There’s a county road on our property line, called Dinuba Avenue, that allows access to our farm. A Dairy Farm, the neighbor to our South, uses this road as well. Public access is restricted because there is a jointly owned locked iron gate spanning its entrance.
We use this road as an equipment turnout as our vineyard rows terminate at the road. It is necessary to have this space for truck and trailer staging during the grape harvest. The busy highway on the opposite end of the vineyard rows is unsafe and therefore not suitable.
Historically, the Dairy has maintained a shoulder on their side of the road. Recently they diverged from their usual business and contracted to have an orchard established. Their new tree rows are to run parallel to the road. An outer tree row has been planted on the roadside edge.
Considering that their orchard trees will soon develop an expansive canopy possibly extending onto the roadway we are concerned that our access to it will be obstructed.
Overview Video:
Does the county have any authority over the condition of this road? If so, are there restrictions about planting along boundaries, obstructing traffic, etc?
Indeed. I’m sure there are dusty volumes of [red tape] standards that spell it all out like this one:
Chapter 13.04 Section 13.04.010
OBSTRUCTING OR INJURING HIGHWAYS
I did search for fresno county roadway design standards and found this document: http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/ViewDocument.aspx?id=67577 It gives design standards for county rural roads. The trick is to determine what kind of road that we have i.e. is it county maintained? unimproved? local? private?