Les
Earnest
Email les@cs.stanford.edu Phone 650-941-3984
2005 July 21
Town Council
Town of Los Altos Hills
Subject: Public
Roads and Paths, Private Roads and Driveways
References:
[1] Municipal Code, Town of Los Altos Hills,
http://www.bpcnet.com/codes/losaltoshills.
[2] John D. Bakker (Assistant City Attorney),
"Dedication and acceptance of pathway dedications;
Dear Mayor Breene Kerr, Craig Jones, Jean Mordo, Mike
O’Malley, and Dean Warshawsky:
I recommend that the Council act to resolve existing inconsistencies in the use
of terms such as “public road” and “private road,” both in the Municipal Code
and general usage, which is a prerequisite to developing a comprehensive Master
Path Plan. This note reviews the background of these issues and suggests a
possible way to resolve them.
I will be happy to discuss these matters at a Council
meeting as well as by email or telephone. If you agree with me that more consistent
terminology is needed then I expect you will want to have the Town attorney
reexamine these issues and make specific recommendations.
BACKGROUND
Over a year ago, while doing research on public roads and
paths, I noticed inconsistencies between definitions of "
Last November a responding memo was issued [2] but for some
reason it was kept secret from members of both the Pathways and Map Committees.
When I learned of its existence a few months ago I requested that the Council
release it and you did.
Upon reading [2], I found that it clarifies the public
access rights under California Law and points the way to a possible resolution
of existing inconsistencies in the Municipal Code. I subsequently brought these
matters back to the Map Committee, then to the Pathways Committee. On
Pathway Committee requests Council
to review the issue of Public and Private roads. Les Earnest has
identified many inconsistencies in interpretation of this issue, so legal
counsel may be required. Council should made appropriate adjustments to our
Municipal Code.
Thus I bring this matter back to the Council and hope that
it can be resolved soon.
INCONSISTENCIES
Here are some relevant excerpts from the Municipal Code together with my
observations of inconsistencies.
Sec. 9-1.258. Road, private.
“Private road” means a road, way,
or street in private ownership and under private maintenance, not offered for
dedication as a public road, way, place or street, which affords the principal
means of access to one or more lots or parcels which do not have frontage on a
public street.
This says private roads are those “not offered for
dedication” whereas past practice has been to consider private roads to be
those that have not been accepted for dedication as a public road. The
above definition implies that roads offered for dedication but not accepted by the
Town are public. However, [2] defines a
Sec. 9-1.259. Road, public.
“Public road” means a road
dedicated to and maintained by the City, the County, or the State, including
roads offered for dedication to the City which have been improved, or for which
an improvement security is in effect to improve the same. The term includes
“city road,” “accepted road,” “accepted public road,” and “dedicated road.”
This is consistent with past usage by Town staff and
committees but is what [2] calls a public road with statutory dedication, hence
it excludes common-law public roads and so is inconsistent with California Law.
Sec. 10-1.241. Road, public.
“Public road” shall mean a road
which has been dedicated or deeded to the public for public use and which road
may or may not have been accepted for maintenance
This is not consistent with either Sec. 9-1.259 or past
usage in that it includes roads with common-law implied-in-fact public
easements, as defined in [2]. Given that this definition is different from
common usage as well as from Section 9-1.259 and [2], there is a three-way
inconsistency here.
Sec. 10-1.216. Driveway.
“Driveway” shall mean a private way
or route for use by vehicular traffic leading from a parking area, house,
garage, or other structure to a public or private right-of-way, and serving no
more than two (2) parcels or lots.
This definition implies that any private vehicular route
serving more than two parcels is a private road. On this basis there are many
private roads in town that have no names and have been viewed as driveways.
According to this definition they should be recognized as private roads.
POSSIBLE RESOLUTION
I believe that the principal inconsistencies cited above can be resolved by
recognizing the broader definition of
1. A Statutory Public Easement is an easement that has been offered for public
use and accepted in accordance with the Subdivision Map Act (California
Government Code Section 66477.1).
2. An Implied-in-fact Dedication can be brought about by the filing of a map
indicating areas that will be devoted to public use or where streets or other
areas are laid out on the ground and lots are purchased by buyers in reasonable
reliance that these areas will be available for their use, as determined by the
courts.
3. An Implied-from-public-use Dedication can have been brought about prior to
March 4, 1972 by continuous, notorious and adverse use by the public for a
period of five years or more or, after that date, if a governmental entity has
made visible improvements on the land or has cleaned and maintained it in such
a manner that the owner should know of the public use and that the use and
maintenance continue, without efforts on the part of the owner to restrict the
use and maintenance, for a period of five years or more (Civ. Code Section
1009(d)).
4. A Common-law Public Easement is an easement with either an Implied-in-fact
or Implied-from-public-use Dedication.
5. A Public Easement is either a Statutory Public Easement or a Common-law
Public Easement. The Town is obligated to maintain only roads or paths within
Statutory Public Easements.
7. A Public Path is a path within a Public Easement.
These definitions are admittedly more complicated that the existing
(inconsistent) definitions in the Municipal Code but appear to be consistent
with California Law. Once these issues are resolved, one way or another, the Map
Committee will need to review and revise some of its earlier work.
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend that the Council call upon the Town Attorney to
review the issues described above and develop suitable amendments to the
Municipal Code. There will inevitably be trade-offs between conciseness and
legal completeness. I trust that consistent definitions can be developed and
hope that they might be more concise than those suggested above.
Sincerely,
Les Earnest