PBC town to shutter road used to access dozens of homes

Dozens of property owners in Loxahatchee Groves in Palm Beach County will need to find another way to access their homes when the district shuts down a two-mile dirt strip of 40th Street North because it is legally a district-owned canal-maintenance easement instead of a road. For now, drivers will be allowed to get to their properties at their own risk, but when alternate routes are constructed — some at the expense of title insurance companies, which often guarantee landowners legal access to their properties — the road will be blocked off altogether, the district said. The news came as a surprise to many with 40th Street North addresses and angered others because the Town of Loxahatchee Groves has collected over $12,000 in gas taxes for the road since October 2008. [Palm Beach Post]