Matter of Smigel v. Town of Rensselaerville

• Decision Date: 30 March 2001
• Citation: 283 A.D.2d 863,725 N.Y.S.2d 138
• Parties: (A.D. 3 Dept. 2001) In the Matter of HENRIETTA SMIGEL, Respondent, v TOWN OF RENSSELAERVILLE et al., Appellants. 88669 : THIRD JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT Calendar Date:
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 138

725 N.Y.S.2d 138 (A.D. 3 Dept. 2001)

In the Matter of HENRIETTA SMIGEL, Respondent, v TOWN OF RENSSELAERVILLE et al., Appellants.

88669

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

APPELLATE DIVISION: THIRD JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

Calendar Date: March 30, 2001

Decided and Entered: May 24, 2001

Feeney, Centi & Mackey (L. Michael Mackey of counsel), Albany, for appellants.

James D. Kerr, Albany, for respondent.

Before: Mercure, J.P., Peters, Spain, Carpinello and Lahtinen, JJ.

Lahtinen, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Keegan, J.), entered June 6, 2000 in Albany County, which granted petitioner's application, in a combined proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and action for declaratory judgment, to, inter alia, annul a determination of the Town Board of the Town of Rensselaerville which refused to deem a public road abandoned.

Petitioner is the owner of land bordering the Camp Winsocki Road (hereinafter the road) located in respondent Town of Rensselaerville in Albany County, having acquired title to the property in 1986. In December 1995, petitioner requested that respondents abandon a portion of the road which she had barricaded at both ends in 1986, and which respondent Town Supervisor admitted had not been maintained by respondents for at least 20 years. Her request was continued for further study by the Town Board of the Town of Rensselaerville. In October 1999, petitioner and another petitioned respondents "to abandon a portion of its present easement to [the road]". In January 2000, after a public hearing, respondents refused to abandon the road and passed a resolution finding that the road had not been abandoned through disuse, ordering petitioner to remove all of her barricades, and making the road a seasonal road to be maintained from April 1 to December 1.

In January 2000, petitioner commenced this combined CPLR article 78 proceeding and action for declaratory judgment seeking a judgment clearing her title "as to the portion of her property previously subjected to an easement for the highway", injunctive relief prohibiting respondents from removing her barriers on the road and trespassing on her property and an order directing respondents to file a certification of abandonment. Respondents answered, asserting that the petition/complaint failed to state a cause of action.

The parties submitted numerous affidavits and documentary evidence in support of their respective positions and, in April 2000, Supreme Court determined that because no photographs had been submitted by either party, the matter could not be summarily decided, and it therefore set a hearing date to determine whether recreational travel "follows the 'lines of the ancient street'". When the parties appeared on the scheduled hearing date, they were informed that the hearing had been canceled and were directed to leave any photographs that they had with the court for review. Both parties submitted photographs depicting the present condition of the road.¹ On May 26, 2000, Supreme Court granted the petition/complaint and declared the road to be abandoned. Respondents appeal and we reverse.

Highway Law § 205 (1) provides, in relevant part, that "every highway that shall not have been traveled or used as a highway for six years, shall cease to be a highway". Once a highway exists, it is presumed to continue until the contrary is demonstrated and the presumption is in favor of continuance (see, Cohoes v Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., 134 N.Y. 397, 407; Matter of Van Aken v Town of Roxbury, 211 A.D.2d 863, 865, lv denied 85 N.Y.2d 812). The burden of establishing abandonment is on the party claiming that the highway has been abandoned (see, Matter of Faigle v Macumber, 169 A.D.2d 914, 915). In that regard, a municipality's intention regarding a road is irrelevant (see, Daetsch v Taber, 149 A.D.2d 864, 865) and its failure to maintain a road does not mean that the road ceases to be a highway (see, O'Leary v Town of Trenton, 172 Misc.2d 447, 450). A determination of abandonment of a road by nonuse is a factual determination (see, e.g., Coleman v Village of Head of Harbor, 163 A.D.2d 456, 458, lv denied 76 N.Y.2d 712; Holland v Superintendent of Highways of Town of Smithtown, 73 Misc.2d 851, 852).

It is undisputed that respondents never filed a certificate of abandonment to officially...