Atlanta Easements behind homes in Midtown (Monroe: lawyers, house, construction)

[ATLChi]

I live on Monroe Drive near Piedmont Park. Several of the homes on Monroe have access from the rear from a city easement that was once used for garbage pickup. I am not sure when the city stopped using them but it has been a while. On my block the 3 homes which has driveways that was part of a common easement has claimed the property as their own.

I would like to regain access to this alleyway so that I can enter my yard from the rear. Any help or advice to my rights would be appreciated. I have not talked to the homes that use the easements as their own yet. I wanted to get as much info before the confrontation.

Anybody else have this issue/experience?

[ATLChi]

nobody has any advice for me? anyone out there use the alleyways to park?

[BobKovacs]

If they've officially annexed the property, you'd have to get written OK from them to cross it to get to your lot- if it's still owned by the city, you wouldn't, but you'd still probably want to get their OK to avoid issues. Is the space still paved and able to be driven across, or have they combined it into the yard?

[plessthanpointohfive]

Also, I think there might be a statute of limitations thing here. I'm really not sure if this is true or not (sorry) but I think if the property was abandoned by the city some time back and the residents of the homes took over the easement and X years have passed then the property belongs to them and you can't put any claim on using it.

Why do I say this?

My driveway was originally an alley that served my house, my neighbor to the west, and all the neighbors that run along the street just east of me. However, at some point in time no one knows someone put a house at the end of the alley. All the neighbors on that street east fenced in their yards and stopped accessing them from the alley. The effect was to give my neighbor to the west just about the entire alley as their backyard, turning the entrance into the alley into a shared driveway.

So, now my neighbor owns the alley.

[George Chong]

Yes the property/alleyways have been abandoned by the City of Atlanta. There are less than a handful that are still operated and maintained in downtown Atlanta.

We tried to "close down" an alleyway a few years ago and were sued by the adjoining neighbors. Our attorneys argued that the alleyway adjoining our property had been abandoned and we thus "owned" 5 feet of the alley on one side and our neighbor owned 5 feet of the alleyway from the other side by adverse possession.

The top portion of the alleyway is at least 4 times wider than the portion by my house. It is used on a daily basis. "My" portion has not been used in at least 15 years. The Judge ruled against us despite us improving it and adding a drainage system to divert water away from the house. We also had to move our 3 HVAC units from the alleyway. The house was built in 1990 and we moved in 2001. The Judge also stated that all the neighbors that adjoined the alleyway were responsible for the maintenance of the alleyway so they would have to contribute to the diverting of water away from our property (we live down "stream" from the alleyway). Well, you know of course that was not going to happen.

So, be very careful. I am not an attorney, but this was my experience and it was not cheap either! But based on how I read your post, you should be able to have access to the alleyway.

[blondandfun]

A city easement only legally guarantees the city access, not you. If those fences had been built recently, you could have maybe stopped it during construction.

[ATLChi]

Thanks everyone fore the replies. The alleyway has not been in use by my property for a while. One side is in use by 2 homes that the driveway is next to. The fence is at least 8 years old and installed before I moved into my home. The other side was recently challenged by my neighbor and they gained access to the use of that driveway. IMO that was a lot harder to do since it really seems like that homes private driveway and was in use by only one owner.

[ATLChi]

Ok, I thought I would explain further. I have an image to reference.

1. Properties F and G are currently using the alley between their homes with the larger area in the rear as a parking lot. There is a lot of space in that turnaround area.
2. Property E does not use it and am not sure if they are interested.
3. Property B just recently gain access to the alley/driveway along Property H. I do not think this went to court after B threatened H with a lawsuit. There is a fence farther up the driveway that encloses part of the easement in the backyard of H. This prevents me from gaining access into my property C. I would rather enter from the other side anyway.

Both I (Property C) and my neighbor Property D would like to gain access to the easement between F and G.

The easement continues across the street from F/G and probably about 20 homes currently use it.

Any more opinions would be appreciated.

[elvez]

I know of a situation like this and I think you should be prepared to spend a lot of money on lawyers if you want to try it. If the alley has not been used in years I think it is probably a dead end but maybe it's worth a try. You should be able to claim five feet of the alley though. Is the property near Cresthill?

[BobKovacs]

Why not just talk to the owners of F and G to see if they can leave you a clear path to get through the big center area to access your property? If they agree, there's no legal action required.