Stuart resident Jason Steenhoek appeared before the City Council during their meeting Monday to express concern about an easement road running across his property on Second Street.

The 30-foot easement is rarely opened and meant primarily for school maintenance vehicles, as well as an extra road for residents to use in the event that Second Street was blocked. But, Steenhoek says others have been taking advantage of it.

“People kinda look at it and assume this is a street. I actually did the same thing. I actually turned around, pulled up in there. With the other side blocked off, there’s no outlet. Unless you back out of the street, all the way back down, what ends up happening is cars turn around in my yard. This is frustrating for me. I’ll be out grilling and you literally, if you all have your own personal home and see cars turn around in your nice yard. I think there’s a snow ordinance in effect, so I have cars that use this as a parking lot which I generally don’t care about. It doesn’t bother me. It’s more about when they park there on the side of the road with one tire off, and with no curb, alongside the road it kills the sod as well.”

Steenhoek also sought clarification if he was responsible for clearing the road as the property owner.

“On every snowstorm is it reasonable for a homeowner to have to remove on a 30-foot road. I mean, I did it on the last snowstorm, but I’m just saying, is that something I’m going to be responsible for. That’s a pretty big ask on my part for this easement road. ”

The City Council tabled the discussion for January’s meeting to consider remedy options. However, they did assure Steenhoek that he was not responsible for clearing the snow.