Road Rights and Rural Disputes
A landowner threatens to close a long-standing public road, sparking a legal and neighborly conflict in sections 9 and 10.
The story, cleaned up
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Residents of Sections 9 and 10 are now 'up in the air.' For years they have been using a road to town running along the north line of section 9, and recently the road crew started to repair the road. Last Saturday one of the owners along the road stopped them, claiming the road crossed his property and said he was going to close it up. Years ago everyone else had donated land for this road, and everyone thought the right of way was complete. It is safe to say that the neighbors will feel sore enough over it to take pains to see that the owner won't make anything by closing the road.
“Years ago everyone else had donated land for this road, and everyone thought the right of way was complete.”
Conflicts over 'prescriptive easements' and historical public access to rural roads are still common litigation points in Washington State, where development often clashes with established land use patterns.
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