# Haskell v. Town of North Haven

> Superior Court of Maine · July 21, 2005

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10808354

## Case

- **Court:** Superior Court of Maine
- **Decided:** July 21, 2005
- **Precedential status:** Unpublished
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Judges:** William S. Brodrick
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

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## Opinion text

STATE OF MAINE
Knox. S.S., Clerks Office
STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT SUPERIOR COURT
CIVIL ACTION
KNOX, ss. Jblh 2 1 2405 Docket No. CV-03-002
\ - -
,
'
t i s .
, .
DAVID B. HASKELL and LIND
HASKELL and RYAN HASKEL&CENED AND FILED
Plaintiffs,

v. DECISION

TOWN OF NORTH HAVEN,

Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiffs own separate parcels of land on both the northerly and southerly sides

of the so-called Town Road in Bartlett's Harbor on North Haven in Knox County.

(Def.'s Ex. 6, 8, and 10.)

2. Plaintiffs do not own the fee to the Town Road. Instead the Town Road serves as

a bound for plaintiffs' separate properties. (Def.'s Ex. 6, 8, and 10; see also Def.'s Ex. 4,

whch is an action to quiet title brought by P1. David Haskell's father and predecessor-
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in-title, Lewis J. Haskell.)

3. According to Defendant's Exhbit 4 and plaintiffs' deeds, the Town Road extends

to the h g h water mark on the shore at Bartlett's Harbor. Plaintiffs believe that North

Haven's interest in the Town Road ends shortly before the h g h water mark near a

cottage known as Auntie h e ' s Cottage. (Pl.'s Ex. 7, blue mark drawn across

depiction of Town Road; see also test. of David Haskell.)

4. The townspeople of North Haven have always considered the Town Road to be a

municipally owned town road. They believe the public ownershp of the Town Road

extends to the town landing on the shore of Bartlett's Harbor. They have also always
believed that they could use the Town Road and the town landing at the end of the

Town Road without aslung permission. (Test. of Lewis Haskell, Mary Waterman,

Robert Magill, Rosanna Grant and Willie "Billie" M. Morrow.)

5. The only access to Bartletfs Harbor beach is the Town Road. (Test. of Rchard

Bloom and Lewis Haskell; see a!sc Def.'s Ex. 20, fight hand segment, 1973 aerial map of

Bartlett's Harbor.)

6. From. the 1920's though the 19901s,the public reguldy used the Town Road m d

the landing and beach at the end of the Town Road for launchng boats (Test. of Rchard

Bloom and "Billie" Morrow), swimming (Test. of Lewis Haskell, Robert Magill and

Rosanna Grant), loolung at the beautiful view (Test. of "Billie" Morrow and Mary

Waterman), birding (the area contains a marsh) (Test. of Rosanna Grant), picnicking

(Test. of Lewis Haskell, Robert Magill, Rosanna Grant, and Elliott Brown), painting

(Test. of Lewis Haskell and "Billie" Morrow).

7. In the late 1960's or early 70's or perhaps both, the Red Cross held swimming

classes at Bartletfs Harbor. (Test. of Lewis Haskell, Robert Magill, Rosanna Grant and

"Billie" Morrow;) -The flow from the pond -into the-harbor created -warmer-waters for

swimming (Test. of Rosanna Grant.)

8. Bartlett's Harbor was a source of activities for all luds (Test. of Robert Magill) in

the 1950's and 1960's. The parlung area at the end of the Town Road served also as a

spot for romance to the point where Lewis Haskell in the late 1960's put in logs at the

top of the beach to prevent young persons from driving too far in the evening and

getting stuck. (Test. of Lewis Haskell; see also Def.'s Ex. 18, a 1960 picture showing i!e

log at the top of the beach; Def.'s Ex. 19, a 1962 picture showing Mary Waterman sitting

at the beach with her family and her car parked at the log.)
9. In the 1940's BartleWs Harbor contained fish weirs for catchng herring.

Lobstermen would drive down the Town Road to the beach on a regular basis to

purchase bait. (Def.'~Ex. 17; test. of Lewis Haskell and Rosanna Grant.)

10. The Town Road to BartleWs Harbor beach has been improved over the years. An

old undated photo of the road in Plaintiffs' E h b i t 4 and a drca 1932 photo in Plaintiffs'

Exhbit 5 show the orignal road consisting of two dirt ruts with mounded grass in the

center.

11. There was a brook spanned by a wooden bridge located between what is known

as Auntie Annie's Cottage (AAC) (Def.'s Ex. 13 showing the railing on the wooden

bridge) and the beach. The bridge had to be replaced and the replacement bridge was

lifted by the tide into the marsh. It had to be reset. The town road crew did h s work

sometime in the early 40's. (Test. of Lewis Haskell.)

12. In the 1940's the town road crew graded the Town Road, removing the grassy,

high center between the two ruts. (Test. of Lewis Haskell.)

13. The town road crews maintained the entire Town Road through the 1990's.

(Test. of Lewis -Haskell; test. 06-Elliott Brown, who h a s served as North -Haven-Roa&

Commissioner from 1955 until the present except for three years.)

14. The town maintenance was not extensive but it was regular. It consisted of

grading the road every year, filling pot holes with gravel and putting in a culvert at the

brook on two occasions. The grading of the entire road continued until 1963 or 1964

when the road was tarred, down to the point near Aunt Annie's Cottage. After that the

town did not grade from Aunt Annie's Cottage down to the beach. (Test. Of Elliott

Brown.)

15. Even after the road was tarred in the 60's and then paved in the 801s, the town

back dragged down to the beach every two years. In addition the town mowed the
sides of the entire road up to the present day and the town plowed the entire road after

every major storm through the present day. For the past seven years David Haskell has

taken over the back dragging down to the beach. (Test. of Elliott Brown.)

16. The improvements in the Town Road down to the beach caused by the Town's

grading and other maintenance are illustrated in Defendant's Exhibit 18, a 1960

photograph, and in two 1988 photographs. (Def.'s Ex. 24 and 25.)

17. The public has continued to use the Town Road down to the beach and has

continued to use the beach to the present time. (Test. of Robert Magill and "Billie"

Morrow .)

18. However, the public use has lessened in recent years because the public has been

made to feel "unwelcome" by plaintiffs and because plaintiffs occupy the public

parlung with their trucks. (Test. of "Billie" Morrow and Lewis Haskell.)

19. North Haven's public records do not reveal how much tax money is expended

on any given road. It is reasonable to infer from the testimony of Lewis Haskell and

Elliott Brown that the town has expended and is expending money on the upkeep of the

entire Town -Road on a regular $asis. (Mr. Brown, the town goad Commissionerr

testified that he is paid more than $15.00 per hour to maintain the town roads.)

20. I find all of the defendant's witnesses to be credible. I find plaintiff Linda

Haskell to be credible. I find plaintiff David Haskell to be credible in some respects, but

less credible in other respects, particularly in respect to the issue of road maintenance.

DISCUSSION

For reasors that are not clear to me, WL earlier cotlrt ruled that the town would

not be given the opportunity to prove by counterclaim that the Bartlett's Harbor "Town

Road" (BHTR) had been officially accepted as a town road or otherwise become a town

road. Instead both parties are in the position of assuming for the sake of argument that
the BHTR is a municipal road.' Therefore, the issue to be decided, the parties agree, is

whether the Town of North Haven has abandoned its interest in the disputed portion of

the Town Road pursuant to common law aband~nment.~

As my findings of fact make clea?, plaintiffs did not meet their burden.

The Town's maintenance on the entire Town Harbor road has not bee^ extensive

but it has been regular. The town has not allowed the road to deteriorate. Instead, it

has improved the road. No wibess suggested the portion of the road in question (from

Aunt Annie's cottage to the beach) was impassible. As Defendant's Exhbits 24 and 25

make clear, the portion of the Town Harbor Road was in excellent condition in 1988. It

is still in passable condition today. It is true that the town and crew no longer back

drag the disputed portion of the road but that is because David Haskell and h s family

clearly do not want the town or the public back dragpng the disputed portion of the

road. Mr. Haskell chooses to do it hmself.

As to usage, the evidence is overwhelming that the public has used the road, the

landing and the beach on a regular seasonal basis and continues to do so, despite the

efforts of David Haskell and his son to discourage public usage. -Usage does not have to

be year round to establish an intent to maintain a public interest in a road. Plaintiffs

failed to meet their burden of proving nonuse for any 20-year period up to the present.

Because plaintiffs have not succeeded in producing enough credible evidence to

create a presumption of a public intent to abandon, it is not really necessary to examine

Plaintiffs did allege in Count I of their complaint that the town and the public have no rights in the
disputed portion of the Town Road. However, they presented no evidence on t h s issue. Neither did the
town. Plaintiffs had the burden in this case. By choosing to concentrate exclusively on abandonment,
laintiffs failed to meet its burden on the ownership issue.
'Plaintiffs have not alleged a statutory abandonment pursuant to 23 M.R.S.A. g 3028 because that would
have created a public recreational easement in the disputed portion of the Town Road. Plaintiffs wish to
avoid this result.
' Counsel said at the beginning of the case that the period in question would end in 1976. However, both
parties presented evidence on use and maintenance from 1926 to the present day. My findings reflect the
evidence presented at trial and my conclusions apply to the present day.
07/22/2005 MAINE J U D I C I A L INFORMATION SYSTEM ebridges
KNOX COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT mj x x i 0 1 3
PAGE A - ATTORNEY BY CASE V I E W
D A V I D B HASKELL, E T ALS V . TOWN OF NORTHHAVEN
UTN:AOCSsr - 2 0 0 3 - 0 0 0 2 9 4 7 CASE # : R O C S C - C V - 2 0 0 3 - 0 0 0 0 2
................................................................................
SEL VD REPRESENTATION TYPE DATE
01 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 8 4 ATTORNEY:CARNEY, ANNE
ADDR:415 CONGRESS ST PO BOX 4600 PORTLAND ME 0 4 1 1 2
F F0R:TOWN OF NORTHHAVEN DEF RTND 01/27/2003

04 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 6 7 ATTORNEY:CLOUTIER, CHAD ALLEN
ADDR:247 COMMERCIAL STREET BOX 5 1 5 - 3 ROCKPORT ME 0 4 8 5 6 - 5 9 6 4
F F 0 R : D A V I D B HASKELL PL RTND 08/12/2003

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10808354. Public record. Not legal advice.