Comanche County Commissioners specify developers are responsible for roads within subdivisions

Residents of new subdivisions in the county will have documentation proving their developer is responsible for roads.

The Comanche County Board of Commissioners put a “plat acknowledgement and understanding of developer” document into effect Monday, documentation required for any subdivision developed after Jan. 29, 2024, before county commissioners will approve the plat. The document is designed for clarity and uniformity, ensuring residents moving into any subdivision in unincorporated portions of the county know from the onset roads are private and not maintained by the county, said Western District Commissioner Josh Powers.

Powers and Eastern District Commissioner John O’Brien asked for that clarity last year, while dealing with county residents who wanted to know who maintained the roads in their subdivisions. Powers and O’Brien said the issue was created by what has been a long-standing policy by previous commissioners: developers expected to have their roads accepted and maintained by the county if those roads were built to specific county criteria.

O’Brien and Powers have said that agreement often was a “gentlemen’s handshake,” with no set policy beyond a commissioner’s decision about whether roads in his area would be accepted by the county for maintenance.

Powers said those roads are private unless the board of commissioners acts to accept them (meaning county crews become responsible for their maintenance). Powers said while some plats are marked “not accepted” in terms of whether their roads become county roads, most people don’t read their plats closely enough — if they see them at all — to see that provision. Powers said those home buyers rely on what developers/sellers tell them, which could be outright fabrication or a “handshake” understanding that when a certain percentage of lots are sold in a subdivision, the county will accept maintenance of the roads.

The problem: there is nothing in county documentation to prove that is true, Powers said, adding there is nothing in state law that requires commissioners to accept a road built in an unincorporated area.

“There is no agreement to take over the road,” he said, of the existing situation that may have relied on verbal agreements because no printed documentation was ever set into place.

Powers said the new document fits the requirement for a uniform policy. The document that must be filed before plats are accepted specifies all roads within the subdivision at the time of the filing are considered private roads and will be maintained by the developer and/or property owners. It states that Comanche County is not responsible for maintenance and will not make any provisions or promises, “nor has expressed any intent to pave or maintain the road surfaces or right-of-ways inside said development now or in the future.” By signing the document, the developer also states said he/she will provide that information to buyers.

Powers said the document will protect both county and property buyer.

“There is no recourse,” he said of the existing situation, adding this gives property owners the support they need if they take the issue to court. “It’s something to fall back on.”

Powers said the documentation sets uniform criteria across the county, for existing commissioners and those who come after. It is an issue that affects Powers and O’Brien, who control most of the county outside the city limits; Commissioner District 2, controlled by Johnny Owens, is located within the Lawton city limits, where building is regulated by city code.

“It’s all in writing,” Powers said. “We’ll operate in synch, not treating them (developers) differently.”

He said that doesn’t mean a commissioner may not take subdivision roads into the county for maintenance; that still is an option, he said.

In October, commissioners resolved part of a long-standing issue by formally accepting roads within already-platted subdivisions, pending action that dated as far back as 2006. But commissioners also said some subdivisions still are being built, while others are planned. O’Brien, who cited six subdivisions under way in the eastern district, said there is a cost to the county for maintaining those roads.