Neighbor Woes: What Rights Do I Have To Maintain A Private Road...

[carter]

You describe an easement but should it be recorded with the title? As for maintenance, you need a road maintenance agreement? This describes how the road is to be maintained, by who, costs, etc. On my land, all of this was recorded on the deed.

 

[SlugSlinger]

it is and we write off any upkeep.

Went to county on friday and they said they wouldnt touch it unless the city requested they do...which is highly unlikely.

You might reconsider getting an attorney involved. The reason I say this is because you / your business is using the road commercially. And thus could be using the road much more than the other individuals, unless they are using it commercially. If I were your neighbor, I would bring this up in any lawsuit and calculate the percentage of total use divided by how much each person/company is using the road and then allocate the costs of each user that percentage of the maintenance costs.
Additionally, your neighbor could argue because of the business, much more maintenance is needed than a reasonable use of a residential only road.

 

[dennishoddy]

Man, you haven't lived in Oklahoma long enough if you think a county commissioner can't do something without jurisdiction.

We have two County Commissioners in Kay County up on felony charges of what they thought they could do. One has plead guilty, and the other is awaiting trial.
They don't have the stroke they had in past days before the cleanup of the County Commissioner system in the 80's.

 

[Dumpstick]

We have two County Commissioners in Kay County up on felony charges of what they thought they could do. One has plead guilty, and the other is awaiting trial.
They don't have the stroke they had in past days before the cleanup of the County Commissioner system in the 80's.

In my case, once the Commissioner found this road was not county maintained, he couldn't back off fast enough.
At least 2 of the 3 Commissioners here in Logan County are very, very careful about doing anything on non-county property.
I can't speak to the third, I don't have reason to communicate with him.

 

[magna19]

I live on a 1/2 mile long private road along with 2 others. I am on the last one on the road. We each own the portion of the road that crosses our land and there is a legal right of way to the public so the road cannot be fenced or access restricted in any way (verified this through oklahoma county clerks office).

MY neighbor is a butt head. plain and simple the dude is a tiny brain turd bird deluxe. He is the first one on the road and his driveway has been getting washed out by the rain so instead of installing a tin horn...he has filled in the drainage ditches with dirt so the water jumps on the main road and crosses it to the other side all the while washing out the main road. This neighbor and i basically hate each other and i cant talk to him anymore without the serious likelihood of violence taking place. I have been back and forth with the city for months about this and finally got told today that they can do nothing to help since they have no drainage easements or any rights to the road at all.

So I am curious if anyone has a clue as to what rights i have to maintain the road even the portion that falls on his land? I have spent a lot of money maintaining this road without his help only to have some idiot ruin it because he doesnt want to install the proper drainage. So up to this point i have done every bit of upkeep including the portions that the other neighbors own but i am wondering if he wanted to make things worse for me, could he get something stating that i cannot work the road that crosses his property so i have to "legally" let the road deteriorate?

If your road is defined by the County for a utility easements (or other) delivery of US Mail, Fire, Police, You have the right to maintain the private road to be passable on your own without the other landowner involved. I would look at the County records of any Plats, surveys, etc. Similar to the private road where I where live.

 

[okietool]

Man, you haven't lived in Oklahoma long enough if you think a county commissioner can't do something without jurisdiction.

That’s a fact.

 

[okietool]

Blame it on fracKing and make the oerb or Exxon fix it.

 

[Shadowrider]

So how ironic is it that your are within literal spitting distance of the highway maintenance facility? And I know that one of the commissioners was using that building for an office at one time. May have been a temporary thing, I can't remember who or even how I found that, but it was prior to the last election.

Hope you get it all worked out O/P.

 

[zghorner]

You might reconsider getting an attorney involved. The reason I say this is because you / your business is using the road commercially. And thus could be using the road much more than the other individuals, unless they are using it commercially. If I were your neighbor, I would bring this up in any lawsuit and calculate the percentage of total use divided by how much each person/company is using the road and then allocate the costs of each user that percentage of the maintenance costs.
Additionally, your neighbor could argue because of the business, much more maintenance is needed than a reasonable use of a residential only road.

We might get 3 customers a week, they were using the road twice a day each. And im not worried about him paying me anything, i just want a tin horn installed at the base of the hill (as opposed to the ditch being filled in with dirt by said neighbor) so it stops washing out my road. Ill never ask that fool for any money or help again.

 

[SoonerP226]

We might get 3 customers a week, they were using the road twice a day each. And im not worried about him paying me anything, i just want a tin horn installed at the base of the hill (as opposed to the ditch being filled in with dirt by said neighbor) so it stops washing out my road. Ill never ask that fool for any money or help again.

If you want to take the opposite tack from slugslinger's message, a good lawyer could argue that cabbagebrain's willful negligence is damaging the road, which could be causing economic harm to the business and denying access to their property to the business's customers.