Maine Alliance for Road Associations - Private Ways Statute, then and now

25 Jul 2009 4:12 PM

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Reply # 199461 on 193877

Anonymous

Does the law say any work on a private road, owned and deeded by (One Party),not the town, not any of the parcel owners, with no association in place,can be done by a couple of parcel owners on said road,without the permission of the road owner?????

25 Jul 2009 4:28 PM

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Reply # 199463 on 193877

Anonymous

Todd Tolhurst wrote:If anyone is interested in how Maine's Private Ways law has evolved over time, I've assembled the various versions and amendments I have been able to locate online and with the help of the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library at http://www.fireroad53.com/MaineLaw/history.html.

Todd,

Does a private road owner have any rights as to the use of his road?

If the parcel owners wanted to form a "Legal" association ,which they don't have,and all the lots are fifty feet on the road. Each parcel owner could purchase the portion of road , that runs with their parcel,for a reasonable price.That way each parcel owner would have equal rights in the Association.

26 Jul 2009 5:56 PM

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Reply # 199712 on 199463

Deleted user

Anonymous wrote:
Does a private road owner have any rights as to the use of his road?

If the parcel owners wanted to form a "Legal" association ,which they don't have,and all the lots are fifty feet on the road. Each parcel owner could purchase the portion of road , that runs with their parcel,for a reasonable price.That way each parcel owner would have equal rights in the Association.

As they say, I Am Not A Lawyer;this is simply my understanding as a layperson.

If the other parcel owners have an easement in their favor for the use of the road, the owner of the road no longer has absolute control over the maintenance and use of the road. He cannot prevent easement holder from using the road, and the parcel owners are within their rights to perform maintenance on the road to maintain access to their parcels, particularly if the road owner is not maintaining the road.

Certainly, the parcel owners could purchase portions of the road if the road owner wishes to offer it for sale, but it may not be to their advantage to do so. Since they hold an easement, they have all the rights they need to pass over the road. As to their rights in an association, at least so far as a statutory association goes, each parcel owner would have an equal vote regardless of any ownership stake in the road.

27 Jul 2009 8:04 AM

Quote

Reply # 199915 on 196306

Anonymous member

JP wrote:Our Non-Profit Association has hired the same contractor 2 years for the same project. The road has washed out on a corner/culvert the cost was $375 per lot (18) owner the 1st year. Last year it again washed out and so did another culvert/driveway entrance and another driveway entrance....the contractor said the road needed grading, he was hired and it cost us $350 per lot owner. Again this year the same areas as last year are washed out and it has been getting worse every time it rains. We contacted the President and he told us to call the contractor they used last year. Over a month has gone by without any response we are frustrated that the washout has tripled. We hired are own contractor to fix our driveway and our neighbor used the same people to fix his with no expense to the association....out of our own pocket. Now the association pres. is saying we should have gone through the association to have the roads repaired and that he looked at the washout and the contractor wants to charge us again to fix this same washout....its only $200. We find it unreasonable that we have to continue to pay to repair the same road every year. It is obvious this contractor doesn't know what he is doing. What can we do to protect ourselves from this unreasonable road repair and the bill we are going to be subjected to again? Does anyone know what laws are in place to hold this contractor accountable so we don't have to pay him? We feel he should fix the roads for free it hasn't even been a year since he said the roads were fixed.

This is an important situation as it is costing you needless money and also is not good environmentally as all that phosphorus in the gravel may well end up causing the water quality in any nearby lakes or streams to degrade. I suggest you contact the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to get information on any BMP's (Best Management Practices) that may be suitable for the situation on your road. Also, there is a Maine Local Roads Center at the DOT (Department of Transportation) and they have a pdf on a program that may still be going that can help: http://www.maine.gov/mdot/community-programs/csd/documents/phil-doc_000.pdf

By finding him through the Local Roads Center, Phil Curtis came to our road and suggested things that could help.

Last modified: 27 Jul 2009 8:04 AM | Anonymous member

27 Jul 2009 8:08 AM

Quote

Reply # 199916 on 199712

Anonymous member

Todd Tolhurst wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Does a private road owner have any rights as to the use of his road?

If the parcel owners wanted to form a "Legal" association ,which they don't have,and all the lots are fifty feet on the road. Each parcel owner could purchase the portion of road , that runs with their parcel,for a reasonable price.That way each parcel owner would have equal rights in the Association.

As they say, I Am Not A Lawyer;this is simply my understanding as a layperson.

If the other parcel owners have an easement in their favor for the use of the road, the owner of the road no longer has absolute control over the maintenance and use of the road. He cannot prevent easement holder from using the road, and the parcel owners are within their rights to perform maintenance on the road to maintain access to their parcels, particularly if the road owner is not maintaining the road.

Certainly, the parcel owners could purchase portions of the road if the road owner wishes to offer it for sale, but it may not be to their advantage to do so. Since they hold an easement, they have all the rights they need to pass over the road. As to their rights in an association, at least so far as a statutory association goes, each parcel owner would have an equal vote regardless of any ownership stake in the road.

First you have to find out if the other parcel owners have any easements. You have to go to the deeds to do that. Ideally, they would do that work. If they do not have easements, technically their lots are landlocked and would not have been sold today. There are a lot of very long-term-owned parcels in Maine and that may be the case. Someone will have to check it out.

27 Jul 2009 8:18 AM

Quote

Reply # 199925 on 199915

Anonymous member

Betsy Connor Bowen wrote:
JP wrote:Our Non-Profit Association has hired the same contractor 2 years for the same project. The road has washed out on a corner/culvert the cost was $375 per lot (18) owner the 1st year. Last year it again washed out and so did another culvert/driveway entrance and another driveway entrance....the contractor said the road needed grading, he was hired and it cost us $350 per lot owner. Again this year the same areas as last year are washed out and it has been getting worse every time it rains. We contacted the President and he told us to call the contractor they used last year. Over a month has gone by without any response we are frustrated that the washout has tripled. We hired are own contractor to fix our driveway and our neighbor used the same people to fix his with no expense to the association....out of our own pocket. Now the association pres. is saying we should have gone through the association to have the roads repaired and that he looked at the washout and the contractor wants to charge us again to fix this same washout....its only $200. We find it unreasonable that we have to continue to pay to repair the same road every year. It is obvious this contractor doesn't know what he is doing. What can we do to protect ourselves from this unreasonable road repair and the bill we are going to be subjected to again? Does anyone know what laws are in place to hold this contractor accountable so we don't have to pay him? We feel he should fix the roads for free it hasn't even been a year since he said the roads were fixed.

This is an important situation as it is costing you needless money and also is not good environmentally as all that phosphorus in the gravel may well end up causing the water quality in any nearby lakes or streams to degrade. I suggest you contact the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to get information on any BMP's (Best Management Practices) that may be suitable for the situation on your road. Also, there is a Maine Local Roads Center at the DOT (Department of Transportation) and they have a pdf on a program that may still be going that can help: http://www.maine.gov/mdot/community-programs/csd/documents/phil-doc_000.pdf

By finding him through the Local Roads Center, Phil Curtis came to our road and suggested things that could help.

PS This is an important question and I took the liberty of copying it to a separate thread so other people can find it better.

27 Jul 2009 2:16 PM

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Reply # 200110 on 193877

Anonymous

Can our Non-Profit Association Dissolve?

Our deed clearly states that we are...{to accept active membership in the association... agree to be subject to and abide by the articles of Incorp and Bylaws..and all rules & regs adopted by the association. It also says the association shall control and operate our "Common Land" for recreational use only...the ownership of the easement of control of access to travel over the roadways....establish fees and charges for the operation and maintenance of lands and facilites under its control.} As previously inquired we have had numerous road issues, costing thousands of dollars with no end in sight.

From the wording I feel that their must always be an association to govern the roads and common area. Yet I am finding conflicting laws...under Title 13B non-profit it says it is indefinate... in another place I found it would take every lot owner to agree to dissolve...then I read that only majority need to vote? If they can indeed dissolve, what happens to our deed...do they need to ammend all of the deeds? What happens to road repair? I also heard they intend on taking our deeded common area and splitting up ownership to abutting lot owners...I don't believe this is even legal.

Anyone know a good attorney on this type of stuff....we are willing to pay some money (not alot) to have all of the issues reviewed and put to rest.

Thank you...about to lose my mind

27 Jul 2009 3:19 PM

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Reply # 200140 on 193877

Deleted user

Here is the link to a tremendous website. I know this works for Cumberland County, can't speak to the others. I have been going to Portland to look at deeds then DUH, found this. You will have to play with the options but the learning curve is not steep. https://www.mainelandrecords.com/melr_me005/MelrApp/index.jsp

11 Sep 2009 9:47 AM

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Reply # 217846 on 193877

Deleted user

I have a question, not sure if anyone knows the answer. Once a deed is written, can the covenants be changed? In an old deed we (the association) owns a parcel of land, In the deed it states that this property can never be sold, transferred, mortgaged, rented or disposed of in any way. Yet, someone in the association signed off a new deed and sold the property to another person. The parcel was then sold as a large portion of land (including this one) to an unsuspectiing person or persons.......IF the covenant says it can NEVER BE SOLD, can the owners sell????? Or can they change the covenants in any way they want? Does anyone know the answer to this?

16 Nov 2009 8:36 AM

Quote

Reply # 245376 on 199463

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:
Todd Tolhurst wrote:If anyone is interested in how Maine's Private Ways law has evolved over time, I've assembled the various versions and amendments I have been able to locate online and with the help of the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library at http://www.fireroad53.com/MaineLaw/history.html.

Todd,

Does a private road owner have any rights as to the use of his road?

If the parcel owners wanted to form a "Legal" association ,which they don't have,and all the lots are fifty feet on the road. Each parcel owner could purchase the portion of road , that runs with their parcel,for a reasonable price.That way each parcel owner would have equal rights in the Association.

Todd,

Quick question,thanks for all of your knowledgeable imput.

3101 states Private Way,road, is per 3021 sec 2 That states public easement as follows:

2. Public easement. "Public easement" means an easement held by a municipality for purposes of public access to land or water not otherwise connected to a public way, and includes all rights enjoyed by the public with respect to private ways created by statute prior to the effective date of this Act.

What does this mean "an easement held by the municipality" and also

"with respect to private ways created by statute prior to date of this act?"

Does not 3101 refer to easement held by a municipality and not a road with deeded ownership, from original development plan,to a single party?

This is all so confusing. The road has signs that state "Private Road" and is is over 1500 ft long.

You mentioned the deeds on the road as far as "easements ". Our deed states travel allowed over private ROW to our property,I am told other deeds state the same from original development.

Todd, please explain the difference between Easement,and Right of Way over private land.

I know you are not a lawyer but we follow your posts and you should be.