HomeMy WebLinkAboutLegal opinion for road discontinuanceFrom:Meredith Badalucca
To:Meredith Badalucca
Subject:PTA Lane
Date:Friday, October 10, 2025 12:37:13 PM
From: Leonard Bunnell Sr. <lbunnell@montville-ct.org>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2025 11:57 AM
To: Meredith Badalucca <mbadalucca@montville-ct.org>
Subject: FW: PTA Lane
The below email from Cody may be what you wanted. In his email he refers to “Melissa” but I think
he is referring to you.
Leonard G. Bunnell Sr.MayorTown of Montville310 Norwich-New London Tpke.Uncasville, CT 06382lbunnell@montville-ct.orgOffice 860.848.6702, ext. 702Fax 860.848.4534
From: Richard S. Cody <RCody@sswbgg.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 4, 2025 5:04 PM
To: Leonard Bunnell Sr. <lbunnell@montville-ct.org>
Subject: RE: PTA Lane
CAUTION: This email originated from outside the organization. Do not click links or
open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Len
Melissa’s general sense is on target, but it’s not quite complete.
When a town road (actually a public right of way) is discontinued and the town does not ownthe land beneath the ROW, the presumption is that the abutting owners own to the centerline.
It’s not an absolute. If the town owns the land, the abutters have no claim to ownership.
However, the statute provides that the abutters will retain a private ROW, meaning that no lotis “landlocked” by the discontinuance.
So, if the Town discontinues PTA Lane and owns the land “under” the ROW, it can sell that.
But its title would be subject to private rights to use the same area for access and egress.