# Fire Lane access



## ReddHead (Feb 17, 2005)

Does anyone know anything about "fire lanes" around lakes. I have a cottage that has a fire lane next to it. Two families up the street have been using this fire lane as their own private access for 20 years. They have two rafts parked there and a dock. I know that there is no adverse possession against the state but what happens when someone else wants to use the dock? Could the dock be extended over and over to accomodate the entire neighborhood? It kind of angers me because these people don't pay the property taxes on this strip of land but take full access to the lake. I pay several thousand dollars a year for my property right which gives me 50' of access and they don't pay a cent for 10' of access. It also makes me mad that the boat basically extends over to my property and I have to shuffle my boats around to have room for all of the boats. Is there a liability if there was a fire and the fire department had difficulty accessing the lane becasue there are boats in the way? Does anyone have experience in this area? Let me know.


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## Fishfoote (Jan 2, 2001)

It's possible that they have a deeded access or cross easement with the township. The fire lane part would likely only prohibit parking on the easement. This is just a guess, but I know there's a lot of shared accesses out there.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Fishfoote said:


> It's possible that they have a deeded access or cross easement with the township. The fire lane part would likely only prohibit parking on the easement. This is just a guess, but I know there's a lot of shared accesses out there.


That's a real possibility..... I'd get in contact with the township/clerks office and find out for sure.......


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## notmuchtime (Aug 6, 2002)

I've got a cabin with "lake access" privileges, or so I thought. The "public" access is directly across the street from my cabin. During the course of investigating the feasibility of dredging the lake to expose the natural springs in the lake bottom, it was discovered that the only legal access to the lake was by the property owners that are on the lake shore. It was widely believed that everyone in the "subdivision" had access to the lake even the property owner whose lot the "public" access is located. It may be a good idea to ask a friendly neighbor to see his deed or investigate it through the county land records. Good luck.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

I agree, you need to find out just who the legal owner is and check for deed restrictions. If there is any problems it will be a civil matter.


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