Title: Okemo Mountain, Inc. v. Town of Ludlow

State: vermont

Issuer: Vermont Supreme Court

Document:

Okemo Mountain, Inc. v Town of Ludlow (98-498); 171 Vt. 201; 762 A.2d 1219 

[Filed 14-Jul-2000]

       NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to motions for reargument under
  V.R.A.P. 40 as well as formal  revision before publication in the Vermont
  Reports.  Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of  Decisions,
  Vermont Supreme Court, 109 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05609-0801 of
  any  errors in order that corrections may be made before this opinion goes
  to press.

                                 No. 98-498

Okemo Mountain, Inc.	                          Supreme Court
Vermont Department of Forests,
Parks and Recreation
                                                  On Appeal from
     v.	                                          Windsor Superior Court

Town of Ludlow
John Lysobey, et al.	                          January Term, 2000

Alan W. Cheever, J.

John Lysobey, Pro Se, Ludlow, Appellant.

Richard H. Coutant of Salmon & Nostrand, Bellows Falls, for Appellee Okemo 
  Mountain, Inc.

William H. Sorrell, Attorney General, Montpelier, and Ginny M. McGrath, 
  Special Assistant Attorney General, Waterbury, for Appellee Department of 
  Forests, Parks and Recreation.

PRESENT:  Dooley, Morse, JJ., and Allen, C.J. (Ret.) and Gibson, J. (Ret.), 
  Specially Assigned 

       DOOLEY, J.   Property owner John Lysobey (FN1) appeals from a superior
  court decision,  claiming that the court erred in holding that he does not
  have a right to use Okemo Mountain Road in  the winter, although the road
  provides the only access to his property.  On appeal, he claims that he 
  has an easement over Okemo Mountain Road either by explicit reservation in
  a 1935 deed 

 

  or by necessity.  He also contends that  he has a common-law right to
  access his abutting property via  this public road, and that by denying him
  access to his property, the State violates his constitutional  rights by
  depriving him of the essential attributes of property ownership without
  just compensation.   We hold that Lysobey has a common-law right to access
  his property, and that closing Okemo  Mountain Road for the winter violates
  this property right.  We deny him an injunction to open the  road to his
  use during the winter, but we hold that he is entitled to just compensation
  for the taking of  his property right and remand for the court to determine
  the amount.

       This is the second appeal in this case.  We briefly outline the facts,
  which are more fully  detailed in our previous decision, Okemo Mtn., Inc.
  v. Town of Ludlow, 164 Vt. 447,