Residents and New Franklin officials spar over 10-foot easement, fence and liability near park

Residents who border a small city park in New Franklin pressed the city council and administration on whether they may install a privacy fence along a 10-foot easement that runs between their backyards and the park.

Trisha Boland, a nearby resident, told the council she and her neighbors obtained an outside attorney’s written opinion that, she said, reviewed nine Ohio court decisions and concluded the easement was abandoned and now belongs to the homeowners. "I don't wanna be liable for it," Boland said about safety and criminal activity she said she fears could occur on the other side of a proposed privacy fence.

City officials told the assembled neighbors that the city's law director has reached a different conclusion. A city administrator who spoke at the meeting said, "I am convinced that that easement is still a valid easement," and said there is no record language showing the easement terminated when the adjacent school property was sold. The city administrator and other officials said the city cannot simply ignore an easement and permit placement of a fence on it without resolving the legal issue.

Why it matters: the dispute affects access to the park used by roughly 50 homes around the neighborhood, the safety and…