The conflict in Oak Hill originated when homeowner Mary Rust secured a municipal permit to construct a fence dividing a historic reciprocal driveway. Mark, Nanette, and Madeleine McDonald successfully defended their easement rights in state chancery court, leading to an agreed order that removed the barrier and settled damages with the neighbor. The family nonetheless pursued federal litigation alleging the city violated their constitutional rights by sanctioning the construction. A federal judge formally dismissed those claims, holding that the municipality's permit approval did not constitute an unlawful government taking.
Key points
Private property owners successfully preserved their longstanding reciprocal driveway eas…: Private property owners successfully preserved their longstanding reciprocal driveway easement through state chancery court proceedings.
Municipalities are not liable for unlawful constitutional takings solely because they iss…: Municipalities are not liable for unlawful constitutional takings solely because they issued building permits during private property disputes.
Resolving neighbor-to-neighbor property conflicts does not guarantee legal success agains…: Resolving neighbor-to-neighbor property conflicts does not guarantee legal success against the local government entities that permitted the contested construction.
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A Tennessee family has regained access to a shared driveway after a neighbour built a fence through it, blocking their use of part of the driveway. However, their separate lawsuit against the city that approved the fence permit has ended in a defeat, with a federal judge ruling that issuing the permit did not amount to a government taking of their property.
According to the
ruling, Mark McDonald, Nanette McDonald and their daughter Madeleine McDonald own a property in the City of Oak Hill in Davidson County, Tennessee. Their daughter lives in the house, which was built in 1965. The neighbouring property belonged to Mary Rust, whose house was built in the 1950s.
Both properties had used a common driveway since the houses were built. The arrangement was based on reciprocal easements, which allowed the owners of each property to use the portion of the driveway located on the neighbouring land.
The dispute began after Rust sought to make improvements to her property. According to the family's complaint, she learnt that the city's rules for calculating plot sizes excluded land…
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A property dispute in Kirby Bellars culminated in a tribunal ruling against Dr Piers Connor and Professor Christine Pasquire, who sought adverse possession of adjacent land to ease vehicular access to a horse paddock. Judge Ewan Paton determined that their legal claim fell well short of the statutory ten-year requirement for registered property. Although the neighbours retain legal title to the contested land, the ruling leaves the physical driveway's immediate fate undetermined.