The Town of St. George Selectboard discontinued (or “threw up”) Winterbottom Road, then a class 3 town highway, in 2016. The Selectboard’s actions were based primarily on the costs of maintenance, the fact that only seven homes were located on the dead-end road, and the fact that most residential roads in St. George are privately held and maintained. A few homeowners appealed the discontinuance to Superior Court. The homeowners argued that the Court should have allowed an in-depth pre-trial discovery process and new evidence during the appeal litigation, but the Court agreed with the Town that the Selectboard should only conduct “on the record” review of information that was presented during its 2016 discontinuance process. The homeowners also charged the Selectboard was biased in its decision making.
The Superior Court did remand the matter to the Selectboard to go back and review safety issues which the residents argued could be implicated if the road was to become private instead of public. The Selectboard did as ordered and found that there was no evidence to suggest that turning-over maintenance of the road to the homeowners would create any safety hazards to the traveling public greater than when the road was a public road. The Selectboard thus reaffirmed its decision to discontinue the road. The homeowners appealed again, and the Superior Court ruled that the Selectboard’s decision was properly supported by the evidence it had reviewed. The Court also rejected the homeowners’ charges of improper conduct and procedures on the part of the Selectboard.
In addition to challenging the discontinuance decision, the homeowners also sued the Town for monetary damages, claiming that the Selectboard’s action making the road private denied the homeowners reasonable access to their properties such that the action amounted to a “taking” without compensation. The Court agreed with the Town’s analysis that cessation of maintenance of a road at public expense is not a taking of any property right of abutting property owners. The homeowners also claimed that the town highway discontinuance statute, 19 V.S.A. § 710, is unconstitutional, but the Court agreed with the Town’s defense of the statute and rejected that claim as well.
The Town was represented by the Burlington law firm Stitzel Page & Fletcher, which represents municipal clients statewide. The property owners were represented by the law firm Monaghan, Safar & Dwight. Copies of the Superior Court’s key rulings are available by contacting John Klesch.