TOWN’S PUBLIC ROAD EASEMENT IS THREE RODS WIDE AND IS NOT CONFINED TO THE PAVED PORTION OF THE ROAD.
The Third Department determined the town had the right, pursuant to the Highway Law, to a pubic road easement three rods wide, even though the easement extended past the paved portion and included a plaintiffs’ fence:
After a roadway is established as a highway by use, Highway Law § 189 plainly permits a town to maintain and improve it in furtherance of the public’s right of travel, to the width of “at least three rods.” Stated differently, so long as the use at issue relates directly or indirectly to the public’s right of travel, the use of the highway may be extended past the paved portion of the road to a width of at least three rods. In our view, this interpretation of the statute is consistent with case law holding that the extent of the easement is defined by its actual use … . Inasmuch as the Town’s plowing and widening of Fox Hollow Road are uses that are “necessary to preserve the public’s right of passage,” they define the Town’s easement pursuant to Highway Law § 189 … . Further, it is undisputed that plaintiffs’ fence and the widening of the roadway were well within the three-rod width that defendants are statutorily authorized to open. Hoffman v Town of Shandaken, 2017 NY Slip Op 01430, 3rd Dept 2-23-17
MUNICIPAL LAW (TOWN’S PUBLIC ROAD EASEMENT IS THREE RODS WIDE AND IS NOT CONFINED TO THE PAVED PORTION OF THE ROAD)/HIGHWAYS AN ROADS (TOWN’S PUBLIC ROAD EASEMENT IS THREE RODS WIDE AND IS NOT CONFINED TO THE PAVED PORTION OF THE ROAD)/EASEMENTS (MUNICIPAL LAW, PUBLIC ROADS, TOWN’S PUBLIC ROAD EASEMENT IS THREE RODS WIDE AND IS NOT CONFINED TO THE PAVED PORTION OF THE ROAD)