JASPER, Tenn. – The battle for control of a 6-mile stretch of Aetna Mountain Road once again has been brought to the Marion County Commission.
At the board’s November meeting, Commissioner Joey Blevins, who manages 1,000 acres on the mountain, said complaints about the safety and access to Aetna Mountain Road have resurfaced after a recent fire trapped some families in the area because the road was blocked by locked gates.
Aetna resident Jeff Fox said private landowners like Resource Land Holdings in Denver, Colo., have erected gates along the road to keep out trespassers, but that’s creating a safety and access problem for other area property owners.
In 2013, the board unanimously voted to support the view that the parts of Aetna Mountain Road that are not on the county’s road list were for public use historically.
A lawsuit over access to the road filed by Steve Perlacky was dismissed by the plaintiff two weeks ago.