Hi. For my mom.
In New Hampshire, is there any sort of recourse for a neighborhood that has recently been denied by a new homeowner a "traditional path" down to the water, where all kayak and canoe? More inside.
For time immemorial (maybe 15 years, about the age of the neighborhood), all the neighbors enjoyed access to the small inlet at the bottom of the street, by using a path along the edge of one neighbor's yard. Everyone enjoys kayaking etc. This is a very pricey, upscale neighborhood on the NH coast. My mother especially is absolutely addicted to kayaking with her two dogs. She has serious back and shoulder issues, and is unable to lift her kayak onto her car, nor is she able to kayak in MOST of the waters around here because of current -- the proximity to this little inlet was one of her primary concerns when she moved here.
Anyway, this summer, the old owners of this house and patch of land that the path runs through moved on or died (not sure which) and it was sold to a new owner, who resides in a town a few miles north of here. She plans to rent it out. When my mother came in from kayaking the other day, my mom attempted to nicely introduce herself to this woman. Please note that my mother is the nicest kindest person on the face of the planet. This new owner was pretty darn rude, leaving my mother to think this woman must have formed a bad opinion of her before even meeting her. She said to my mother, declining to shake hands "I know who you are, and I'm going to be the nasty neighbor and deny you access to the water." She told my mom that the property was to be rented and the water access would be solely enjoyed by the new tenants. Other neighbors have received similar news from her, but NOT in the same mean way as my mother, and other neighbors were given until Sept 15th to cease use of the pathway.
Anyway, my mother offered to pay a lawyer to draw up papers releasing the owner or tenants from any liability as a result of neighbors' use of the pathway, and this woman declined.
Now, as upsetting as the loss of water access is to my mother, she can basically understand why. It is private property, and the woman can do whatever she wants...right? However, she questions whether there is SOMETHING that can be done about this woman denying the whole neighborhood access to something that was generally treated as public for the entire history of development on that plot of land. There is no "deeded right of way" on file in town hall for this path. It's just generally accepted. And in this town, where my mom lives, there are dozens of similar situations - land owned by someone privately, but treated (respectfully) as public access to the water. We thought maybe there was something like...eminent domain, but for private citizens versus the government? I don't know. We're not lawyers...my mom is willing to consult one but only if it seems like there is ANY hope of doing so. Had this woman not been so awful to my kind, respectful, sweet mom, my mom wouldn't think about pushing the situation...but she's also losing a major outlet in her life and alternatives are not readily presenting themselves.
(FYI we've investigated other nearby access points to the water, joining a kayak club such as Portsmouth Kayak Adventures, kayak lifts for her car, trailers which are prohibitively expensive etc. Her car is a new SUV with built in racks that are incompatible with systems such as the Hullavator by Thule. She can't lift the kayak higher than waist height. She may decide to get a trailer, but she'd have to save up till next season for that and miss out on the rest of this year. Also of primary concern is a kayaking location where there is land nearby, such as small tidal islands, for the dogs to run/swim to. Her current location matched this perfectly.)
Any advice relating to legal recourse or maybe alternatives we haven't considered would be welcome. Thanks in advance!
posted by anonymous to law & government (14 comments total)
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posted by nkknkk at 11:38 AM on August 27, 2008