An Act To O Improve the Laws Regarding Discontinued and Abandoned Roads
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1415
Committee Amendment CA_A_H691 (House)
Amends: 23 MRSA §3028, 23 MRSA §3028-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A-" to H.P. 1028, L.D. 1415, Bill, "An Act To 
O 
Improve the Laws Regarding Discontinued and Abandoned Roads" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Improve the Laws Regarding Abandoned Roads' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §3028, as amended by PL 2015, c. 464, §7, is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §3028-A is enacted to read: 
§3028-A. Abandonment of town ways 
Beginning October 1. 2020, a town way, or portion thereof, may not be declared 
discontinued by abandonment unless the municipality or county where the proposed 
abandoned town way is situated complies with the requirements of this section. 
A 
municipality or its officials or a county or its officials are not liable for nonperformance 
of a legal duty with respect to a town way declared discontinued by abandonment in 
accordance with this section. 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates. the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Affected property" means real property that abuts the town way to be declared 
discontinued by abandonment and real property for which the town way is the only 
access route. 
B. "Best practicable notice" means, at minimum. the mailing of notice by the United 
States Postal Service. postage prepaid. first class. to affected property owners whose 
addresses appear in the assessment records of the municipality or county. 
2. Declaration of abandonment. Municipal officers or county commissioners may 
vote to declare a town way discontinued by abandonment if: 
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A. For a period of 30 or more consecutive years. the town way was not kept passable 
for the use of motor vehicles at the expense of the municipality or county. Isolated 
acts of maintenance by the municipality or county without other evidence that shows 
a clear intent by the municipality or county to consider or use the town way as if it 
were a public way as defined in section 1903, subsection 11 does not negate evidence 
that the town way was not kept passable for the use of motor vehicles: and 
B. The municipal officers or county commissioners vote to declare the town way 
discontinued by abandonment at a regularly scheduled meeting of the municipal 
officers or county commissioners. If the municipal officers or county commissioners 
vote to declare a town way discontinued by abandonment. they must also vote on 
whether a public easement is retained. 
A municipality or county may not declare a town way discontinued by abandonment if 
evidence is presented to the municipal officers or county commissioners at a meeting held 
pursuant to paragraph B or a public hearing held pursuant to subsection 4 that the 
municipality or county received funds for any portion of the town way that is the subject 
of the discontinuance by abandonment for more than 84 months of the period of 30 or 
more consecutive years specified in paragraph A. 
3. Notification of discontinuation by abandonment. The municipal officers or 
county commissioners shall give best practicable notice to all affected property owners of 
the town way to be declared discontinued by abandonment at least 30 days prior to the 
meeting required in subsection 2. paragraph B. 
A. The notice must include information regarding the potential retention of a public 
easement. and: 
(1) The affected property owners' maintenance obligations for and right of access 
to the town way. if any: 
(2) The right of access to the town way by the public if a public easement is 
retained: and 
(3) Information regarding the rights of affected property owners to enter into 
agreements regarding maintenance of and access to that town way. including the 
right of affected property owners to create private easements. 
B. If the town way to be declared discontinued by abandonment is the only means of 
access to property in an adjacent municipality or county. the municipal officers or 
county commissioners shall cause a written notice of the meeting required in 
subsection 2, paragraph B to be given to the municipal officers or county 
commissioners of the adjacent municipality or county at least 30 days prior to that 
meeting. 
4. Public hearing. The municipal officers or county commissioners shall hold a 
public hearing prior to voting to declare a town way discontinued by abandonment under 
subsection 2 upon receipt of written request signed by at least 25% of affected property 
owners. The written request for a public hearing must be received by the municipal clerk 
or county clerk no more than 10 days after the notification issued pursuant to subsection 
~ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A» to H.P. 1028, L.D. 1415 
5. Status of town way discontinued by abandonment. If the municipal officers or 
county commissioners vote to declare a town way discontinued by abandonment, the 
interests of the municipality or county in the abandoned town way pass as follows. 
A. If the municipal officers or county commissioners vote to not retain a public 
easement in the abandoned town way, all interests of the municipality or county in 
the town way, if any, pass to the abutting property owners to the center of the town 
way. 
B. If the municipal officers or county commissioners vote to retain a public easement 
in the abandoned town way, all other interests of the municipality or county in the 
town way, if any, pass to the abutting property owners to the center of the town way 
and the public easement retained is limited to rights of access by foot or motor 
vehicle as defined in Title 29-A, section 101, subsection 42. 
An easement for public utility facilities necessary to provide or maintain service remains 
in a town way declared to be discontinued by abandonment regardless of whether a public 
easement is retained by the municipality or county. 
6. Filing in registry of deeds. If the municipal officers or county commissioners 
vote to declare a town way discontinued by abandonment, the municipal clerk or county 
clerk shall record an attested certificate of the discontinuance by abandonment in the 
registry of deeds in the county where the abandoned town way is situated. 
A. The certificate of discontinuance by abandonment may not be filed before the 
appeal period in subsection 7 has passed or if an appeal is filed before the appeal 
process has ended. 
B. The certificate of discontinuance by abandonment must list the date of the vote by 
the municipal officers or county commissioners, describe the town way and include 
whether a public easement was retained. 
C. 
The register of deeds shall record the certificate of discontinuance by 
abandonment under the name of the town way, the name of the municipality or 
county and the names of the affected property owners. The municipal clerk or county 
clerk shall provide a photocopy of the certificate to the Department of Transportation. 
Bureau of Maintenance and Operations. 
7. Appeal. Notwithstanding section 3029, a person affected by a vote to declare a 
town way discontinued by abandonment may appeal the decision by filing a written 
appeal request within 10 days of the vote as follows: 
A. With the municipal clerk for an appeal of a vote by the municipal officers in a 
municipality with a board of appeals authorized to hear the appeal: 
B. With the county clerk for an appeal of a vote by the municipal officers in a 
municipality that does not have a board of appeals authorized to hear the appeal; or 
C. With the county clerk for an appeal of a vote by the county commissioners. 
Within 15 days after receiving a written appeal request filed pursuant to this subsection, 
the municipal clerk or county clerk shall schedule a public hearing on the. appeal before 
the municipal board of appeals or county commissioners and provide written notice of the 
hearing date to the municipal officers or county commissioners and the person filing the 
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COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A"toH.P.1028,L.D.1415 
appeal request. The public hearing must occur no more than 30 days after the appeal 
request is received. 
A person aggrieved by the decision of the municipal board of appeals or county 
commissioners pursuant to this subsection may appeal the decision to the Superior Comt 
in the county where the town way is situated, pursuant to the Maine Rules of Civil 
Procedure, Rule 80B. 
8. Ouasi-iudicial act. The determination of the municipal officers regarding the 
status of a town way pursuant to this section is a quasi-judicial act under Title 14, section 
8104-B, subsection 2. 
9. Previously abandoned town ways. This section does not alter the status of a 
town way abandoned by a municipality or county under the terms of former section 3028. 
10. Common law abandonment. This section does not alter the ability of a town 
way to be abandoned under the common law presumption of abandonment. 
11. Removal of obstructions. If the municipal officers or county commissioners 
have declared a town way discontinued by abandonment and have retained a public 
easement in the abandoned town way under this section, the municipality, county 
commissioners or an abutter on the way. acting with the written permission of the 
municipal officers or county commissioners, may remove any gates, bars or other 
obstructions in the town way. 
Sec. 3. Effective date. This Act takes effect October 1, 2020.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment strikes the bill. Effective October 1, 2020, it repeals the current 
statute on the abandonment of town ways and enacts a new abandonment process in 
statute that a municipality may choose to follow to declare a town way abandoned. The 
optional process includes notice provisions to abutting property owners, prope1ty owners 
for whom the town way is the only means of access and adjacent municipalities and 
counties. The optional process provides for a public hearing process and an appeals 
process. The amendment clarifies that the public easement retained in a town way 
discontinued by abandonment is limited to rights of access by foot or motor vehicle, 
which are the limits of public easements laid out by a municipality through its eminent 
domain powers in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 23, section 3022. 
The fiscal note on this amendment identifies a requirement in the amendment as a 
potential state mandate with a moderate statewide cost. The committee finds that the 
provisions identified as a potential mandate do not require a local unit of government to 
expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local 
revenue. 
fu order to be a mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, 
Section 21, a provision must require a local unit of government to expand or modify its 
activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT A-" to H.P. 1028, L.D. 1415 
The requirements in this amendment that a municipality or county provide notice and 
the opportunity for hearing if the municipality or county takes the step of declaring a 
town way abandoned does not require an expansion or modification of activities because 
there is no requirement that a municipality or county abandon a town way or declare a 
town way abandoned. Additionally, a municipality or county that chooses to abandon a 
town way may do so under the common law presumption of abandonment recognized by 
the Maine Supreme Judicial Court since 1916. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached} 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: o 1/31/20 frac 
LD 1415 
LR 1078(02) 
An Act To Improve the Laws Regarding Discontinued and Abandoned Roads 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 1,4' 
Committee: State and Local Government 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
When abandoning a public way, municipalities and counties must notify all affected 
property owners, hold a public hearing in certain situations and establish an appeals 
process. 
Unit Affected 
Municipality 
County 
Local Cost 
Moderate 
statewide 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill 
does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures 
from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund 
appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a 
Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from 
the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local 
units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities. 
LR1078(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1