Right of Way - gate -

There is a Right of Way through my property to 2 hunting cabins that border my property. It's been there for 75 yrs. Can I put a gate on the road, and provide the owners a key. I want to keep sightseers/trespassers out. One cabin owner say yes, the other says no, claiming we can't block the public access.

pends if its a public row or private.. if its an row granted only to the owner of the cabins.. then i suspect its private but they may or maynot have a right to argue the lock. I would suspect if you put a combo lock on it due to it being a private row and give them the combination, they dont have much of a leg to stand on. You can always claim the private row was being trepassed on and you will hold them responsible for controlling it, if they get horsey.. but remember, any one can sue any one for any thing any time. and it works for you as well.

I believe that it's a private. I found an old right of way declaration in the court house from 1934, that grant one of the previous owner of a cabin a right of way through the property.

I'd be more familiar with a private drive being called an 'easement' and a public road being called a 'right of way', so donno on this one. It would be in that fine print you turned up, if it's granted to a person or persons it likely is an easement, if it's granted to a govt body (township, county, etc) then it would be a public road.

Probably take a land lawyer to sort it out title search and determine what is and isn't allowed. Couple words here & there can make a difference. 'Easement' lets them cross land you control. Other words might mean something different.....

--->Paul

If it is an actual easement, you can put a gate across it if you provide them with a key to get in. It is still your land-you just don't have the right to stop them from accessing it. That said, all the rights you have mean nothing till a judge rules on it if they want to fight it in court.

My non-lawyer based opinion is that the ROW is legal, and private to the cabin owners. It is also reasonable to want security for yourself, and them.
I would give the option od the gate, keyed for all three, combination, or push button combination, or a fence along your side of the ROW if that is a possible answer. The argument is between the others as to access security (probably to allow friends and relatives to visit without going to get a key). Jim

of course you can ,at least here you can.as long as its not a public road.I would think they would like the idea.But of course if i was doing something in one of those cabins that, how shall we say, required a lot of public traffic,i might not want to inconvenience them,or slow them down any.of course the way folks are nowdays,he may be just too lazy to get out and open a gate.is the fellow who says you cant just saying its a public road and youll get in trouble or its against the law,or does he just not want the inconvenience? call your county commissioner, he should know if its a rural, or county road that they maintain.

each can have their own seperate lock. Just hook the loop of one lock with the other making the chain longer. Most here do that as power company, gas company etc

Ron, first off you CAN NOT get your question answered here, especially by lay or even professional opinions. If you and those neighbors choose to litigate the issue then a court of competent jurisdiction can make a ruling and what you or I or the neighbors or anyone here thinks is of no consequence.
Does this easement serve ONLY the cabin owners you mentioned OR is to the "public in general" as the one land seems to think?????

Do you own adjoining land say behind the land served by the easement that you have an interest in protecting????????

Id guess its ONLY for cabin owners so you can indeed block access to the public in general but NOT to the cabin owners it serves. For instance if the easement provides ingress and egress for the cabin owners, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY CAN DEVELOP A SHOPPING CENTER BACK THERE and then you still must provide all that access, that overburdens the original or established intent.

As Co Counsel Dean well notes and its CRITICAL TO A LEGAL ANALYSIS, is this a writen easement OR one by prescription based upon uninterrupted use for a statutory period??? If theres a writing ITS LANGUAGE CONTROLS and what anyone here thinks doesnt amount to much and if litigated thats likely what a Court will rule.

If theres no writing and the easement is determiend (by a Court, no one here for Petes sake, we dont have such authority) found to serve as ingress and egress solely for the cabin owners (NOT the public), the legal issue concerns a balance of how much of a burden it is for the dominant party (cabin owners) to have to get out and use a key to open a gate versus what rights you have in protecting other property you own and the associated risks and burdens.

Id say this, if those cabin owners have used the easement with no gates over a period of time AND THEY USE IT OFTEN SUCH THAT A GATE IS BURDENSOME and conditions have NOT substantiually changed,,,,,,,,,,,,A court is likely to frown on your now wanting to alter the ease/method of access,,,,absent good reasosn to do so such as risk of damage to your property.

I enjoy these question and am glad to help if I can, when a legal question is asked everyone comes out of the woodwork with an opinion and are well intentioned and glad to help BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT there are wayyyyyyy to many unknowns here to render a competent professional opinion and even if an educated opinion could be given, A COURT HAS TO FIND THE FACTS AND RULE ON SUCH A COMPLEX ISSUE so anything offered her (lay or professional) just isnt anything you wanna hang your hat on........

Ask a local attorney familiar with real estate law and provide information to him as far as any writing etc AND HE CAN GIVE YOU A WORTHWHILE OPINION then you can choose a course of action such as litigation or build a gate etc etc or do nothing

Best wishes n God Bless yall

John T BSEE, JD Country Lawyer

Well if there has not been a gate there in over 10 years and both party's do not agree then NO you can not with out getting it agree with by all party's in court. I know this at least is true in Missouri and am fighting this type of problem now

Everything John said, plus all state statutes are NOT the same. [u:b1b4906dd6]Every little detail matters.[/u:b1b4906dd6] I spent many many $$$ over 4 years, with appeals all the way up to state supreme court to settle virtually this exact matter........it cost me more than the land was worth & a lot of heart-burn, but I did keep the gate & excluded non-easement holding trespassers. Court experiences are very expensive!!!

As usual the one with the most $$$$ and tells the biggest lie is the winner in court

Sounds like sour grapes of a non-winner. It actually comes down to digging out the letter of the law & finding a dedicated lawyer smart enough to apply those facts/laws to the situation at hand. No lies involved, but good lawyers do cost money. Bad ones often charge a lot, too.

If your lawyer ain't a good liar you're a guaranteed loser,I've won a few times BTW cause I know who's the biggest crooks and hire them.