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Private road ingress/egress

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FredK

Member
What is the name of your state? WA

We live on a private road and a developer wants to buy a neighboring lot (also on the private road) and subdivide it into a short plat. The private road is not constructed to handle the weight of dump trucks, cement mixers, etc. and it will be destroyed by the heavy equipment. There is a 60 foot (30 feet on each side) private road easement that is used by all property owners that live along the private road.

Will the new owner/developer have to get permission from the easement property owners to use the road or is it automatically granted as his rights for ingress/egress? I thought that ingress/egress was only for routine car traffic and did not include heavy equipment.

We do have a private road maintenance agreement that says we all equally share the cost of maintenance but it does not have any verbiage concerning ingress/egress nor does it say anything about using the road for heavy equipment. None of us that live along the road want to see the subdivision built for a variety of reasons, but we are confused about what property rights we have concerning the use of the road easement.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
FredK said:
What is the name of your state? WA

We live on a private road and a developer wants to buy a neighboring lot (also on the private road) and subdivide it into a short plat. The private road is not constructed to handle the weight of dump trucks, cement mixers, etc. and it will be destroyed by the heavy equipment. There is a 60 foot (30 feet on each side) private road easement that is used by all property owners that live along the private road.

Will the new owner/developer have to get permission from the easement property owners to use the road or is it automatically granted as his rights for ingress/egress? I thought that ingress/egress was only for routine car traffic and did not include heavy equipment.

We do have a private road maintenance agreement that says we all equally share the cost of maintenance but it does not have any verbiage concerning ingress/egress nor does it say anything about using the road for heavy equipment. None of us that live along the road want to see the subdivision built for a variety of reasons, but we are confused about what property rights we have concerning the use of the road easement.

**A: post the language from the easement agreement.
 

FredK

Member
Easement agreement

We have a road maintenance agreeement that states:

"It is the intent of the parties, that they and their assigns, heirs, personal representatives, and parties claiming through them shall be responsible for all expenses in connection with the maintenance of that portion of S.E. 187th Ave. in Camas Washington as shown on Exhibit "A" attached hereto and by reference incorporated herein. This responsibility shall remain until Clark County decides to put in a full service road and agrees to assume all maintenance responsibilities.

Each lot owner shall be responsible for 20% of the road expenses. The road maintenance shall be treated as a lien against the property and may be foreclosed on the owners of the other lots."

Attachment A is a 1979 plat map that shows the five lots and the location of the 60 foot easements. The easements are labeled "private road and utility easement". The map also has the following verbiage: "The maintenance of private roads shall be the responsibility of the abutting land owners and no such road shall be maintained by the county until improved to county standards and accepted"

There road has never been upgraded to county standards nor has the county taken over any repsonsibilities for the road.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
FredK said:
What is the name of your state? WA

We live on a private road and a developer wants to buy a neighboring lot (also on the private road) and subdivide it into a short plat. The private road is not constructed to handle the weight of dump trucks, cement mixers, etc. and it will be destroyed by the heavy equipment. There is a 60 foot (30 feet on each side) private road easement that is used by all property owners that live along the private road.

Will the new owner/developer have to get permission from the easement property owners to use the road or is it automatically granted as his rights for ingress/egress? I thought that ingress/egress was only for routine car traffic and did not include heavy equipment.

We do have a private road maintenance agreement that says we all equally share the cost of maintenance but it does not have any verbiage concerning ingress/egress nor does it say anything about using the road for heavy equipment. None of us that live along the road want to see the subdivision built for a variety of reasons, but we are confused about what property rights we have concerning the use of the road easement.

Q: Will the new owner/developer have to get permission from the easement property owners to use the road or is it automatically granted as his rights for ingress/egress? I thought that ingress/egress was only for routine car traffic and did not include heavy equipment.


A: Yes; permission must be granted. Otherwise, it is overburdening the easement.
 

FredK

Member
Overburdening the easement

Thanks Senior Judge. Your answer makes perfect sense to me. The reason I posted the question was I got the following feedback from a local attorney "Without doing detailed research on the matter, I can only give my opinion as to how I believe a court would rule. I would be surprised if a judge would enjoin a developer from using an easement to transport heavy equipment to develop property. Even if this were overburdening the easement, it is very limited in scope and duration."

Is your answer "Yes, permission must be granted. Otherwise, it is overburdening the easement." based on knowledge of code, litigated results, or both?

Thanks! FredK
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
FredK said:
Thanks Senior Judge. Your answer makes perfect sense to me. The reason I posted the question was I got the following feedback from a local attorney "Without doing detailed research on the matter, I can only give my opinion as to how I believe a court would rule. I would be surprised if a judge would enjoin a developer from using an easement to transport heavy equipment to develop property. Even if this were overburdening the easement, it is very limited in scope and duration."

Is your answer "Yes, permission must be granted. Otherwise, it is overburdening the easement." based on knowledge of code [yes], litigated results [yes], or both?

Thanks! FredK
Clearly, the final decision will be made by a court of law.
 

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