<p>This is a wild one. I know there will be lots of opinions! </p>
<p>We’ve lived in our house, on a private cul-de-sac, for 21 years. Every 10 years or so, the private road needs to be repaved. The five neighbors get together, discuss what to do, and share the cost. Our cost is the least because we only use about 10 yards of the road; our driveway is first.</p>
<p>About a year and a half ago, someone bought the little tiny house at the top of the cul-de-sac, tore it down, and built a McMansion. They have been lovely people – they’ve sent notes warning us of the impending noise, giving us their phone number in case there was a problem with their builder, and when they finally moved in, they gave us a plant as a thank-you. They are very very nice people.</p>
<p>One of the things they had done when building the house was to have the city water pipes extended from the main road to their house, under the private cul-de-sac. (Previously, their land only had a well, and that can be a pain.) Consequently, the road had to be torn up so the pipes could be laid. The road was unpaved for the better part of a year, because they wanted to finish the construction on the house before they had it paved. It was a bit of a pain, but since we only use about 10 yards of the road, not too bad for us.</p>
<p>About a month ago, they had the road repaved. Tonight, they sent us a bill for “our” share – $1,100!!! This was the absolute first time that it was ever suggested that we contribute to the cost of the repaving. They wanted the city water, they arranged to have the pipes laid, and they decided who would repave the road. </p>
<p>What should we do??? There is a DH and a DW in my house who are really peeved at this turn of events.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay it. I’d talk to the other neighbors, and jointly send the new neighbors a polite note explaining that due to the longterm practice for making decisions about paving the private road, we would not be contributing to a repaving that hadn’t been jointly decided in advance.</p>
<p>If the other neighbors wouldn’t agree to jointly send such a letter, I’d send my own. $1,100 is a lot of money, and I wouldn’t pay for a road decision that I had no part in making.</p>
<p>Most municipalities require a bond to be posted for private excavation work on public streets. I would imagine that in a private road scenario, there is some sort of covenant that dictates/stipulates ownership rights and responsibilities. The road may be “private”, but in that case is still owned by an entity, either the homeowners in equal or proportionate part, or a homeowners association. </p>
<p>I’d begin by determining who exactly owns the road.</p>
<p>Ouch. I would discuss it with the other neighbors first. Then I would send a polite letter from the group of you pointing out that normal paving and upkeep of the road is shared by all occupants but that as the road was torn up and repaved solely to install new pipes for their house it is not considered normal upkeep. Also point out that any work done on the road needs to be discussed and agreed upon in advance by all homeowners.</p>
<p>We live on a private road also. If we decided to have the roads torn up for some reason then presented a bill for the repairs to the neighbors I think we would be completely out of luck. We have a homeowners association with a board and those sort of decisions go through them. The head of it a feisty old lay - she would put me in my place real quick if I sent her a bill like that!</p>
This one’s easy - they tore it up, they get to fix it - don’t pay! I’d try to find some agreement with this conclusion amongst the neighbors - probably not hard to do.</p>
<p>VH, we are have a similar lot. First house on a dead end road. Land literally belongs to county but county refuses to maintain it. Road was a gravelled and after a few years, W is tired of the dust. I got a bid for the paving, and approached the neighbors. Most of the neighbors agreed in the contribution of their share but then one neighbor renigged and one property owner we never were able to contact because it was undeveloped and apparently owned by a group of siblings. I absorbed the cost of these two shares and the costs above the bid. I figured that having 9 nice neighbors was better to have than 9 unhappy neighbors and of which 2 are deadbeats.</p>
<p>When I was on the our water association board, We imposed a new hookup charge with a maximum hookup distance from the main. Anything beyond that distance was to be borne by the water shareowner. We of course did not turn on the water until all conection costs and fees were paid. </p>
<p>BTW: Famous words: If you tear it up, You repair it. Thus them who instigated the work, for their sole benefit, assumes the cost.</p>
<p>This is a little off topic, but I’m surprised you’ve been able to get away with only paying a small share of the paving - based on where the house is. I would think that everyone would pay equally and not base it on where you live in the cul de sac since everyone benefits from having new pavement. I could be completely off base on that though since I have no experience in what is usually done. As to the current situation, how close were you to the time that the pavement would have to be done anyway?</p>
<p>I have a bit of a different take. Was the road at the point where you and your neighbors would have been arranging to re-pave it? If so, I’d probably get together and discuss it with everyone involved and see if all of you can come to some agreement. You said that the new neighbors have been considerate, are very nice people, etc. and if you’re all going to be neighbors for any length of time, I would think that trying to solve this issue amicably would be the better way to go. How much do you think your share would be had you and the others have arranged it yourselves? How much less than $1100? Personally, I don’t understand why it isn’t shared equally.</p>
<p>I don’t know if they tore the road up on year 1, year 2, or year 10. You still need to live with your neighbors, so perhaps you should settle, by paying “your fair share” according to the portion of road you use. Perhaps they should also be told how it has been taken care of in the past.</p>
<p>Just read that some people think the road repavement should be paid for equally regardless of where the driveway is. Lets say the road is a mile long, would you still feel that way? In a cul-de-sac the homeowners who are all the way back have all the advantages of less traffic, more privacy, and a generally more desirable plot of land. Why should a guy on the corner pay an equal share to a guy who lives at the end of the road?</p>
<p>I think it’s important to know whether they tore the road up on year 1, 5 or 10. If it was year 1, the neighbors just paid for the repaving for what they thought would be the next 10 years. If it was year 9 or 10, it was close to the time when the neighbors would have to pay for repaving. Another issue is how well was the road repaved? Whenever the city wants to lay down new pipes (there are plenty of old pipes in the city), it just digs a trench then patches thing up, so the road looks like a crazy quilt. I would not want to pay $1,100 for that low quality work.
Assuming, though, that the road was well repaved, I still think timing should be factored in. As well, will the new owners want to do more work on their house that will affect the rest of the neighborhood? In that case they should be told what procedures should be followed and that springing a bill on neighbors is not the way to go. Yes, VH has to live with new neighbors, but the new neighbors have to live with the old timers, too.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay it…particularly since it sounds like more than you have been paying in the past. </p>
<p>I had a somewhat similar experience. During a bad storm a tree from my yard fell between my house and my neighbors. I was unaware of it. The neighbor had the tree cut down and did not contact me first at all. </p>
<p>They then had their landscaper send me a bill. </p>
<p>First, the guy had a landscaping license, not a tree work license. Second, I was not given an estimate and did not approve the work. I declined the bill and told the landscaper to go the person who directed him to do the work for payment. </p>
<p>I am a contractor by trade and a pretty tough lady by nature…</p>
<p>If the neighbors had come to everyone first and discussed the cost/gotten approval it would be one thing. To have no discussion and then present you with the bill? No way no how.</p>
<p>The exceptions: Repaving vs repairing are different issues. Perhaps the cost of repairing was assumed by the new people and the extra cost to repave was apportioned amongst the others? You need to hear the new owner’s reasons before starting a range war. </p>
<p>As the first owner on the street, we felt that we got the most benefit of the road paving because we got a quieter road and no dust. The last owner may feel he benefits the most because he doesn’t have to contend with a dusty drive and only has to pay a small portion relative relative to his use.</p>
<p>I have the impression that if you have lived in your home for 21 years- it has to be done every 10 years- that it has been done at least twice? Possibly as recently as right before the new neighbors moved in less than two years ago?
So if it was just done two years ago, then you may have had 8 more years before it would have to be redone?</p>
<p>( because oil is so expensive- asphalt is getting more expensive- may not be a great time to redo.)</p>
<p>The residents of your street, have already had to deal with living with an unpaved road for most of a year, because of the new couples project.</p>
<p>To ask people to pay for something after the fact that they didn’t request, is not , very very nice.
It is rude & presumptous for a couple who obviously aren’t shy about spending money, to ask their new neighbors to chip in .</p>
<p>If they had held a meeting, let neighbors know what they planned, solicited bids for the project and voted on what contractor to use- that would have been different- but I fear, that if the neighbors cave on this, they are setting a precedent for who knows what?</p>
<p>I don’t see why you should pay. They tore up the road for their own purpose and thus are responsible for returning it to its original state. Someone needs to politely point that simple fact out to them. </p>
<p>If you wanted to tear up a public street for your own private building project you would generally have to pay for the costs of returning the street to its original state (not the taxpayers) and the same principle applies here with their building project. </p>
<p>I would point out though that given that it’s a private road it’s probably smart to actually formalize this agreement regarding paying for repaving. That agreement should include provisions for what happens in this sort of situation (namely that if you tear up the road for your own project then you need to put it back to the original state). As you’ve just found out, when someone new moves in they may have different ideas and it’s a lot easier to show them a formal bit of paper showing how things are done vs just knocking on their door saying (well here’s what me and the old neighbors used to do).</p>
<p>I don’t know what the legal take is on the situation, and I suggest that your neighbors and you find out exactly what it is so you are not caught by surprise if by chance, you are responsible. It would also be a good thing to find out if legally the new neighbors are responsible for this undertaking.</p>
<p>Once the legal aspect of all of this is clarified, all of you on the cul de sac should discuss the situation and try to come to agreement on what should be done. The new folks should be apprised what the procedure has been for the repair of the road so that they understand how things have been done. I would also throw out the suggestion that some pro rate of the cost be offered to the the new folks since your road now does not have to be paved for another 10 years.</p>