Judge: Rights of way to bay belong to public in Belfast

BELFAST – The city has prevailed in its effort to protect public rights of way to the shores of Penobscot Bay.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, District Court Judge John Nivison found that Vernon James Dobias, owner of the Moorings Campground, neither controlled nor had the right to block the public traditional right of way to the shore.

Nivison ruled that the city had “obtained a non-possessory” interest in the “rangeway” to the water and that it never abandoned that right despite Dobias’ claim that it had done so.

“I haven’t seen the decision yet, but it is certainly welcome news for the future accessibility to the waterfront for the people of Belfast,” Mayor Mike Hurley said. “This is very good news.”

Bangor attorney Richard Silver, who represented Dobias in the case, was out of the office Wednesday and unavailable for comment on the decision. He has said previously, however, that no matter which side won the case, an appeal to Superior Court is inevitable because of the legal issues.

When the case came before Nivison in January, the city argued that the public access to the shore was established in 1769 when the heirs of Samuel Waldo sold the property now known as Belfast to 35 “proprietors.” The proprietors, in turn, divided the city into 52 lots, which were depicted on the original plan of the city. They never established deeds.

“Not a single one got a deed,” surveyor Gusta Ronson of Good Deeds testified. “They all owned it in common.”

When the proprietors divided the city into 52 lots, they established 13 2-rod-wide rights of way, or rangeways, to provide access to the shore. A rod is equal to about 161/2 feet.

While some of those rangeways became roads, others became overgrown or remained simple paths to the shore.

Some of the deeds that were drawn up in later years identified the rangeways, while others did not. More than 200 years later, the city finally got around to recording the rangeways with the Register of Deeds. The city then erected signs at each of the rangeways.

Dobias bought the Moorings Campground in December 2001 and bought the lot next door a few years later. One of the rangeways runs between the two lots. Shortly after buying the campground, Dobias began placing sign posts and recreational vehicle hookups near the rangeway.

Unlike most of the rangeways in the city that are clearly delineated by roads or patch, the rangeway between the two lots owned by Dobias is overgrown and bisected by a intermittent. If there ever was an established path to the shore, it can no longer be found on the ground. For that reason, Dobias claimed that the city had abandoned the rangeway and that the right to control access now belonged to him.

In his ruling, Judge Nivison found that while the anecdotal evidence of the current condition of the rangeway “might” support Dobias’ claim he also noted that “the proprietors plainly intended to convey to the city some interest in the rangeway.”

Nivison said the court recognized that it was difficult to prove that the property was not used for a period of time, especially when considering that the rangeways have been in existence for more than 100 years.

“Simply stated, the quality of the evidence in this case is insufficient to cause the court to extinguish the city’s property interest in the rangeway,” Nivison ruled.