§ 32-6-134 - Procedure by department upon discovery of violation of Code Section 32-6-131; liability for expenses incurred in connection with changes made in commercial driveways - Georgia Statutes

O.C.G.A. 32-6-134 (2010)
32-6-134. Procedure by department upon discovery of violation of Code Section 32-6-131; liability for expenses incurred in connection with changes made in commercial driveways

(a) Upon discovery of a violation of Code Section 32-6-131, the department shall give written notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the offender to commence removing any offending condition within ten days of receipt of such notice. Upon failure to comply with such notice or to complete such work within a reasonable time after such notice, the department may remove, prevent, or rectify any offending condition by barricading or closing the commercial driveway or a portion thereof, or by other methods, and certify the expenses thereof for collection to the Attorney General.

(b) Where, in accordance with Code Section 32-6-132, a change is made in a commercial driveway in existence on July 1, 1973, the department shall be liable for the expenses thereof, provided that the commercial driveway so changed did not, before such change, provide an unsafe and unreasonable access from the abutting property, considering that there exists in the owner of the abutting property a private property right to have a reasonable access from such property to the public road as the same was and would have continued to be according to the mode of its original use. Before making any change or substitution in a commercial driveway in existence on July 1, 1973, when the department has determined that it shall not bear the expenses thereof, the department first shall give written notice to the abutting property owner to begin within 90 days the necessary change in or substitution of the driveway, provided that in the case of a nuisance such notice need be given only ten days in advance. Upon failure of the abutting property owner to complete the necessary change or substitution, the department may perform the necessary work and certify the expenses thereof to the Attorney General for collection.