I’m sure a lawyer can clarify this, but aren’t there laws that say if you allow someone to use a portion of your property that after a certain point 7 years or so it becomes an easement or a right-of-way?
It may come to a point in time where it’s your property in terms of maintenance and taxes but they can use it. Even if it doesn’t matter to you, it may be an issue if you ever want to sell the property.
I know that was an issue for some home owners when somebody bought the property we rode our horses across and built houses on it. They couldn’t block our access to the state park and as long as we stayed on the trails or roads they couldn’t stop us from coming through.
I need a sarcasm smiley. There was an attempt to shame the OP in the same breath as a warning against retaliation…that just rankles. If these are the kind of people whose grief is lessened by erecting a cross, they will understand why the new owners don’t wish to be haunted by the spector of tragedy. If they are the type to vandalize the new owner’s property or trash their good name, they don’t deserve the extra consideration. “You’ve got to leave the creek cross because Jesus!!” Nonsense. Cemeteries exist for a reason. Private property belongs to the owner, who has the right to change, improve and protect their own interests.
Remove it within the next couple days, preferably within a few hours of the storm.
All signs indicate these are kind hearted people mourning loved ones. There is no reason to believe they wouldn’t sympathize with the new owner’s attempt to start fresh and protect their investment.
Yes, I meant to mention that earlier as well, so they do need to check on that, though I suspect they still have a fair bit of time on their hand.
I think many people here are missing the point. Sure it IS the OP’s land and the cross most likely needs to go in a property rights sense. Caution about the cross land being a creek and possibly being public and DEP permits blah blah blah.
The bigger issue here is what SHOULD the OP actually do and how to go about it.
Sure. My town might have a noise ordinance. This is America and free speach and all that shit too. Doesn’t mean that at 11:05 that it would be wise for me to tell the newly moved in next door Hell’s Angel to shut the fuck up and call it a night if they are bothering me with noise one night.
Some people seem to love moving out into the boonies. My theory is because they no longer have to tolerate all the random assholes who don’t give a shit about you because, hey, you are random, they are random, you two will likely never meet again…blah blah blah.
Yeah, move to the boonies and that is true. It is ALSO true you are NO LONGER RANDOM. Do something that the locals don’t like and you’ll get labeled an asshole and nobody will forget it. Thats a hard hole to dig yourself back out of.
Tread lightly IMO.
Or do WTF you want…I need some good internet Stephen King stuff to keep me entertained this winter.
I dunno. I’d leave it. I’m definitely not religious, but I do appreciate good folksie popular shrine installations, no matter how tacky. I think the authentic tackiness actually makes it more appealing to me. If it makes you feel better, think of it as something like those 16th century stations-of-the cross installations in Germany or something. And those of you judging the correct way and place for the family to mourn, it’s really their decision how they’d like to do that.
(a cyclist was killed in my town recently and a ghost bike memorial has been put up at the corner where he was hit; wonder how long it is allowed to stay there).
I like those ghost bikes, they’re obviously commemorating a sad thing so like is not really the right word, but they have a strange beauty to them and think they make excellent memorials and warnings to other road users.
I never question anyone’s way to grieve so putting the memorial there may have made sense at the time but now it is infringing on your enjoyment of your property. You may suggest that because of the damage from being in water, that the community move the memorial to a more appropriate place. By the side of the road or the cemetary or whatnot.
I think the bottom line is if you suggest the middle of a creek 75’ from the road is not the best place for this memorial and you get blowback from it, well it was just a matter of time before you piss of the neighbors about something.
So - am I the only one who is wondering why it would be so hard to approach the neighbors first? Considering the storm that’s coming our way next week - wouldn’t you want to have them friendly and watching out for you rather than pissed off at you and waiting for a chance for payback???
Have you thought of looking up the clergy who did the funerals and have a chat with them about it? It seems to me that they may have some tie to the family and may be able to help you with either contacting the family for you or helping you contact them.
It’s not a question of acceptability. It’s an acknowledgement of reality. She’s moved to a rural community where she’s the outsider, and if she doesn’t want everyone in town pissed at her, she has to act diplomatically and deal with this situation carefully.
The fact that I agree with you that it’s wrong for anyone to insist that this godawful monument remain there, doesn’t change the likelihood that the locals will surely be mad at Renee if she removes the monument precipitously, and it could ruin her prospects of having good relations with her new neighbors. Being in the right won’t make it less likely that she’d be bringing a shitstorm down on herself.
IANAL, but the phrase you’re looking for is “adverse possession,” and the time required to establish rights under adverse possession varies widely from state to state. IIRC, it can be as few as 3 and as long as 30 years, depending on jurisdiction. In Maine, it appears to be 20 years.
I’d buy a game cam and set it up on a nearby tree. Then you’ll know for sure if anyone is visiting it. If not, chop it down with an axe and blame it on the beavers if anyone complains.
Don’t tell stupid, transparent lies about insurance. For one thing, you’ll look so much worse if they discover the truth.
I’d be direct about it. I’d post a notice at the cross announcing my intention to remove it and asking anyone with an interest in it to contact me in regard to what they wanted to do with the objects from the installation. I’d date it and give them 90 days notice to contact me before it was taken down, and I’d leave the notice up beyond that point if I hadn’t heard from them before it was removed. If they called I’d tell them I have every sympathy for the tragedy their family suffered but that I found it distressing to be continually reminded of it by the presence of the cross, and that this was my home not a cemetery or memorial park or other venue suitable for this kind of monument. I’d tell them that I never would have agreed to its installation if I’d been consulted and that I don’t think private property is an appropriate place for a memorial even if by happenstance it’s where the tragedy occurred. I’d suggest they contact the local cemetery about moving it there if they still wanted it in a place they could visit.
My name may end up being synonymous with Hitler in the local parlance, but I firmly believe in clear, direct communication and honesty.
