Road ownership

[Bearlodge]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina
I live on a private road, the only road into the area. My property line is 27 feet from the center of the road. The road is completely on the owners property. The former owner of the road has passed away. The new owner, daughter, says she does not want to maintain the road by herself the homeowners have to pay 1/2 of any expenses. She says there us a law in SC that the homeowners property extends to the centerline of the road.

 

[FarmerJ]

When you bought did you have a boundary survey done to show you exactly where your lot lines are ?

 

[Bearlodge]

When you bought did you have a boundary survey done to show you exactly where your lot lines are ?

Yes, I have a plat that shows my boundary markers and the distance from one to the centerline of the road.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina
I live on a private road, the only road into the area. My property line is 27 feet from the center of the road. The road is completely on the owners property. The former owner of the road has passed away. The new owner, daughter, says she does not want to maintain the road by herself the homeowners have to pay 1/2 of any expenses. She says there us a law in SC that the homeowners property extends to the centerline of the road.

What is between your property line and the road?

 

[Bearlodge]

What is between your property line and the road?

grass and weeds, nothing else

 

[quincy]

grass and weeds, nothing else

I apparently failed at asking the right question - but thank you for answering the question I asked.

The standard width of a highway lane is 12 feet with other typical roads having lane widths of between 10 to 12 feet.

So, assuming the road is a total of 20 feet wide, with edge to center being 10 feet (one lane), that leaves 17 feet from your property line to the road (or 27 feet from your property line to the center of the road).

I am trying to figure out what is on the 17 feet between your property line and the road. Does this property between road and your property line belong to your neighbor and does your driveway cross over 17 feet of your neighbor's property to get to your property from the road?

Is my question making sense ... or have I just hopelessly confused us both?

My question's intent is to discover if your neighbor has legitimate cause to ask that you contribute to the cost of maintaining the road. If I am understanding everything correctly, I think you have that obligation.

 

[Bearlodge]

I apparently failed at asking the right question - but thank you for answering the question I asked.

The standard width of a highway lane is 12 feet with other typical roads having lane widths of between 10 to 12 feet.

So, assuming the road is a total of 20 feet wide, with edge to center being 10 feet (one lane), that leaves 17 feet from your property line to the road (or 27 feet from your property line to the center of the road).

I am trying to figure out what is on the 17 feet between your property line and the road. Does this property between road and your property line belong to your neighbor and does your driveway cross over 17 feet of your neighbor's property to get to your property from the road?

Is my question making sense ... or have I just hopelessly confused us both?

My question's intent is to discover if your neighbor has legitimate cause to ask that you contribute to the cost of maintaining the road. If I am understanding everything correctly, I think you have that obligation.

The rod is approximately 12 feet wide, it is only a one lane road. The road and all the land (~15 feet) to my driveway is on the land owners property. The road is approximately 1/2 miles long with only 10 houses on it, the majority of the land on each side of the road is owned by the landowner with the exception of the area where houses are. If we are required to pay for road maintenance what is the requirement and what is the level of maintenance to ensure we can reach our home since this is our only ingress and egress?

 

[xylene]

I would be clamouring for an arrangement where I had more control over the only access route to my property. This sounds like a good thing.

 

[quincy]

The rod is approximately 12 feet wide, it is only a one lane road. The road and all the land (~15 feet) to my driveway is on the land owners property. The road is approximately 1/2 miles long with only 10 houses on it, the majority of the land on each side of the road is owned by the landowner with the exception of the area where houses are. If we are required to pay for road maintenance what is the requirement and what is the level of maintenance to ensure we can reach our home since this is our only ingress and egress?

Thank you for the additional information, Bearlodge. It provides a better picture in my head.

It would be of benefit to all homeowners who use the road for access to their property to sit down with the neighbor whose property is used. The neighbors can discuss a division of costs of maintaining the road. Each property owner could be responsible for costs by footage or by percentage of use, for example.

Any agreement that is reached should be reduced to writing and signed by all property owners on the road. It would be wise, and is advised, to have an attorney well-versed in real estate law involved at the start and who can personally review the agreement prior to signing.

 

[Bearlodge]

Thank you for the additional information, Bearlodge. It provides a better picture in my head.

It would be of benefit to all homeowners who use the road for access to their property to sit down with the neighbor whose property is used. The neighbors can discuss a division of costs of maintaining the road. Each property owner could be responsible for costs by footage or by percentage of use, for example.

Any agreement that is reached should be reduced to writing and signed by all property owners on the road. It would be wise, and is advised, to have an attorney well-versed in real estate law involved at the start and who can personally review the agreement prior to signing.

What is the requirement or law that states we are responsible for maintenance? I always thought that the person who sold the property had to provide an egress an ingress to the property.

 

[quincy]

What is the requirement or law that states we are responsible for maintenance? I always thought that the person who sold the property had to provide an egress an ingress to the property.

Generally the landowner with the road that other property owners use to access their property (this owner is called the servient owner) has no duty to maintain the road for use by the others (they are called the dominant owners). The burden of maintaining the access road falls to the dominant owners and the servient owner's duty is to not interfere with the dominant owners use.

In other words, all property owners who benefit from the road share in the costs of maintaining the road.

It is possible that there is filed with the servient owner's deed a covenant and restrictions agreement that details the obligations of the property owners in maintaining the road - and this should be checked first. If no previous agreement has been recorded, any agreement you and the other property owners reach should be recorded.

 

[FarmerJ]

by maintenance if its a gravel road do you mean periodic grading or did you mean adding more gravel ? keep in mind maintenance does not include big changes meaning the group cant just install black top if the surface is gravel, to figure out that cost the fairest way would be based on footage of the road that is used. so if first homes driveway connects say 1000 ft from public owned road (city, county, twp or state) then the first 1000 ft divide by ten and say next homes driveway is another 500 ft from first home then that 500 ft of maint is divided by 9 so the people at the end unfortunately pay the most. Keep in mind that if this goes that route it would be handy to know if the easement was worded so only the ten homes who use it can use it and honestly if it was written in very simple language it may not hurt to talk to a attorney to learn what it would take to have a set speed limit written into a maintenance agreement as well as say like once a year getting bids to have the work done. ( your township should be able to tell you what its cost per mile is for each time roads are graded )

 

[quincy]

by maintenance if its a gravel road do you mean periodic grading or did you mean adding more gravel ? keep in mind maintenance does not include big changes meaning the group cant just install black top if the surface is gravel, to figure out that cost the fairest way would be based on footage of the road that is used. so if first homes driveway connects say 1000 ft from public owned road (city, county, twp or state) then the first 1000 ft divide by ten and say next homes driveway is another 500 ft from first home then that 500 ft of maint is divided by 9 so the people at the end unfortunately pay the most. Keep in mind that if this goes that route it would be handy to know if the easement was worded so only the ten homes who use it can use it and honestly if it was written in very simple language it may not hurt to talk to a attorney to learn what it would take to have a set speed limit written into a maintenance agreement as well as say like once a year getting bids to have the work done. ( your township should be able to tell you what its cost per mile is for each time roads are graded )

I agree that it seems best to have a real estate attorney involved so that any agreement formed between the property owners can withstand a legal challenge.

Whatever is decided, it seems relatively clear to me based on what has been posted that the servient owner has legitimate legal reason to demand maintenance costs be borne (at least in part) by the dominant property owners.

 

[FarmerJ]

Quincy you know I have been curious as to the chance that the servient owner would at some point want to use it if the current easement was not granted exclusively to the ten properties that currently access it?

 

[quincy]

Quincy you know I have been curious as to the chance that the servient owner would at some point want to use it if the current easement was not granted exclusively to the ten properties that currently access it?

I guess I have been envisioning the servient owner as already using the road to access their own property. If this is not the case, a future use by the servient owner should be part of the discussion between dominant owners and servient owner.

Right now it appears that the servient owner has been maintaining the entire stretch of road without any help from the property owners who use the road to access their properties. It is generally not the servient owner's duty to do so. All of the property owners should have been contributing to the maintenance. The road is for their benefit.