MAGNOLIA SPRINGS — A Magnolia Springs road could set a precedent for town policy. 

During its regular work session Monday, the Magnolia Springs Town Council discussed how to proceed with a request for the town to vacate Holly Street. It’s a patch of land that, as previously reported, Todd Puckett and a group of neighbors approached the council in September to seek advice on a strip of roadway connecting their adjoining properties.

In last month’s work session, Puckett and his neighbors told the Council that an erroneous classification as a town road brings an excess of traffic to the area, all of which have to turn around and find an actual working route. Discussion of the situation resulted in the council advising the group to formulate and sign a petition requesting the town to vacate the strip of property.

That petition was the topic of discussion Monday, in hich Town Councilman Bob Holk explained that the property in question once belonged to his grandmother.

“There were four 50-foot lots,” he said, explaining that his grandmother divided the lots with a common drive connecting them. “It was platted as a subdivision.”

Holk said that since that time, the individual properties changed hands, but he was unsure whether the drive was ever included in any of the transactions.

“There’s never any evidence of my grandmother deeding that out,” the councilman said.

However, he said, the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency recorded it in its own records as an access road.

“Later on, for 911, the county started calling it Dickerson Lane,” Holk said.

Further discussion Monday resulted in the council wondering whether the drive is town property. To answer that, it was determined that the town should file the petition with the court system and follow vacating procedures.

“Is there a downside to us going through the process of determining whether it’s a town road?” Magnolia Springs Mayor Charlie Houser asked. “I’d rather take our time and do it right.”

Further discussion brought up the question of who would be responsible for fees pertaining to doing so, as well as whether this case would set a pattern for future vacating cases in Magnolia Springs.

“This would set a precedent for processes,” Town Councilman Brett Gaar said.

Further discussion resulted in the town opting to look further into the matter and consult with the League of Municipalities, as well.