united-states north-carolina
Can a new development connect to an existing private road without permission
<p>I live in a neighborhood with private roads.  The homeowners pay to maintain them.  The roads, while still privately owned, were dedicated to the &quot;public use&quot; so that police, fire, utilities, etc. could access the roads.  The dedication reads as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That we freely offer, grant, and dedicate to those who may purchase
said property or any part thereof and to the general public, the use
of the streets and roads shown on said plat of property for public
use. That we freely offer, grant, and dedicate to those who may rent
or purchase said property or any part thereof, and to their invitees
or guests and to all government service vehicles and general service
vehicles, such as fire, police, garbage, mail, etc. the use of the
private drives as shown on said plat of property. That we shall be
responsible for maintenance of the private drives as shown on said
plat unless we require by recorded covenant running with the land the
subsequent owners to be responsible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is one road in the neighborhood, actually just a court (ct) that dead ends at the neighborhood boundary.  This little road doesn't have any homes on it... it's barely 100' long.</p>
<p>Bordering against our neighborhood, right where this little court deadends is a 55 acre plot that a developer has purchased with the intent of adding a new neighborhood.  They want to use our private road to connect to their neighborhood.</p>
<p>Can someone connect a new road to our private roads without our permission?</p>
<p>Since we don't really use the little court that would be used as the connector, could we just dig up the road and turn it into a grassy/wooded space?  Does the fact it's been dedicated to the public restrict us from demolishing it if we wanted to?</p>
<p>Location: USA, North Carolina, Forsyth County</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Can someone connect a new road to our private roads without our
permission?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. The first sentence of the dedication expressly gives them permission to do so. Once the dedication was made, they were no longer private roads.</p>
