Another bastion

of country living driveways and private roads shared by several neighbors

may become an endangered species in Fayette County.

The county's

Planning and Zoning Commission is considering new development rules that

would limit the number of homes that could share a driveway to two, and

placerestrictions on the circumstances under which such a sharing could

occur.

Only in cases

in which motorists would not have enough sight distance before encountering

a driveway would shared drives be allowed under the rules being considered.

If more than two want to share, they would have to build a road that meets

county standards, under the proposed rules.

Commission

member Douglas Powell didn't much like the proposal when the group talked

it over in a workshop meeting last week. He shares a private drive with

several neighbors himself, he said.

"I maintain

that road with my neighbors because we don't want everybody driving down

there," he said. "There's a lot of people that like to live

that way."

Not being able

to drive on the shared driveway is precisely the problem, said Julian

Campbell of the county Engineering Department.

The new rules

were devised by the joint effort of people in several county departments,

most notably Public Safety, Campbell said.

"The primary

issue we want to solve is one of safety," he said. Not only is it

often difficult or impossible for fire trucks and ambulances to get down

the shared roads, he said, but identifying the various addresses is a

problem as well.

That's not

a problem as far as Powell is concerned. "We assume a higher degree

of risk when it comes to fire fighting and we know that and we pay the

premiums," he said.

But there are

other problems to consider, said County Attorney Bill McNally. "Individuals

get angry with each other and close off the private road," he said.

"People buy off on easements where the easement isn't permanent.

A lot of people are not that well informed as to what's going to occur,"

he said.

Commission

member Bob Harbison said the regulations should be aimed at developers

rather than individuals who make agreements on their own.

"If a

developer brings in a platted subdivision, I really have no problem with

these standards," he said, "but I just honestly have a problem

with two adjacent homeowners who want to share a drive."

But commission

member Al Gilbert said the rules must apply to all. "We have fought

this problem for years," he said. "You cannot separate the individual

from the developer."

The group agreed

to put the matter on its next agenda for public hearing and possible vote.

That will be Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative

Complex.