BISBEE — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously denied a request to abandon a 50-foot public right-of-way easement on River Road.

The request was made by Diamond X Ranch, which has installed an unlocked gate across River Road, a non-county maintained road, to protect the acreage from illegal immigrants, said attorney Dale S. Zeitlin. The gate is kept unlocked allowing access to the 25 acres owned by Donald and Marian Buchanan north of the ranch. The ranch owners also have installed a 6-foot-high, chain-link fence parallel to the road to prevent access by illegal immigrants, though there are access points under the fence due to washes.

The problem, as pointed out by Patricia Morris, an engineer with the county Highway and Floodplain Department, is that abandonment of the public access, established in 1976, could impact the property owner north of the Buchanans. The owner’s name was not given. Though Morris tried to contact the owner, no response was received. The property would have no other access except via River Road due to the San Pedro River to the east and the railroad right of way to the west.

The department became involved when property owners contacted Morris about the gate.

“We went to look at it and found it serves a number of properties,” she said.

Highway staff recommended denial because two property owners opposed the abandonment.

The Buchanans are against the abandonment and would like the gate removed due to safety concerns. Donald Buchanan said he did not want his wife to have to get out of the car to open the gate, because illegal immigrants traffic the area near the San Pedro River, and he felt that would endanger her.

The Buchanans and the ranch are currently involved in a civil suit over the gate, Zeitlin said. In a letter he prepared for the supervisors, Zeitlin states the county has no interest in the keeping the public easement and that the impact of not abandoning the easement will result in a lawsuit against the county since a historical policy has been set by allowing the previous gate across the road.

“If the county does an about face and changes its historical policy — and requires that the right of way not be gated at this location, Diamond X Ranch will suffer damages that are a direct result from the county’s change of position,” he wrote in the letter.

Zeitlin argues that since there had been a gate across the easement for a number of years, the county must approve of it being gated.

Supervisor Paul Newman took offense to being threatened with a lawsuit. “We have an aggressive landowner filing lawsuits to take control of property … We have a duty to the landowners,” he said.

Supervisor Richard Searle suggested the supervisors hold a work session to talk about the inconsistencies in determining abandonments.

In other business, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday:

• Approved a settlement in the tax appeal of Morning Star Airpark.

• Approved new speed limits on North Kings Ranch Road from Highway 92 to Bloomfield Road and on Glenn Road from Highway 191 to Leslie Canyon Road of 45 mph.

• Approved a fee increase of $5 for writs issued by Cochise County Justice Courts that will go into a statewide fund to pay for training costs of constables.