Can a Township Pass Ordinances Denying You Rights to Your Property

[karen winther]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: PA
I own a corner property. It is a rental. My deed states that I own starting in the middle of the front road, 130' through the center of a duplex, 30 feet to center of lane (side of property), 130' back to the center of intersection and then 30' to starting point. The front road was "ordained" by the township in the early 1900's. (40' total with a 28' cartway). The lane was "ordained" in 1954 with no dimensions. Recently a neighbor successfully petitioned the township to pass an ordinance requiring permit parking. I was not notified and consequently I am the only house on the street that is denied a permit. The back of my property is fenced so this virtually renders my front door useless. I have put in 3 parking spaces in the rear of my property and now this same neighbor is approaching the township for access to her back yard through mine. There is a 10' "alley" on my deed, which I own in its entirety. The "alley" does not exist, it is grass and 100 year old trees.
My question is, since the Street and Lane are ordained (not dedicated) and still belong to me can the township make ordinances denying me use. Also, what can I do to prevent further seizing of my property...at this point they have control of over 44%. The previous owner always parked on the Lane and told me there was nothing the township could do as he owned the property(I witnessed the parking police wave and ignore his cars on the street). I went to the township when the front was turned into permit parking and I was told basicly "too bad for you".... am very frustrated and attorney fees are exorborant for this type of problem! (adverse possession in PA is 21 years) I have owned the property 6 years.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If your neighbor has title that allows use of a 10" alley across your back lot, then even if it isn't presently being used there's no basis for the claim that the alley doesn't exist. What are the facts?

[LandSurveyor]

For purposes of your post "ordained" means "dedicated".

The fact that you own to the " middle" of a road is not material as all of your ownership rights are subsumed in the road until it is vacated as a public road. In that case your property might be worth a lot less without a road.

Recently a neighbor successfully petitioned the township to pass an ordinance requiring permit parking. I was not notified and consequently I am the only house on the street that is denied a permit.

If it was posted in small print in some arcane local throwaway, you were perhaps legally notified. Perhaps not. You can also use the right of petition to get things changed.

There is a 10' "alley" on my deed, which I own in its entirety. The "alley" does not exist, it is grass and 100 year old trees.

Legally constituted rights of way do not go away through mere non-use. The record of the existence of the alley was likely there when you bought the property.

My question is, since the Street and Lane are ordained (not dedicated) and still belong to me can the township make ordinances denying me use.

They can deny you sole use and make your usage rights basically the same as those of the general public. Your private rights in the areas in question were long gone before you ever purchased the property.

In PA you have no rights of adverse possession against the township, county, or state in matters of public right of way.

[karen winther]

what is title? All my deed says is the property goes to 130' to the southside of the said alley west 30' and so on....

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but can they deny me the same use as everyone else?

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Thank you for your information. I researched more and found that it is a paper road, privately owned by each of the properties. I am going to tell my neighbor that I will be willing open up the 10' area (it has been my parking area for 6 years and the previous owner had a fenced pool there since 1986) but I would like to ask her to please have the "alley" surveyed by a professional surveyor so as not to infringe on my property as I will consider that tresspassing(well, maybe I can find a better way of phrasing that)...I do have one other issue. She owns a fence that divides our properties and it is decrepid and falling over in one section onto my property. Actually the fence is so crooked it runs on my property, then hers, then mine...I would like to ask her to straighten that out and give her a deadline as it could truly be a liability to me, also she has a giant tree that is dying over 1/2 of my yard and that too is a liability. My concern is that she thinks she is the 'Queen' of the neighborhood and is always calling some authority or another ....so back to my concern, I do not want her to go behind my back and somehow have my 300' of alley turned over to the borough. Does the Borough have to notify a property owner before seizing private property?

[LandSurveyor]

I don't seem to be getting through very clearly on this.

I think now it is just a "flat out" resistance to what I am saying to you.

Please go back a re-read my post and feel free to question specifically anything you disagree with or do not understand. I think that I have answered all of your questions.

[jk]

I'm not going to address what landsurveyor has as he has explained things much better than I could anyway. I would like to address a few of the other things you mentioned.


the old tree: if it is diseased, dying, or dead, you need to send a certified letter to your neighbor alerting them to the condition. Once they are put on notice of the condition of the tree, they need to remedy the situation or expect to be held liable for and damage it causes others.

to the fence: arguing a property line without a current survey is not practical. Once you know and can prove where the property line is, you can deal with the fence on your property. The problem you might come across is if the fence has been there long enough to be granted a prescriptive easement, if the neighbor wishes to fight the issue, they may be allowed to leave the fence where it is.

to the borough taking your property (the alley): I do not see who holds the easement. If the neighbor, the borough has no right to take anything unless you are compensated for it BUT the neighbor would have whatever rights afforded by the grant. If the borough is already owns the easement, they do not need your permission nor do they have to give you notice about taking action on the alley. Chances are you would be notified in some way before anything was done though but no promises.

[karen winther]

I am having difficulty with this...I do not mean to be resistant. A 30' section of a 10' alley on a paper plat map is included as part of the legal description on my deed. Does the alley belong to me(as described in my deed) or does it belong to the township just by the fact that it is an alley. the other end of the alley ends in a creek, so public use of this alley would be one way in and any turning around would include tresspassing on other properties or use of private property. There are no separate easement or use descriptions...I don't have a problem with allowing the neighbors access to their portions of the alley but i do have issues with it being treated as public property... is it public property just by the fact that it is an alley?

[jk]

A 30' section of a 10' alley on a paper plat map is included as part of the legal description on my deed. Does the alley belong to me(as described in my deed) or does it belong to the township just by the fact that it is an alley.

without reading all the associated documents, I cannot say for certain, at least based on how things have been presented here.

with that said, if I understand what you are saying, it appears to be an easement owned by the township. That would mean you own the dirt but they are afforded rights by the grant of the easement. More than likely they would have a right to install an actual alleyway if they choose to. You would have to research the creating documents to discover the actual allowed uses and limitations to know for certain.

is it public property just by the fact that it is an alley?

if it is an easement, it is not public property but, as landsurveyor stated previously, your sights are subsumed by the rights afforded to the township. It does in effect become usable by the public, unless there is some limitation restricting it to use by only the affected properties.


If the township actually decides to open the alley, if you cannot find any such legally imposed limitations, I would surely inquire as to the possibility of the township opening the alley with them imposing such restrictions.

[karen winther]

lol...my own confusion over this matter is annoying me so much that I decided to be proactive and hired a surveyor for $300. to tell me exactly what i own. He stated on the phone that my deed shows ownership of the 10' "alley" but he had just pulled the deed up on the internet, we both agreed to "assume" the other properties probably have the same descriptions and he is currently looking into any additional easement descriptions for garbage, cars, ROW, etc. on the neighboring property deeds. These deeds were written a long time ago and this alley was probably used for carts and delivery which is why the alley is 10'. pretty sure the township doesn't want to open the alley even if they do have some ownership because as i stated before it leads to nowhere and there are very large trees that would have to be removed just to provide a 10' driveway for the neighboring homes! But who knows maybe they will come up with some reason why they want to use it. I agree, if the alley is to be opened I do need to be proactive with any imposed uses defined by the borough.Truthfully, I just want parking for my tenants and a small outdoor space that is not emcombered by rotting fences and trees. Thanks to everyone who have tried to explain this stuff to me...will post when I know more on tuesday!

[LandSurveyor]

lol...my own confusion over this matter is annoying me so much that I decided to be proactive and hired a surveyor for $300. to tell me exactly what i own.

That's a great idea. These old plats from say 1920 and older typically have alleys to provide access to the horse barn behind the house, a typical feature in the pre-auto era. Even if they were once used for horses, any evidence of that could be long gone. The horses, barns, and alleys have mostly disappeared.

A question you might ask your surveyor is what might be involved in vacating the alley, but having the adjoiners retain access easements over it for private use only by themselves.