Private road easement in NC, built 40+ years ago

[JONOV]

Originally Posted by MountainUp

No but the property owner right at the beginning of the road just bought their property... and it's the first one on the 3 mile road... and the road is about 15' into his property line, and outside the recorded easement.

What can they do? Can they build a fence or barrier right through the road? Thanks.

(And yes, I'm pretty surprised at how both road and home builders just kind of guestimated and put whatever seemed like the easiest at the time... now, nearly a half century later, all the new property owners are forced to iron out this craziness.)

I highly doubt it. And thinking about it, if a road is two lanes, at eight feet each, with 24 inches of shoulder on each side, you're at 20 feet anyway. And given that the property owner bought with such a visible and obvious encroachment, I doubt he's as right as he thinks he is.

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by MountainUp

No but the property owner right at the beginning of the road just bought their property... and it's the first one on the 3 mile road... and the road is about 15' into his property line, and outside the recorded easement.

What can they do? Can they build a fence or barrier right through the road? Thanks.

(And yes, I'm pretty surprised at how both road and home builders just kind of guestimated and put whatever seemed like the easiest at the time... now, nearly a half century later, all the new property owners are forced to iron out this craziness.)

Obviously they can't just block the road with a fence or barrier. It's possible--only possible--that they could move the road to the easement area at their expense. That would be costly (there could be higher standards now) and there might be permit issues that would be difficult to hurdle. Of course, the neighbor on the other side of the current road would have something to say about it, too, especially if large trees or other barriers would need to be removed. There is potential for having the current road declared a prescriptive easement (not adverse possession) since so much time has gone by. I don't see why anyone else along the 3-mile road would care, provided they have continued road access. What's your stake in this?