You can't buy property that's not for sale. That's how Levy County Commissioners responded to a crowd of angry residents fighting to keep open the primary road to their neighborhood, but the residents lost. Commissioners voted two to one in favor of closing the road, that they say wasn't theirs to keep open.
The road leads into the heavily populated Ocala Highlands West Neighborhood and is owned by Mike Joyner. Joyner is a retired sheriff's deputy and now a bailiff at the Levy County Courthouse. Joyner requested the road be closed and drivers take a longer, alternate route to eliminate the heavy traffic through his property. Residents argue the detour will cost them time, money, and even their lives.
Robert Dykes lives in the neighborhood and says the detour will slow emergency response times. Dykes says; "we need a place where ambulances can get in without having to go six miles out of the way and come in through another county." Dykes and many other residents spoke up about their concerns at the hearing, but Commissioner Ryan Bell says the road isn't the county's to control.
The land and the road are owned by Mike Joyner and his family. Joyner refused an interview on camera because of his unpopular stance, but he told me; "I'm not going to give up my land that my family has worked for for over a hundred years."
As soon as Mike Joyner turns in all the necessary paperwork to the county, he can shut off access to the road. Road developers are looking into three other possible routes for residents.