South Avenue Special Meeting

This morning a special meeting of Oriental's Parks and Recreation Board met at the intersection of Avenue A and South Avenue. According to my sources, some assertions were made that may not be entirely factual, and questions raised to which the answers are available.

For those curious about background details, I recommend a search in this blog site for "South Avenue." I have made a lot of posts, in considerable detail, over the past three years. One post, that shows the survey of the intersection by Dennis Fornes, is worth taking a look at: http://mile181.blogspot.com/2010/06/south-avenue-street-end.html

The pink wedge shows where the pavement curved around to the left from South Avenue. There has been discussion since winning the case, that the town would have to tear up the pavement and return the wedge to the owner of the corner lot.

It ain't necessarily so. So far as I have been able to tell, that curve has existed since at least 1936 and probably from as far back as the 1920's. The public has been using that curve in the road as a right of way all that time. That is more than sufficient time to establish the curve as town right of way by prescription.

The town can certainly abandon that portion of right of way, following a public hearing, just as it can abandon rights of way established by other methods. But there must be a hearing.

More on this set of issues later.