Opinion ID: 1954124
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fifty-Foot Right of Way

Text: In the interests of judicial economy, we address the plaintiffs' argument that the board erred by approving the yield plan because it depicts a right of way of less than fifty feet. The board found that the yield plan depicted a right of way of forty-five feet. The board approved the yield plan with the condition that if a court, in related litigation concerning the right of way, ruled that Graystone could not use this right of way, the yield plan would be nullified. Later, when approving the CDS, the board required Graystone to upgrade the road with the right of way to provide access to the CDS. The trial court ruled that the board acted reasonably. The parties do not dispute that the street with the right of way exists only as a paper street. The plaintiffs argue that because the subdivision regulations require a fifty-foot right of way, and the yield plan uses an access road with a forty-five-foot right of way, the board erred when it approved the yield plan. We agree. The subdivision regulations define a right of way as [a] strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street. A street is defined as a public way. All street construction except private roads serving no more than three lots shall conform to the dimensions shown on the typical section. The typical section shows a fifty-foot right of way. As the yield plan depicted a right of way of less than fifty feet on a road that would be constructed if the yield plan were ever developed, the board erred by approving it. To the extent that the board waived the fifty-foot right of way requirement when it approved the yield plan, it did so in error absent evidence of undue hardship or injustice to Graystone. Affirmed in part; reversed in part; vacated in part; and remanded.