Quote:
Originally Posted by Merrymeeting
I've experienced my own share of lake waterfront skirmishes. Unfortunately, sometimes common sense and courtesy are missing with many of these instances.
The law is very clear about the water. The state, and all of us, own it.
I also assume that in this instance, your dock has been there for a long time and is grandfathered on it's location. I assume this because from your description, it sounds like it is right on the edge of your property line, rather than set back from the property line as current rules require, and the fact that your family has been there for 100 years. (Can we also assume that the 10 foot right of way has been there all along too?)
I would ask that you not take this the wrong way as I am not trying to take sides here, nor condoning what appears (from your account) to be bad dealings between you and this one neighbor. But my first reaction to your "rest of the story" update was to think of this from your neighbors point of view.
While I believe that legally you are within your rights, it did seem to me that placing a boat within ~20' of the right of way that 4-5 families share was not the best action on your side (assuming your dock is ~20' from shore).
In doing so, their views and swimming area are somewhat blocked, and while legal, it does strike me as somewhat inconsiderate. As I said, this was my first reaction, and I know nothing about the other families, configuration, past history, etc. But it would be good to understand the story from all sides, and consider other points of view.
Have the other 4 families weighed in on this topic?
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The boat/house with dock has been there at least 98 years, Nobody that has the right of way owns the property, but have the right of way on their deeds, Three of the four (including us) have waterfront property other than what is in question. While I agree that putting a boat in front of their right of way is not the best thing to do, there are reasons at times for putting the boat there to work on.
The ten foot right of way has been there for all times as I understand it, and we have permission from the owner to park on the 10' right of way, but this one person has objected to that and claims that because his deed says he has a right of way he owns the the right of way. He has also tried to lay claim to the public boat ramp owned by the town of Alton on the other side of Echo Point, but that is another story.
This use to be a logging road for the old Barr Farm.