Planning to close a road on my property

[Silence_Dogood]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA

I own a piece of rural property in Florida. A road runs along one edge of the property, and is 100% on my property as verified by recent survey.

My plan is to close the road and give a key to each of the property owners who have no other way to reach their properties. Each of the affected properties are rural with no homes, but they are registered as "agriculture" for the exemption based on a sketchy claim of planted pine.

1) Assuming the legal owners are given a key to the gate, will they still have standing to sue for the gate's removal entirely?

2) Several of the registered owners are dead. I plan on identifying the personal representative (executor) of each of their estates and providing them with a key. Will heirs to the estate have standing to sue, assuming the personal representative does not provide them with a copy of the key?

3) Is there any way to prevent them from simply opening the gate and leaving it open?

 

[John_DFW]

Is there a recorded easement?

Nothing you do can prevent the gate from being left open, whether it is intentional or unintentional .

 

[Silence_Dogood]

There is no recorded easement. However, the only other way into the other properties by vehicle would be through a wildlife management area. And they just gated the road about 6 months ago, making my road the only one in.

So, the owners probably have a good case for easement by necessity and the "problem" hunter will likely make a case for prescriptive easement. However, I know the last owner gave him verbal permission to use the road, and the one before that attempted to stop him...unsuccessfully...by creating a berm.

 

[154NH773]

I would just do as you plan and see what the fallout is. Our family has gated a town road in a similiar fashion for over 30 years with no problem from the one other landowner, or the town. People that don't like the gate have wrecked it over the years, but we just build it stronger each time.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

There is no recorded easement. However, the only other way into the other properties by vehicle would be through a wildlife management area. And they just gated the road about 6 months ago, making my road the only one in.

So, the owners probably have a good case for easement by necessity and the "problem" hunter will likely make a case for prescriptive easement. However, I know the last owner gave him verbal permission to use the road, and the one before that attempted to stop him...unsuccessfully...by creating a berm.

A prescriptive easement requires twenty years of uninterrupted use. Since hunter had access through wildlife management area, he will have a difficult time claiming twenty years of uninterrupted use.

I'm also not aware of a court granting an easement by necessity for undeveloped land.

EDIT: - It seems Florida Statute will grant an easement for agricultural use as well. I would still argue that hunter is still trespassing unless crossing my land for agricultural purposes.

Personally, I wouldn't simply hand out keys. I'd offer to grant a license to use the land (for some form of payment) or grant an easement for a larger form of payment.

It's up to the trespasser to jump through the hoops to go to court an get a prescriptive easement or easement by necessity. Until that happens, he is only a trespasser.