Seems like a good case for prescriptive easement...
To semi-quote Marie Antoinette: ?ÿLet them swim the river.
What is a treadway?
The Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy..........what a name.
Tough to get prescription when you have an alternate route.
Yea, she was born or lived or died or something like that in Springdale, along the Allegheny River.?ÿ
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A Treadway is one member of a local, very large family. ?ÿThanks to a mess up on paperwork on Civil War pensions about half the family spells it Tredway while the other half spell it Treadway.
A similar prescriptive court case recently?ÿadjudicated locally, the landowner won against public users.
But of course, all cases are different.
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It will be interesting to see what happens. I don't know why these people want to keep people off what sounds like a shared (between private owners) roadway. Seems like if the hiking trail has been there since the 1950's, they should have a pretty good case (open, adverse, continuous).?ÿ
Probably all depends on the judge.?ÿ
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One should research in the trail creator's background. Was he an attorney for the coal company that in fact owned the lands on which the trail was created, or possibly an early lot owner or user? The fact that an alternate trail exists on a ridge does not negate the right to use a trail along a river. Other rules might apply here in that access to fishing should not be blocked by adjacent stream owners either.
Paul in PA
Here is a PA case cited by Tiffany (it involves the more typical two private owners but does discuss the nature of permission):
Although permission was originally granted to use a lane the dominant tenement changed hands and permission was never mentioned again therefore the use was adverse. Prior PA case law had ruled that if the servient tract (having given permission) is sold this has the effect of revoking permission.?ÿ If the dominant owner continues to use the easement then the use is adverse and without permission.?ÿ In Orth the Court says selling the dominant tenement has the same consequence.?ÿ If the owner of the dominant tenement continues to use the easement and the new servient owner does not renew permission then the use is now adverse and without permission.
(I think I have that right, the way Justices write can be confusing, using appellant and appellee instead of dominant and servient so the reader has to keep track of who is who).
What is a treadway?
Just under 5 tons for a pair off an M-1 Abrams tank.