A small subset of local access roads (LARs) in River Road and Santa Clara in Eugene are different from County-maintained roads in the area – for example, narrow dirt roads. But most, in appearance and function, are identical to County-maintained roads (except that maintenance has been neglected on LARs.) Even the County Road Maintenance Manager for Public Works admitted in the Lane County Commissioners’ work session on LARs that one can’t tell local access roads apart from County roads.
The term “local access road” implies legitimacy – that there must in fact be something different about it that justifies homeowners having to maintain it. But in state law, a local access road is just one that the County has not taken into its road system (and that the feds and state haven’t either) – whether for legitimate reasons or not.
That begs the question: For those that are identical to County roads, since homeowners on these LARs are paying the same taxes as those on County roads and are not receiving road maintenance service that those on County roads are, is Lane County violating LAR homeowners constitutional rights?
I’m not a lawyer and I’m using AI to help me understand this which I know is not always 100% correct, so I don’t claim to definitively know. I write this blog to raise the question and start the conversation. If you’re a lawyer or otherwise knowledgeable, do comment or get in touch.
The U.S. Constitution in section 1 of the 14th amendment requires that “No state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This requires that state and local governments treat individuals and groups equally under the law. It is designed to prevent discrimination by the government and ensure that people in similar situations are treated similarly.
The equal protection clause in our Oregon Constitution states: “No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens.”
Granting road maintenance service to some roads and its citizens, which are identical to roads denied maintenance service, seems like a straightforward violation. (ChatGPT suggests that only being functionally identical is sufficient – that even if the specifications differ – for example, if an LAR is narrower than is typical for County roads – if it’s a paved public road used by the public in the same manner as County roads, treating the LAR and its homeowners differently could be a constitutional violation. This should be explored.)
The County could contend that it has a rational basis for the disparate treatment – to save money, for example – but as I understand it that does not excuse If that basis is unfair or discriminatory.
ChatGPT’s ultimate take is that if residents on Local Access Roads pay the same taxes as those on County-maintained roads, and their roads are otherwise functionally identical, but they are denied maintenance solely based on historical classifications, an Equal Protection violation can be alleged, arguing that the two groups (LAR and county road residents) are similarly situated, they are treated differently, and there is no rational basis for the disparity, or at least that it’s unfair and arbitrary.
I’ll end this with an important clarification: I do not raise these questions as a signal that we should sue the County – I honestly don’t think that’s the answer. What I wish to do is wake County Commissioners up to the gross unfairness of this situation, so that they will choose to end this disparate treatment by accepting these LARs into the County road system, as should have been done decades ago.
Commissioners were told by County Public Works in their work session on LARs in April that these roads are LARs because developers chose to build substandard roads to save money – which is a great excuse for inaction, except that most of our LARs, by function and all appearances are not substandard when compared to County roads. It is the job of Commissioners to take in what their staff reports and recommends – and then do the right thing for the County and its citizens.