A Private Encroachment Upon Public Lands Or The Matter of the Old Town Road: A Need to Settle Right-of-Ways

What does it mean for a town to abandon a road? First of all it helps to understand that, pursuant to New York States Highway Laws, there are TWO kinds of abandonment; complete and constructive. Complete abandonment occurs when a town abandons the road that is no longer in use by anyone, and files a paper with the State Dept of Highways indicating that in fact, the town has totally abandoned the road. The right of ways then revert to the orginal plot from which they were taken from. This creates a reversionary Interest to rights to right-of-way (by property owners entitled to same.

Constructive abandonment;

(to be continued)