Chuck Gould wrote:
On Sep 10, 6:06?pm, sillz wrote:

In 2001, a resident constructed a fence that blocks an easement that
gave access to a boat and swimming dock located on Nevada Public
Land. The easement
passes through a portion of this resident's property. My friends do
not have lake access. For years, we used the easement in order to
access the lake.


For how many years?

Was the use public, "notorious", etc?

Your friend and his landlocked neighbors may have established a
"proscriptive" easement. In addition, the deed for the property the
easement crosses may list that easement as an exception to free and
clear title- and if it does the property owner cannot simply deny you
access.




Trespass on another resident's property and access the dock from a
steep and dangerous hill

Climb the fence and risk the resident calling the sheriff's
department
which she has done in the past ... or risk being harassed by the
resident which she has done on numerous occasions


If the easement is recorded at the county, stick a copy of the public
record in your pocket and climb the fence. I understand there is a lot
of rowdy behavior in the middle of the night in that vicinity, and it
would be a shame if some young hoodlums took after that fence with
bolt cutters.
If you climb the fence (assuming it remains intact) and the sheriff
shows up you can say, "Am I glad to see you! I've been meaning to call
you guys about this fence that has been illegally erected across a
public easement!"

If the property owner sticks her head out the window and bitches, let
her.





Refrain from using dock at all.

The resident was issued a cease and desists while the fence was being
built by the Nevada State Lands Division. When Nevada officials left
the scene, the resident continued construction, installed a gate, and
she locked the gate with a padlock. She offered a key to the local
residents ONLY if they signed a paper acknowledging that she owns the
land beyond the gate. Obviously, my friends refused, so she refused
to give them a key.

There is some conjecture that the fence also blocks access by
emergency vehicles like Fire trucks. I am not sure if this is true
or
if it is a rumor. We made the climb to the dock a few months ago, and
we found the dock in a sad state of disrepair. It doesn't look like
the state of Nevada can even access the land in order to maintain it.

I have contacted the Washoe County Clerk and the Nevada State Lands
Division.

This issue has been pending for 6 years.

Does anyone have advice on how to approach this issue from the
perspective of local politics or government?

Make it a crisis.

Create a major public stink, get the media involved, and don't let up
until the political inertia becomes political action.


It sounds to me that the property owner has already spoken to an
attorney and is following their recommendations. If the "easement" is
an express easement, one that is actually on the public records, the
paper acknowledging the owners land, would not remove the easement. If
their is no real easement on the property and she allows the public to
continue to use the land without enforcing her rights, she can give up
her legal right to enforce her rights as a landowner, and a prescriptive
easements can come in effect.

It sounds like she is taking the necessary legal actions to insure she
does not lose her property rights due to a proscriptive easement.