So there's this parcel ...
Somewhere on a two lane state highway that was laid out in the 1930s, there is a parcel. It was created by vacation when the DOT straightened the road to reduce accidents and did some grading to make it easier for trucks to climb the hill with chains on. It consists of the two curves that were straightened with the new road alignment, and is roughly 1000 feet long, ranging from asymptotically narrow in the middle (old and new ROW lines touch) to 70-80' wide at the widest two points.
The DOT seems to have kept some of the old right of way for equipment parking, and some of the nearby adjoiners seem to have claimed in the record what was vacated. This one parcel, though, not claimed by adjoiners. Or maybe it was and for some reason they didn't pay the taxes on it, and it got foreclosed by the county and sold at the tax auction. Whoever bought it let the same thing happen, now it is for sale again.
It would be a swell winter RV parking spot, being next to and having access to a regularly snowplowed highway. The old road is a cut, and hidden from the new road. Too narrow to build on, possibility of electricity but not a well. Zoned agricultural.
It's fenced to the road, maybe the adjoiners think they own it? Despite a survey in 2000 showing the separate parcel. If I buy it and show up and fence those delightful surveyor-created curves and try to enjoy my ironically abstractly-created parcel, I'm wondering what kind of unwritten rights or interest the adjoiners have. Is it a convenience fence to keep their cows out of the highway or is it a boundary? The risk would be to buy it from the County and then have the neighbors get to waving shotguns about it.
While assessors like to make these little parcels, the law rarely supports that approach. It only continues until someone forces the issue.
If the land was attached to the adjoiner before becoming roadway, it's most likely attached after.
You have made one other excellent point. Whatever title you acquire needs to be printed on kevlar...
Ah, yes. Severed remnants. They need to be valuable to someone, somehow. But, are they valuable. If they are, who would win in getting clear title to them if taken through a sloppy court hearing? That would almost always cost more than the theoretical value. There are exceptions, of course. If the remnant fails to meet some sort of local code requirement, then what value does it have?
Whichever entity created the mess needs to take responsibility for eliminating it.
Most likely it belongs to an adjoiner across the street. It is most likely within the deed description that the County only lists as the larger parcel. If the larger parcel owner is paying taxes on the large parcel, it is reasonable to assume the taxes include the smaller parcel, whether the tax man sends a proper bill or not, unless proven otherwise.
I came across such a 1 acre lot split by a new curve when doing a 20 acre survey. That parcel was split by the old and new roads. No adjoiners seemed to care about it and the actual owner wanted a ridiculous sum for them. All I cared about was that the taking map called for a pipe at the centerline between the PQ and small parcel lines. I dug out a foot below the asphalt surface found said pipe and held it like it was gold. I never found a document that vacated the old road, and no public agency seemed to care. I seemed to recall there were 30 corners on that twenty acres and I set at least 10 of them, as well as locating an equal number on adjacent parcels.
Paul in PA
