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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 -- H 5182 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC000240 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PROPERTY -- MAINTENANCE OF PRIVATE EASEMENTS AN D RIGHTS- |
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| 16 | 16 | | OF-WAY |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Representatives Shallcross Smith, Craven, Ackerman, Chippendale, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Casimiro, Alzate, and Diaz |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: January 24, 2025 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: House Judiciary |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. Section 34-9.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-9.1 entitled 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | "Maintenance of Private Easements and Rights-Of-Way" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 34-9.1-2. Maintenance of private easement and rights-of-way. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) In the absence of an enforceable, written agreement to the contrary, the owner of any 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | residential real property that benefits from an easement or right-of-way, the purpose of which is to 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | provide access to the residential real property, shall be responsible for the cost of maintaining the 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | easement or right-of-way in good repair and the cost of repairing or restoring any damaged portion 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the easement or right-of-way. The maintenance shall include, but not be limited to, the removal 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | of snow from the easement or right-of-way. 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (b) In the absence of an enforceable, written agreement, the cost of maintaining and 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | repairing or restoring the easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each owner of a benefited 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | property in proportion to the benefit received by each property; provided, that the market value or 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | assessed valuation, which benefit shall be determined by and commensurate with the municipal 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | appraisal of each such property shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of benefit 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | received. 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, any owner of 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | a benefited property or any owner of a burdened property who directly or indirectly damages any 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | portion of the easement or right-of way, including damages caused by such property owners' 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC000240 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 45 | 45 | | invitees, shall be solely responsible for repairing or restoring the portion damaged by that owner. 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (d) If any owner of a benefited or burdened property refuses to repair or restore a damaged 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | portion of an easement or right-of-way in accordance with this section, or fails, after a demand in 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | writing, to pay the owner’s proportion of the cost of maintaining or repairing or restoring the 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | easement or right-of-way in accordance with subsection (b), an action for specific performance or 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | contribution may be brought in the superior court against the owner by other owners of benefited 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | or burdened properties, either jointly or severally. The written demand shall include information 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | and documentation relevant to the damage repaired or restored, including all engineering or 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | contractor proposals, evaluations, applications and costs, and include a detailed explanation of the 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | factors considered in arriving at the owner’s proportional cost. 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (e) In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this section and an agreement 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | described in subsections (a) or (b) of this section, the terms of the agreement shall control. 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | ======== |
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| 59 | 59 | | LC000240 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ======== |
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| 61 | 61 | | |
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| 62 | 62 | | |
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| 63 | 63 | | LC000240 - Page 3 of 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 65 | 65 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 66 | 66 | | OF |
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| 67 | 67 | | A N A C T |
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| 68 | 68 | | RELATING TO PROPERTY -- MAINTENANCE OF PRIVATE EASEMENTS AND RIGHTS- |
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| 69 | 69 | | OF-WAY |
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| 70 | 70 | | *** |
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| 71 | 71 | | This act would provide that in the absence of a written agreement, the cost of maintaining 1 |
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| 72 | 72 | | and repairing or restoring an easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each property owner of a 2 |
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| 73 | 73 | | benefited property and their share of such costs shall be determined by and commensurate with the 3 |
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| 74 | 74 | | municipal appraisal of each property. This act would further provide that any written demand for 4 |
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| 75 | 75 | | such costs to any owner refusing to repair or restore the damaged areas shall include information 5 |
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| 76 | 76 | | and documentation relevant to the damage repaired or restored, including a detailed explanation of 6 |
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| 77 | 77 | | the factors considered in arriving at the owner’s proportional costs of such repairs or restoration. 7 |
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| 78 | 78 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 8 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ======== |
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| 80 | 80 | | LC000240 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ======== |
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