"This is the line in the sand," Sheriff Jim Cruzan, right, said of his demand that PSNC Energy stop construction of a gas pipeline at the intersection of Willets and Dark Ridge roads. Cruzan made the decree June 19 at the request of Willets Road residents, including Tommy McMahan, who said the gas company has no right to install a high-pressure line on their property without their permission. The N.C. Utilities Commission, which issued an oral restraining order against the gas company Tuesday (June 25), agreed with residents that the matter needs further investigation. - Herald photo by Lisa Majors-Duff
A right of way dispute has halted construction of a section of pipeline intended to bring natural gas to Jackson County later this year. Complaints from a group of Willets property owners about gas line construction on their property prompted the N.C. Utilities Commission Tuesday to issue an oral temporary restraining order against PSNC Energy. A written order was expected to be filed Wednesday. "We've contacted the gas company, and they've agreed to stop construction," said Jan Larson of the Utilities Commission's Public Staff. "It's very unclear if (PSNC Energy) has legal authority to install the gas line in this area without the permission of the property owners or without compensating them. "We thought it would be best if construction was halted until the facts could be worked out," Larson said. Jackson County Sheriff Jim Cruzan said he had a similar thought on the issue when several angry Willets Road residents requested his assistance last Wednesday (June 19) to stop PSNC from laying its high-pressure gas line on their property. The sheriff made it clear to the construction company they were not to proceed past the intersection with Dark Ridge Road until the dispute was legally resolved. "I'm going to protect your property rights," Cruzan told some 15 people who gathered again at the Willets Community Center Tuesday (June 25) to hear an update from the sheriff. "I'll step out of the way only if I find out I have to." Willets Road property owners were also pleased to hear Tuesday night that one of their neighbors, Randy Lucas, had contacted the N.C. Utilities Commission and that a restraining order was in the works. Until then residents had been under the impression they would need to hire their own attorney to fight the gas company. "They don't need to do that yet," Larson said. "The Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over utilities, and we in the public staff represent customers when they have complaints." Though they address customer concerns of all types, Larson said his office has not received a complaint of this nature, where it is "unclear if the company is even entitled to be there." PSNC spokesman Heidi Henderson confirmed Wednedsay that though the company believes it has a right to move forward with construction, company officials have agreed to continue the work stoppage. "This gives all parties the opportunity to have time to get these issues resolved," she said. PSNC is installing its pipeline on N.C. Department of Transportation right of way to bring natural gas to Sylva and Cullowhee's Western Carolina University. When construction was diverted from U.S. 23-74 to Willets Road to avoid a highway overpass, community residents began to question whether DOT could claim to hold a legal right of way on a road residents say has been abandoned by the state for years. "The state never had a right of way," Willets Road resident Joyce Lovin told The Herald Tuesday. "(DOT hasn't) maintained the road since the new bridge (on U.S. 23-74) went through some 30 years ago." The DOT-maintained portion of Willets Road ends near her property, she said. "We feel we have a right to move forward because DOT has maintained the area in question for at least 20 years," PSNC's Henderson said. Willets Road (S.R. 1537) is a state road, said DOT District Engineer Rick Styles, who said he understands DOT has a right of way across the area in question. There are really two disputes, Styles said. The first is exactly where Willets Road ends; the second concerns the property at the end of the road the gas company needs to cross. "(The dispute) involves an area that used to be a roadway," said Lane Mallonee, special deputy attorney general with the N.C. Attorney General's office. "Where a road exists as a public highway, unless action is specifically taken by DOT to abandon, a right of way continues to exist." DOT granted PSNC an encroachment that allows the gas company to install its pipeline, said Mark Hanna, PSNC supervisor of delivery. "It turns out there's a dispute over whether DOT owns the right of way," Hanna said. "We're kind of in the middle." |