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DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!
"The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."
The general rule is, that if you own the property on both sides of the road, you own the land underneath the road. If you own property on one side, your property line is at the center of the road. But there are many twists, such as where the property lines were before the road was built, and was the property bought from the property owner or was the property (right of way) taken by right of way?
A few years ago, I granted an easement (a right of way is also an easement) to the telephone company to put one of their distribution stations on a corner of my property. I was paid for the easement, but if the telephone company ever abandons the station (i.e., no longer necessary), the easement is dissolved and the property reverts to me.
If a town ever abandons a road, the rights revert to the abutting property owners. Then you get into laws regarding "landlocked property", etc.
In terms of roads and who owns what all I know is that I've been lucky . . . guess I have a good lawyer . . . well my wife anyways.
A few years back the Town was coming through and clearing limbs from overhanging trees since they got a grant to do so after the Ice Storm. However, in short order the workers figured out that it was a lot easier to cut down entire trees vs. taking the time to use the pole saw and trim individual branches.
When they got to my house they started whacking down my beloved maples and oaks . . . until my wife yelled at them and told them that I would be very angry if they cut the trees down and instead she told them they should only use the pole saws . . . and they listened . . . at least until they got to the other side of my property and they fired up the chainsaws . . . until once again my wife came out and told them that I would also be angry if my apple tree was cut down and again the pole saws came out. My wife can be quite persuasive . . . which is why I rarely win any debates.
And then just last year the town did me a favor by cutting down a very large dead elm on my property. A neighbor across the way was concerned that it would fall down on the road and crush the Amish passing by in their buggies (I can't make that last part up . . . she actually said that). In any case they wanted me to cut down the tree until my wife told them that it was on their right of way and so the Town actually sent up a Tree Crew to cut down the tree . . . and then I ended up with the wood.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."
"Death is only one of many ways to die."