-30 provides county highway authorities the power to establish controlled-access facilities for public use wherever such authority or authorities are of the opinion that traffic conditions, present or future, will justify such special facilities. Said highway authorities of the county, in addition to the specific powers granted by law, also have and may exercise, relative to controlled-access facilities, any and all additional authority now or hereafter vested in them relative to highways or streets within their respective jurisdictions. Said units may regulate, restrict, or prohibit use of such controlled-access facilities by the various classes of vehicles or traffic in a manner consistent with the definition of a controlled- access facility; and WHEREAS, the primary function of County Highways is to carry large volumes of through traffic and a secondary and subservient function is to provide access to abutting property; and WHEREAS, the absence of reasonable controls and regulations for access results in a reduction of roadway capacity and safety. Unregulated access substantially increases delay and congestion to the motoring public using the County Highway system; and WHEREAS, conflicts between vehicles using a County Highway and vehicles entering and exiting via access facilities are minimized through the application of appropriate design standards. Therefore, the application of controlled-access will promote consistent driver