Neighbor has elected to damage over 20 trees

[747driver]

I have posted I am letting this go....I don't have time nor do I want to drag all the dirty laundry out that this neighbor has caused to just more than us and other property owners. Sometimes you just get a bad neighbor. You just have to stay active in watching your property and then one maybe they do totally cross the line. Talking with him has gone on deaf ears. I think everyone here knows this is not the country we grew up in. People have lost respect for each other....its now a country of ' I will do what I want'. All he had to do was come and ask and tell us what he wanted to do. Yes, I could go on his side and start widening the road, then take the materials and put it on my other property which is not in this development. The thought goes through my mind but I know 2 wrongs don't make a right. I am only willing to get a lawyer involved if I know we have a rock solid case....this is not the case right now. Now I have more bush hogging to do !!!

 

[Paddy]

747,

Most rural living folks living on a county road "own to the middle of the road". You may own it, pay taxes on it, but you don't have control of it. That 50 ft wide ROW is for all to use to egress their property.

There is nothing new to this story, just what side of it you fall. Generally its the "first guy" syndrome. First guy has lived with a narrow road for years, new guy comes in and wants a proper road.

 

[wagne223]

I know...its a poorly worded rule ! Your probably right on the vote part. Its majority rules...So I would think if a majority of the owners didn't express their right then there would be no rule....or maybe its just a majority of who expresses their right ?

Man, I feel for you.......I'm not 100 percent on your side of this situation, however I can definitely understand your concerns.

In general, people hate lawyers and legal issues, however, a properly executed ROW plan is imperative to the sanity of the community.

Think about this.......what happens when owners further up the mountain sell or die off? What if a 25 year old and 5 of his friends move into an inheritance property then decide that fishtailing up the road is fun.

It is probably too late but.........

If I were you, I would try to get that ROW document amended to something that describes boundaries, use, maintenance, materials, how are repairs are made, how changes are made to the ROW and the documents themselves, and most importantly.........detail who makes the decisions. If multiple people then that number and process should be clearly outlined.
I would also include infractions and penalties and how these are accessed.


Right now, any of you could scrape the gravel off the ROW and place it on your personal property and no one can do anything about it!

My hunting lease rules and bylaws are more clear then your ROW.

Unfortunately, in today's world, anything that involves multiple people must have clearly stated rules of conduct. Otherwise people will just do what they want.

Good luck to you sir.

 

[tcreeley]

I like fences. Where you want to keep him out. Use the money you would have used on a lawyer. Make it a solid fence, steel posts. Run a heavy pagewire or cable. Maybe even electrify it like you would for animals!. Talk is no good. Find some boulders to place along your land. It is a pissing match. Talk doesn't cut it.

 

[plowhog]

747, I am surprised at the heated comments directed at you. I do not support those.

I believe you have a legitimate issue, and your effort to seek opinions here was wise and has been beneficial. Good luck with your pole barn and channeling your time into a more productive direction. And please post pictures of the build process for your new barn!!

 

[ning]

747's made it clear he's done with the issue (not going to pursue it) and done with the topic.
Can we get a lock?

 

[Ford850]

747,

Most rural living folks living on a county road "own to the middle of the road". You may own it, pay taxes on it, but you don't have control of it. That 50 ft wide ROW is for all to use to egress their property.

There is nothing new to this story, just what side of it you fall. Generally its the "first guy" syndrome. First guy has lived with a narrow road for years, new guy comes in and wants a proper road.

The first guy in this case is the neighbor doing the clearing. The OP is the new guy, who moved in 6 or 8 years ago (both numbers have been stated by the OP). The first guy had already done most of the clearing before the OP bought his property years ago. It sounds like this is the latest ordeal in an ongoing dispute, and we're only hearing parts of the story that tend to change the longer this thread goes on. At one time there were 10 owners, and then there were 16. Hard to keep up. But I understand the OP was looking for suggestions and hoping to only give parts of the story so he didn't have to give all the gory details. At least he's taking a step back for now, so in the end it was good that he posted this thread for opinions.

 

[1010]

Guess you didn't read the entire thread, just jumping in mid stream without knowing how deep it was !All property owners own to the middle of the road. So maybe I would like to widen the road on his side and just start digging and cutting down and damaging his trees. Then taking his materials and using it on my other property. I think you know the answer !

No I didn't read the entire thread, I didn't need to. Do you know for sure he didn't talk to the other owner that you purchased the property from and had his permission first. What about ALL the other owners involved past or present that might have said yes to the work.
Somewhere there should be a ROW description, start to stop and marked as such. across the entire developed area. Otherwise the ROW could be anywhere or go anywhere inside the development.
The original developer should have this. It should also describe what is allowed and what isn't inside the ROW.

I wouldn't purchase land without a solid easement, ROW that is spelled out to a T.
I'm betting the guy knows what he can and can't do.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

BS on some of these responses.

An easement is the right to use another persons land for a stated purpose. A right of way is a type of easement that gives a person the right to travel across property owned by another person.

Reading up on the subject on some law sites, it really depends on the language, and local law. The details should have been disclosed when you bought the land. If the usage was only ingress / egress, then others could not cut and remove dirt. If it just says row, then you are somewhat screwed. They may have the right to cut the trees, but they dont have the right to keep the trees, it is still your property. This is the point people are missing.

When i worked for the road dept and cut row along the roads, the wood cut was left for the landowner. We also did not cut any hardwood trees that had value.

Maybe talk to your county prosecutor ir highway dept, they basically live by the same row laws for the area.

Also try to get some tax relief from the county, for your row area that you cant do anything with.

 

[NorTracNY]

747,

Most rural living folks living on a county road "own to the middle of the road". You may own it, pay taxes on it, but you don't have control of it. That 50 ft wide ROW is for all to use to egress their property.

There is nothing new to this story, just what side of it you fall. Generally its the "first guy" syndrome. First guy has lived with a narrow road for years, new guy comes in and wants a proper road.

I think you're right in what you post, but I'm not sure I see it here. Clearly there is bad blood here with the OP and the neighbor. If I was to want the road wider, I'd widen it on "my side." The OP has not given any indication that this was not a valid approach. If the guy wanted to improve the road, he certainly wouldn't just leave it dirt. As the OP stated, the rain running down the hill is not creating a proper road. My guess based upon the one sided story, is that the neighbor is taking the wood for firewood and filling areas of his lot with the dirt. It sounds like he's getting a lot of seat time on his new tractor. What I can't believe in this long thread is that no one has asked what kind of tractor either of these people own! This is a tractor website...