January & February 2006
In McCarthy last summer a number of issue specific public meetings were held. These meetings were not sponsored by any recognized local organization but were apparently convened to take the pulse of the locals regarding west side of the Kennicott visitor parking and transport questions.
Speakers with expertise in various right-of-way and public parking matters addressed the assemblage. At the one meeting I attended, John F. Bennett, Chief of Rights-of-Way in the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ Northern Region addressed the gathering via a phone connect. Mr. Bennett spoke at length, answering quite a few questions. Some of which were probably not pertinent to the main topic under consideration.
What got my attention was Bennett’s response to a question regarding a dedicated but undeveloped easement on a subdivision plat adjacent to the Kennicott River. His answer came as a complete surprise to me.
The specific question involved a dedicated street, Regal Street, in the West McCarthy Subdivision. Nobody has ever developed Regal Street although it was platted and dedicated for public use by the original owners. The question poised to Mr. Bennett was whether or not persons, not owners of property within the West McCarthy Subdivision, could go ahead and build that street.
Bennett responded that the act of doing so might not stand up in court. According to Bennett, a lawsuit way back in the 1970s in the Fairbanks area took under consideration a similar situation. He said that court had determined there must be “public acceptance” of an easement in addition to the owner(s) of a subdivision dedicating the easement for public use on a plat. Public acceptance is recognized in a number of different ways according to Bennett. If I recall correctly, here are the circumstances he outlined under which a dedicated right-of-way meets “public acceptance.”
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The access has previously been developed and used by the public. |
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The dedicated access is necessary for property owners, in the subdivision, to gain entry to their property, even though it hadn’t been opened up before. |
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The access has been designated on a plat approved by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources or by a political subdivision of the state such as a borough or incorporated municipality.
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January & February 2006
