Land locked property?

I am considering buying a piece of property- a house on 8 acres that backs up to a river. There is a small creek at the front of the property between the house and the highway. The bridge over the creek is falling in, and the county won't fix it because it's on private property. As I understand it, the owner was unable to obtain a permit to repair the bridge himself due to an EPA snafu. Supposedly he lost a court battle over it, and now has to park on the far side of the bridge and walk over it to get to his house. The property is a "steal"- 6 BR farmhouse with barns and garages, etc, and as I said, 8 acres. It's located in Upstate NY on the Seneca River. I currently live in Florida, and am having a hard time finding out where to begin research. Any suggestions, reading, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jfulmoon:
I am considering buying a piece of property- a house on 8 acres that backs up to a river. There is a small creek at the front of the property between the house and the highway. The bridge over the creek is falling in, and the county won't fix it because it's on private property. As I understand it, the owner was unable to obtain a permit to repair the bridge himself due to an EPA snafu. Supposedly he lost a court battle over it, and now has to park on the far side of the bridge and walk over it to get to his house. The property is a "steal"- 6 BR farmhouse with barns and garages, etc, and as I said, 8 acres. It's located in Upstate NY on the Seneca River. I currently live in Florida, and am having a hard time finding out where to begin research. Any suggestions, reading, etc. would be greatly appreciated!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What research are you talking about?

If I were the Buyer I would be asking the Seller to furnish as part of full disclosure the following:

1) the entire history of the bridge to include plans, permits, surveys, contracts, notices of violations from any regulatory agencies etc.

2) copies of all documents pertaining to building permits and applications, letters from building dept, zoning dept, and the EPA etc.

3) copies of all current restrictions and regulations with respect to the existing bridge, and all documents concerning the repair and maintenance and construction of a proposed new bridge etc.

The bottom line is to get the entire story past, present and future. You need to understand why there was and is an EPA problem and why the bridge can not be fixed. If the bridge can be fixed, what are the requirments and regulations and the cost. Is this a wetlands or Superfund issue? You should also be talking to the EPA directly. All this information is needed in order to complete your due diligence.

The property may sound like a steal and maybe the price is low for a reason. You sure don't want to buy the property and find out a year later that the EPA is nailing you $25,000 per day for violations of The Clean Water Act. Or protesters storm your property at 6 AM on a Sunday morning holding signs and chanting, "Save the Seneca Shrimp". 20/20 reports that a rare brackish water shrimp found only in a creek running from the Seneca River is under Federal Protection through a recently passed Congressional Crustacean Endangered Species Act: Federal Register Volume Crawdaddy.