City Right Of Way Conflict

Location: North Carolina

​

Hello all,

​

Recently i received a complaint about a ditch connected to a culvert adjacent to my property from local code enforcement. The ditch is not on my property nor is it an easement. The letter is back dated to June 8th but the letter wasnt mailed until june 10th according to the processing stamp. It arrives on june 13th with a comply-by date of june 18th giving me 4 business days to comply (city municipal code allows me 7 days to appeal to town council). The town straight up owns it the plot maps show this clearly. I know that typically it is the duty of the home owner to mow the right of way and i do this. But my town municipal code states the following

​

"Ownership and control of streets, sidewalks, sewer and drainage systems, etc.; authority of town council as to water and sewer connection, etc.; natural drainways.

The Town shall have entire and exclusive ownership and control over the streets, sidewalks, drainways, culverts, sewer and drainage systems within its corporate limits or of those which may be established outside the corporate limits in connection with either of the above-named systems; and for the purposes of construction, maintenance, repair and operation thereof, the town, through any of its officers, shall have the right to enter upon any and all private premises with or without the consent of the owner..."

​

The town has been mowing the ditch since i have lived here but then this happened. So i sent my response informing them that i believed it was a misunderstanding for the aforementioned reasons. The next business day i get an email from a lawyer who introduces himself as the "associate lawyer of the town attorney" and states that my property will be reinspected and fines will be given and tells me i have no proof that theyve been mowing it and even if they did i still have to mow it.

​

I obviously did not respond to this email. The code enforcement never spoke to me again either.

​

I know the appearance is that the easiest thing to do is just to mow the ditch. But the ditch is over 3 feet deep, 150 feet long, with steep banks and large rocks at the bottom that make using a lawn mower impossible. I cannot get in there and do it with a weed eater because i had a motorcycle wreck that messed my left ankle up that makes walking on slopes difficult and i dont really have the money to keep paying a company to come out and do what the town has been doing for free with their boom mower. So basically i have no choice but to fight this or move. I do mow the right of way.

​

I plan on calling the mayor and or the city manager later today to see if we can get this figured out and then ill file my appeal to town council but if that doesnt work im screwed. What do i do? What if i fall in the ditch and get hurt? Will the city be liable? I just need guidance

Update: i have video evidence of a boom mower arriving at my property