Marchesi v. Bd. of Selectmen of the Town of Lyme
Marchesi v. Bd. of Selectmen of the Town of Lyme
Opinion of the Court
**618*534This case returns to us after the remand ordered in Marchesi v. Board of Selectmen ,
The record reveals the following facts and procedural history. Brockway Ferry Road is a highway
"Thereafter, the plaintiff brought an administrative appeal, pursuant to ... § 13a-40, in the Superior Court. The plaintiff asserted that the board's decision introduced a public highway through and across her property, lessened the value of her property and negatively affected her use and enjoyment of her property. The plaintiff raised several claims related to the board's jurisdiction. Additionally, the plaintiff claimed that the board had acted illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of its discretion. The gist of the complaint was that, rather than defining the width of an existing public highway, the board extended the length of [the] highway at its western terminus.
"In June, 2007, the plaintiff moved for summary judgment. The defendants opposed the motion arguing, in part, that the plaintiff was not entitled to move for summary judgment in an administrative appeal. In its May 20, 2008 memorandum of decision, [the court, **622Abrams, J. ] granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. The court concluded that it was entitled to consider the appeal in a trial de novo and, therefore, that the motion for summary judgment procedurally was appropriate. Thereafter, the court concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to judgment, as a matter of law, because the board exceeded the scope of its statutory authority by determining the length of [the highway] rather than its width." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., at 612-13,
On appeal, we concluded that the Appellate Court had properly determined that "parties appealing pursuant to § 13a-40 are entitled to a trial de novo ...." Id., at 611,
**623On remand, the trial court, Hon. Joseph Q. Koletsky , judge trial referee,
At the close of the evidence, the plaintiff moved to dismiss the trial de novo proceeding on the ground that the case had effectively been prosecuted by the board and the town-which § 13a-39 required to act as adjudicators rather than advocates-rather than by one of the adjoining proprietors, who would be the real party in interest under §§ 13a-39 and 13a-40. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that it had subject matter jurisdiction based on remand from this court and the fact that the parties had previously agreed that the defendants would assume the burden of proof at the trial de novo. The trial court further emphasized that, in deciding this case, it did not have jurisdiction to **624determine the legal status of the highway, such as whether it had been abandoned through nonuse or otherwise discontinued, and that its sole charge was to determine the bounds of the highway. After hearing argument about that evidence, the court rendered judgment dismissing the plaintiff's administrative appeal and "confirming" the board's finding with respect to the "lost or uncertain bounds" of the highway's western end. See appendix to and footnote 7 of this opinion. This appeal followed.
On appeal, the plaintiff (1) raises a plethora of challenges to the subject matter jurisdiction of the board and the trial court, and (2) contends that the trial court's determination of the highway's width was clearly erroneous. We address each of these claims in turn, setting forth additional facts and procedural history as appropriate.
I
We begin with the plaintiff's claims that the board lacked subject matter jurisdiction to define the boundaries of the highway under § 13a-39, which, in turn, deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to do so under § 13a-40, because (1) a court of competent jurisdiction had not first resolved a condition precedent, namely, the question of whether a public highway continued to exist in the disputed area, and (2) the filing and prosecution of the underlying petition to the board under § 13a-39 were fatally defective.
A
The plaintiff's first claim is that the board and the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction under §§ 13a-39 and 13a-40, respectively, to define the highway's boundaries because a court of competent jurisdiction had not first resolved the threshold question of whether a public highway continued to exist in the disputed **625area and, more specifically, whether *538that portion of the highway had been abandoned by nonuse. Relying on Hamann v. Newtown ,
In response, the defendants argue that a judicial determination of the highway's public status is not a condition precedent to § 13a-39 proceedings. Although they agree that, under Hamann v. Newtown , supra,
The record reveals the following additional relevant facts and procedural history. In the complaint initiating her appeal pursuant to § 13a-40, the plaintiff claimed, inter alia, that the board lacked jurisdiction under § 13a-39 to do the following: (1) "define the ... lines for [the highway] through and across [her] property due to the fact that [the highway] does not extend through and across [her] property and no portion of [her] property is a highway as defined in ... the General Statutes"; and (2) "make a decision defining the bounds for [the highway] through and across [her] property due to the fact that, in the public hearing held before [the board], the plaintiff ... placed in issue (i) whether [the highway] ever extended through and across [her] property and (ii) in the event that [the highway] ever did extend through and across [her] property, whether ... it had been abandoned by a long period of [nonuse]." The plaintiff also claimed that "[t]he resolution of ... the status of [the area in dispute] as a municipal highway is a condition precedent to a definition of highway lines pursuant to [§] 13a-39, and is beyond the jurisdiction of the [board]."
**627*539In arguments before the trial court concerning the legal status of the highway, counsel for the plaintiff stated that he had "a difficult time finding the line between abandonment and its present status because if it's abandoned then it has no status." In response, counsel for the defendants contended that, "if the road had been abandoned, the [board] couldn't have set the boundaries" but nevertheless disagreed with the trial court's suggestion that setting the boundaries required, "ipso facto," a "finding that the road has not been abandoned." Instead, counsel for the defendants emphasized that the issue of abandonment was not before the court in the proceeding pursuant to § 13a-40, stated that a decision to set the boundaries would not constitute a finding that the highway had not been abandoned, and agreed that the issue of abandonment could be litigated in the future, claiming that the present case "is not an abandonment case. Abandonment is [addressed by a] declaratory judgment or quiet title [claim]." Subsequently, the trial court ruled on the merits of the present case and confirmed the finding of the board.
Whether a determination of a roadway's legal status is a condition precedent to a boundaries definition proceeding under § 13a-39"presents a question of statutory construction over which we exercise plenary review.... When construing a statute, [o]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature.... In other words, we seek to determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the facts of [the] case, including the question of whether the language actually does apply.... In seeking to determine that meaning, General Statutes § 1-2z directs us first to consider the text of the statute itself and its relationship to other statutes. If, after examining such text and considering such relationship, the meaning of such text is plain and unambiguous and does not yield absurd or unworkable **628results, extratextual evidence of the meaning of the statute shall not be considered.... When a statute is not plain and unambiguous, we also look for interpretive guidance to the legislative history and circumstances surrounding its enactment, to the legislative policy it was designed to implement, and to its relationship to existing legislation and common law principles governing the same general subject matter .... The test to determine ambiguity is whether the statute, when read in context, is susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation." (Citation omitted; footnote omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Tomick v. United Parcel Service, Inc. ,
Thus, we begin with a review of Hamann v. Newtown , supra,
Subsequently, in Montanaro v. Aspetuck Land Trust, Inc. , supra,
**630As the parties' arguments in the present case demonstrate, Hamann may be read to have a "chicken or the egg" effect, particularly in cases in which a dispute about a highway's boundaries encompasses disagreement about whether that highway exists at all in the disputed location.
We acknowledge, however, that the legal status of the roadway in question might well surface as an issue in § 13a-39 proceedings before a board, particularly in cases in which the road is virtually impassable. On this point, we agree with Judge Silbert's view that Hamann "is merely pointing out the obvious: that [a board of selectmen] cannot use the authority granted to it under § 13a-39 to determine the boundaries of something which is not actually a highway, and that [a board of selectmen] is also not empowered to use § 13a-39 as the vehicle for establishing the status of [a highway]." Nicholas v. East Hampton , supra,
B
We next address the plaintiff's contention that the proceedings before the board failed to comply with **633§ 13a-39 in a manner that rendered the proceedings jurisdictionally defective, which, in turn, divested the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction under § 13a-40. To this end, the plaintiff cites Hartford Trust Co. v. West Hartford , supra,
1
We first address the plaintiff's claim that the board committed various mistakes during the § 13a-39 proceeding that deprived it of jurisdiction, rendering the underlying petition a nullity under Hartford Trust Co. v. West Hartford , supra,
We begin with a brief review of Hartford Trust Co. , which involved the statutory predecessor to § 13a-39. The preliminary statement of facts and procedural history in that case indicates that the plaintiffs, who owned land on the south side of Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, brought an action to enjoin West Hartford from taking a strip of their land for highway use. Hartford Trust Co. v. West Hartford , supra,
We disagree with the plaintiff's argument that Hartford Trust Co. stands for the proposition that any defect in the proceedings before the board under § 13a-39 renders its decision a nullity. First, that proposition is **636inconsistent with this court's decision in Appeal of St. John's Church , which, in rejecting an aggrieved landowner's claim that the proceedings before the "selectmen should be governed by the precise rules regulating trials in civil cases," held that procedural errors before the board would not affect "the jurisdiction of the Superior Court to deal with the appeal, and render such judgment as it might deem proper .... This it has done, and if its own procedure was correct, it is of no consequence whether that pursued by the selectmen, in the particulars complained of, was correct or not." Appeal of St. John's Church , supra,
Second, the plaintiff's broad reliance on Hartford Trust Co. is wholly inconsistent with subsequent cases from this court treating that decision and Keifer v. Bridgeport , supra,
We now turn to the plaintiff's individual challenges to the board's jurisdiction. First, we conclude that the petition by the adjoining proprietors complied with § 13a-39 for purposes of properly invoking the board's jurisdiction. As the defendants *545point out, § 13a-39 does not prescribe any particular form or content for the petition, other than to require that it be in writing. See footnote 4 of this opinion. We conclude that the petition in the present case adequately invokes the jurisdiction of the board by "formally request[ing] that [it] take the steps necessary to define the bounds of [the highway] and such other steps deemed necessary to remove any and all uncertainties regarding the road's location as required by [§] 13a-39," and "further requesting that detailed attention be given to the western end of our **638road as this is the portion of the highway that has been the subject of much dispute for the past several years."
Second, with respect to the plaintiff's attack on the board's use of the 2002 map, which Strouse prepared prior to the filing of the § 13a-39 petition, the record reveals that, in 2001, the board ordered a map and survey from Strouse, a surveyor and engineer with more than forty years of experience, in response to complaints from the adjoining proprietors with respect to their dispute with the plaintiff. See footnote 6 of this opinion. Utilizing the 2002 map to explain his survey, Strouse then testified at the 2006 hearing before the board after the filing of the petition. Subsequently, Strouse prepared the 2006 map, which depicts the changes to the 2002 map required by the board's decision. See appendix to and footnote 7 of this opinion.
In present case, there is no claim that the board's use of the 2002 map, which was prepared by Strouse prior to the petition and hearing, prejudiced the plaintiff, insofar as, at the hearing, she had the opportunity to participate and was aware of the claims made by the adjoining proprietors and the lines as proposed by the board. Cf. Hartford Trust Co. v. West Hartford , supra,
2
We next turn to the plaintiff's claim that the underlying § 13a-39 petition was jurisdictionally defective because neither she nor her western neighbor, James **639Behrendt,
It is well settled that " '[t]he word "any" has a diversity of meanings and may be employed to indicate "all" or "every" as well as "some" or "one." ... Its meaning in a given statute depends upon the context and subject matter of the statute. In New York, [New Haven & Hartford Railroad ] Co. v. Stevens ,
"Given our view of the [relevant] statutory scheme and the application of the principles to be employed to come to a common sense result, we construe 'any' to mean 'some' ...." Gentry v. Norwalk ,
Moreover, it "is axiomatic that we do not interpret a statute in a way that would so blatantly thwart its purpose." Location Realty, Inc. v. Colaccino ,
"This point addresses the allegation in the plaintiff's complaint that she did not petition the [board] to determine the bounds of [the highway] adjoining her property. In their petition to the [board], the defendant proprietors of adjoining land claimed that the boundaries of the western terminus of [the highway] had become lost or uncertain. If a highway is public, it is to be available to the public. No property owner should be permitted to ban the public, including neighbors, from traversing a public highway that crosses his or her land because he or she has not asked that the lost or uncertain boundaries be determined pursuant to § 13a-39." (Footnotes omitted.) Marchesi v. Board of Selectmen , supra,
II
Finally, we turn to the plaintiff's claim that the trial court's finding of the highway's boundaries is clearly erroneous. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that the defendants, who had assumed the burden of proof before the trial court, failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the width of the westerly end of the highway, which is depicted on the 2006 map as varying between twenty-one and twenty-seven feet wide. See appendix to and footnote 7 of this opinion. Specifically, the plaintiff contends that the evidence at trial, which included expert testimony by the two surveyors, Strouse and Stefon, along with testimony from several adjoining proprietors and Parker Lord, the former owner of the plaintiff's property, confirmed that there was no physical or historical evidence of the highway's width, rendering any finding as to width pure conjecture. In response, the defendants point to other documentary evidence, including an eighteenth century public record from the Colony of Connecticut, along with surveys, maps, town meeting minutes, photographs, and testimony from Lord and certain adjoining proprietors about recreational use of the highway's western end. The defendants also contend that the trial court reasonably could have credited the testimony of Stefon, a historian of Connecticut's roads, in finding that the highway had a width that varied between twenty-one and twenty-seven feet. We agree with the defendants and, accordingly, conclude that the trial court's finding as to the width of the highway was not clearly erroneous.
**643As the parties agree, the trial court's determination of the roadway's boundaries in a de novo appeal under § 13a-40 constitutes a finding of fact. Accordingly, "our review is limited to deciding whether such findings were clearly erroneous." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Stratford v. Jacobelli ,
"Additionally, [i]t is well established that [i]n a case tried before a court, *548the trial judge is the sole arbiter of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given specific testimony.... The credibility and the weight of expert testimony is judged by the same standard, and the trial court is privileged to adopt whatever testimony [it] reasonably believes to be credible.... On appeal, we do not retry the facts or pass on the credibility of witnesses." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Nutmeg Housing Development Corp. v. Colchester ,
Having reviewed the record, we agree with the plaintiff's observation that there was no definitive physical or documentary evidence of the highway's width and that the two expert witnesses, Strouse and Stefon, offered contradictory testimony as to its width. Specifically, at the request of the board and Ralph Eno, the town's first selectman at that time, Strouse created the **6442002 map. After the board's hearing pursuant to § 13a-39, Strouse created the 2006 map illustrating the board's findings. See appendix to and footnote 7 of this opinion. On the 2002 map, Strouse stated that there was "no known width" for the highway, and "depicted [it] as [one] rod (16.5 [feet] ) wide,"
Stefon testified that, in addition to being a licensed surveyor, he is a historian of road creation and location in Connecticut.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
APPENDIX
*550--------
The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199(c) and Practice Book § 65-1.
General Statutes § 13a-40 provides: "Any person aggrieved by such decision may appeal to the superior court for the judicial district where such highway is situated within ten days after notice of such decision has been given, which appeal shall be in writing, containing a brief statement of the facts and reasons of appeal and a citation to such selectmen and all adjoining proprietors on such highway to appear before said court, and said court, or any judge thereof, may direct the time of appearance and the manner of service. Said court may review the doings of such selectmen, examine the questions in issue by itself or by a committee, confirm, change or set aside the doings of such selectmen, and make such orders in the premises, including orders as to costs, as it finds to be equitable. The clerk of said court shall cause a certified copy of the final decree of said court to be recorded in the records of the town in which such highway is located, and, if such decree changes the bounds defined and established by the decision of such selectmen, the bounds defined and established by such decree shall be the bounds of such highway."
We note that the plaintiff has sought to name several adjoining proprietors as additional defendants at various points in the underlying proceeding. These proprietors include, among others: Lyme Land Conservation Trust, Inc.; Thomas E. Angers; James A. Behrendt; Brigit Ann Brodkin; Ambrose C. Clarke; Curtis D. Deane; Todd B. Ellison; David J. Frankel; Elizabeth C. Frankel; John J. Gorman III; Kenneth C. Hall; Amy Day Kahn; Carolyn D. Lieber; William A. Lieber; Leonard D. Lieberman; Paula A. Lieberman; Elizabeth Putnam; Russell K. Shaffer; Leslie V. Shaffer; Michael David Speirs; Eleanor B. Sutton; John David Sutton, Jr.; John David Sutton, Sr.; Richard W. Sutton; Robert H. Sutton; William C. Sutton, Jr.; and Jane Dunn Wamester. The individual interests of these adjoining proprietors are not, however, at issue in the present appeal. For the sake of simplicity, we refer to the board and the town collectively as the defendants. See Marchesi v. Board of Selectmen , supra,
General Statutes § 13a-39 provides: "Whenever the boundaries of any highway have been lost or become uncertain, the selectmen of any town in which such highway is located, upon the written application of any of the proprietors of land adjoining such highway, may cause to be made a map of such highway, showing the fences and bounds as actually existing, and the bounds as claimed by adjoining proprietors, and shall also cause to be placed on such map such lines as in their judgment coincide with the lines of the highway as originally laid down. Such selectmen shall cause a notice to be printed for at least two days in a daily paper having a general circulation in the town in which such highway is located, and shall send a written or printed notice to each known adjoining proprietor on such highway, setting forth the name or location of the highway, a description of the portions to be reestablished, the place and time where such map may be seen, and the time, not less than two weeks from the date of the issue of such notice, when and place where all parties interested may be heard under oath in regard to such reestablishment. Such selectmen may adjourn such hearing from time to time and, upon reaching a decision, shall cause the same to be published as aforesaid and a notice of the same to be sent to all known adjoining proprietors. Such decision shall specifically define the line of such highway and the bounds thereof and shall be recorded in the records of the town in which such highway is located, and the lines and bounds so defined and established shall be the bounds of such highway unless changed by the Superior Court upon appeal from such decision of the selectmen."
For the purpose of consistency with this court's previous decision, we refer to Brockway Ferry Road hereinafter as the highway. See Marchesi v. Board of Selectmen , supra,
The record indicates that these adjoining proprietors filed their petition in an attempt to resolve a dispute that arose after the plaintiff, who had purchased her property in 1998, sought to keep people from using the western end of the highway to access the river for recreational purposes.
Schedule A to the board's decision incorporates, by reference, a map dated June 29, 2006. See appendix to and footnote 8 of this opinion. Schedule A then continues to describe the boundaries of the highway as follows: "Beginning at a point on the northerly side of Brockway Ferry Road, which point marks the 'Limit of Improved Roadway from Joshuatown Road to the End of Bituminous Pavement,' as shown on said map; thence running ... [west for] 34.34 feet along a wet area with scrub vegetation to a point; thence [west for] 32.65 feet along the wet area with scrub vegetation to a drill hole found in a stone wall as shown on said [map]; thence [west for] 62.13 feet along the stone wall to a point; thence [west for] 24.33 feet along said stone wall to a point; thence [west for] 79.76 feet by the stone wall and across a gravel drive to a point in another stone wall ... as shown on said [map]; thence [west for] 46.45 feet along said stone wall ... to a point; thence [west for] 47.32 feet along said stone wall to a point; thence [west for] 47.82 feet along said stone wall to a point; thence [west for] 37.03 feet along said stone wall to a point at the top of steps as shown on said [map]; thence [west for] 19.92 feet along the top of steps and along the stone wall to a point at the corner of the stone wall; thence turning and running [south for] 21.42 feet along the top of a rock shore protection to a point at a 10 [inch] triple poplar as shown on said [map] ... thence turning and running ... [east for] 199.88 feet along a stone breakwater in the waters of the Connecticut River ... as shown on said [map]; thence [east for] 164.37 feet ... by the corner of a stone wall, across a private boat launch in the waters of the Connecticut River, across a rock shore protection, thence by a 10 [inch] poplar and a sign post to an iron pipe found (bent) ... as shown on said [map] ... thence [east for] 68.92 feet by a 14 [inch] poplar and along a rail fence ... as shown on said [map]; thence turning and running [north for] 26.86 feet ... to the point and place of beginning."
For ease of reference, a portion of this map has been reproduced as an appendix to this opinion.
Unless otherwise noted, all references hereinafter to the trial court are to Judge Koletsky.
We note that Lord also serves the town as a selectman, but recused himself from participation in the underlying proceedings before the board.
The plaintiff posits further that, "[w]ith the status of the area in question as a public highway in dispute, and with the issue of abandonment extant, the use of a § 13a-39 highway definitional proceeding effectively allows the [board] to appropriate land for highway purposes where no highway currently exists. This is a significant expansion of the power and authority of [the board] beyond that contemplated by the drafters of the remedial statute in question."
The defendants further posit that the plaintiff had "offered no evidence," such as a discontinuance under General Statutes § 13a-49 or abandonment under General Statutes § 47-31, as recorded on the town's land records, which date to 1665, "that the western end of [the highway] had been extinguished" because, "had she done so, adjoining proprietors would have no remedy under § 13a-39."
We note that the plaintiff further claimed that the board had "acted illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of [its] discretion" because (1) it "proceeded to define the alleged ... lines of [the highway] in a [§] 13a-39 proceeding notwithstanding the fact that it knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that it had no authority to pursue a [§] 13a-39 proceeding as the status of the westerly end of [the highway] as [the existence of] a highway had been placed in issue," and (2) "[b]y defining the ... lines of [the highway] through and across the plaintiff's property, the [board] made an implicit determination that (i) the original layout of [the highway] extended through and across the plaintiff's property and (ii) ... that portion of [the highway] had not been abandoned by an extensive period of [nonuse], both of which determinations are beyond the scope of the [board's] authority under [§] 13a-39 ...."
In terms of establishing the highway's public status, we note that "General Statutes § 13a-48 provides for the formal acceptance of a highway by a municipality. A road may also be expressly dedicated to a public use; A & H [Corp. ] v. Bridgeport ,
We note that neither party questions the correctness of the Appellate Court's conclusion in Hamann v. Newtown , supra,
Were a board to decide not to honor the adjoining proprietors' request under § 13a-39 on the ground that the road in question was not a highway, the proprietors' remedy would be to seek a writ of mandamus, the issuance of which would require a factual finding that the area in question is, in fact, a highway as defined by General Statutes § 13a-1. See Nicholas v. East Hampton , supra,
As was discussed at oral argument before this court, had the plaintiff brought such an action during the pendency of the present case before the trial court, it could have been consolidated for purposes of case management, and decided with the present de novo appeal from the boundary determination pursuant to §§ 13a-39 and 13a-40. Cf. Montanaro v. Aspetuck Land Trust, Inc. , supra,
We note that the plaintiff also objects to the board's use of the town attorney to "prosecute the case to support [its] findings in the administrative proceeding." Not surprisingly, the plaintiff cites no authority for the proposition that a municipal body is not entitled to the assistance of counsel in conducting administrative proceedings, such as those pursuant to § 13a-39. Insofar as the board and town were named as defendants in this case by the plaintiff, it is not clear how else the plaintiff expected the defendants to proceed once the case reached the Superior Court under § 13a-40.
To this end, the plaintiff further argues these defects, along with the associated trial de novo under § 13a-40, deprived her of the common-law right to fundamental fairness in administrative hearings. See, e.g., Grimes v. Conservation Commission ,
At most, Keifer v. Bridgeport , supra,
We note that Behrendt has not filed an appearance in the present case.
"A rod is a unit of measurement equal to 16.5 feet." Thurlow v. Hulten , Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Complex Litigation Docket, Docket No. X04-CV-05-4059315-S,
Stefon testified that he has provided historical research on 300 to 400 occasions for municipalities, attorneys, and private individuals, with respect to the location of ancient roadbeds in Connecticut.
We note that Stefon's report to the board was marked for identification but not admitted into evidence.
During summations, counsel for the defendants discussed Stefon's testimony about his research, including the lack of any historical evidence, such as town meeting records, with respect to the highway's layout. The trial court asked counsel for the defendants whether he had a position as to the width of the road, given that "it's under water half the time anyway." Counsel for the defendants stated that he did not think the width of the road mattered, given the nature of the dispute before the court. Likewise, counsel for the plaintiff acknowledged the difficulty of finding the length and width of the road given the alterations to the river's shore by erosion since the end of ferry service in 1884, and argued during summation that the court "doesn't sit as some sort of historical tribunal. Its finding has to relate to the present. You're not being asked to determine something as it existed in 1784 or 1922. You're [being] asked to determine the bounds of a highway as of this day." Although the plaintiff's argument focused on the decades of nonuse of the highway, and its current lack of use, counsel for the plaintiff also asked, "how do you find based on the evidence how wide this thing is? How do you find based on the monuments in the field which are critical to where that roadway is? How do we find that roadway?" The court posited that the width, like that of an easement, could be "determined by historical uses." The plaintiff argued that, with respect to widths, "[a]t some point it becomes speculation, at some point, the court is required to speculate" given the lack of "complete monumentation," although she acknowledged that there was "ample evidence" as to length.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Rhonda M. MARCHESI v. BOARD OF SELECTMEN OF the TOWN OF LYME
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