State bill aims to resolve confusion over unaccepted roads - Brookline, Massachusetts - Brookline TAB: Turner said many private developments include agreements, or covenants, by which residents agree to abide when they buy homes. These agreements often require fees for maintenance of private streets, he said, but many covenants expire after 30 years – and along with them, the responsibility to pay road fees.
Turner said his bill would spell out that responsibility to pay for maintenance remains with property owners as long as a road remains private, regardless of a covenant’s expiration.
This would put down in law a precedent from a Massachusetts Appeals Court ruling in a 2003 case in Sandwich, Samuel v. Scorton Shores Association, Turner said. The lawmaker, who represented the homeowners association in the case, said the court found the requirement to maintain a private road lies with the landowner.
In cases where there was no covenant, Turner’s bill lays out a process by which property owners could set up an association to collect fees to maintain the road.
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This is public policy favoring the privatization of local government in formation. You benefit from the road, you pay for its upkeep with a non tax deductible fee on top of your property tax bill.
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