Gates erected by the owners of a Sandyston Township farm blocking a portion of Old Mine Road must go, a federal court said Tuesday.
A federal judge awarded a summary judgment to the United States and the National Park Service against the owners of the farm, Matthew Hull, Michele Hull and Aaron Hull, which was the result of a 2009 federal lawsuit brought against the Hulls in response to the gates.
The gates, which cut public access to Old Mine Road at two ends of the farm property, were found to be in violation of the court's determination of "public interest" and "should not have been put in place in the first place," court documents state.
According to the opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton, a township ordinance written in 1988 was enough to show the intent of the township to hand over ownership of the roadway to the National Park Service.
"Ordinance 6-88 was effective to the extent that it conveyed Sandyston's plan or intent in transferring Old Mine Road to the government, but not to the extent that it would go against the public's interest," Wigenton said.
While it may have been the intent of the 1988 ordinance to transfer ownership of the section of Old Mine Road to the National Park Service in order to free the municipality from all financial responsibilities associated with maintenance of a public road, the ordinance, and the subsequent deed agreements with two other homeowners along Old Mine Road, were full of mistakes and "technical problems," court documents state.
http://www.njherald.com/story/16603772/judge-says-old-mine-road-is-national-park-service-property
A federal judge awarded a summary judgment to the United States and the National Park Service against the owners of the farm, Matthew Hull, Michele Hull and Aaron Hull, which was the result of a 2009 federal lawsuit brought against the Hulls in response to the gates.
The gates, which cut public access to Old Mine Road at two ends of the farm property, were found to be in violation of the court's determination of "public interest" and "should not have been put in place in the first place," court documents state.
According to the opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton, a township ordinance written in 1988 was enough to show the intent of the township to hand over ownership of the roadway to the National Park Service.
"Ordinance 6-88 was effective to the extent that it conveyed Sandyston's plan or intent in transferring Old Mine Road to the government, but not to the extent that it would go against the public's interest," Wigenton said.
While it may have been the intent of the 1988 ordinance to transfer ownership of the section of Old Mine Road to the National Park Service in order to free the municipality from all financial responsibilities associated with maintenance of a public road, the ordinance, and the subsequent deed agreements with two other homeowners along Old Mine Road, were full of mistakes and "technical problems," court documents state.
http://www.njherald.com/story/16603772/judge-says-old-mine-road-is-national-park-service-property
