by Alex Brooks
Petersburgh Town Justice Paul Montgomery has issued his ruling in the Planning Board’s suit against Joan and Michael Buzerak concerning the road at the Star Ridge subdivision. The Town had alleged that the road in this subdivision is an illegal sixth lot in an approved 5-lot subdivision, that it was not built to the standards set forth on the subdivision map and that the Buzeraks have failed to maintain the road properly.
Judge Montgomery supported the Town’s contentions in none of these matters, but the circumstances were different for each of the allegations.
The Town consented, during the course of the proceedings, to dismissal of the allegation concerning an additional lot, so no formal ruling was required, but the Judge did comment that the extra lot “appears to be an inadvertent oversight” and that the Buzeraks have “taken all possible action” to turn the road over to the five lot owners as originally intended.
The allegation that the road was not originally built to specifications was dismissed because the Town, if it was going to make such a claim, should have brought an action many years ago when evidence concerning the original construction of the road would have been “more evident and readily available.” Montgomery called it “fundamentally unfair” to bring such an action now.
On the question of failure to maintain, Montgomery dismissed it on the grounds that the Town has failed to establish that the Buzeraks are responsible for maintaining the road in the time since the lots were all sold in 1999. He found unpersuasive the Town’s argument that because the Buzeraks own fee title to the road they are responsible for maintenance, since the approved subdivision map says that the road is to be maintained by the owners of the five parcels.
However, he allowed that there may be some question about responsibility for maintenance, but he said it is inappropriate for this court to make a determination on that issue, since that is exactly the issue being decided by a prior action in another court.
This refers to an ongoing case in Rensselaer County Supreme Court in which the Buzeraks have sued the five lot owners to require them to take title to the road and to clarify who is responsible for maintenance. Proceedings in that case are mostly concluded, but a ruling has not yet been issued.
Although the original private dispute between the lot owners and the Buzeraks remains unresolved, the Town’s attempted intervention in the matter has come to naught.