A Dictionary of Important Terms
Let's clarify the meaning of key terms so we're all on the same page.
- Access: "Right of access" means the right of ingress to a highway from abutting land and egress from a highway to abutting land. (Florida Statutes 2019, Title XXVI, Chapter 334 Transportation Administration, item 20). Used in this phrase by the FDOT Permits Coordinator: "[Lot 173-3] doesn't have reasonable access except to SR 30 (US 98)."
- Adjacent: Adjacent can refer to two things that abut or touch each other or have a common boundary or edge. Used in the Walton County Land Development Code 5.04.04(D) under Access Management: "Driveway access to detached single-family residential uses shall be from an adjacent public or private street." In the case of Lot 173-3 the only adjacent road is Highway 98. Orange Street is 300 feet away.
- Compromise: The Planning Department and its Commission propose a "compromise", where each party makes concessions. The developer concedes a larger road to get a smaller private driveway. What do the 40 other owners get? A road they don't want. Reduced use and value of their properties. Because no transfer of land ownership is being suggested, they are also left holding the property tax bill and the liability for the road over their land.
- Curb cut: the Florida Department of Transportation also uses the terms connection and turnout to describe the paving that gives ingress and egress to a lot from a roadway. Curb cuts or turnouts are common along the residential lots having frontage on US Hwy 98. Used in this phrase: "For IBCI, whose lot fronts US Highway 98, a curb cut (turnout) is available for the asking."
- Driveway: A private road that leads to a house from the public road. Used by the Planning Commission at its meeting August 13: "It's going to end up being a driveway that has to look like a roadway."
- Easement: While easement and right-of-way may both look like a road or passage, they are not identical and not interchangeable. Generally, individuals grant easements in the private sector; governments grant rights-of-way in the public sector. An easement may be required "where there is no other reasonable and practicable way of egress, or ingress." Common-law provides that the landlocked owner be granted an easement for necessary access by the owner of the property being crossed. (Summarized from Florida Statutes, Title XL Real and Personal Property, Chapter 704 "Easements").
At the Planning Commission meetings, the term easement has been used quite a bit, but no one has granted an easement across their property to Lot 173-3. Where there is no grant, there is no easement. There is only a county right-of-way and its use is strictly limited. (See also Right-of-way, US Patent Deed)
- Land grab: "An aggressive taking of land in order to expand territorial holdings or broaden power." In most cases, there is no transfer of ownership and certainly no offer to purchase. (Purchasing the .4 acre needed for a road would cost the developer way more than he paid for his own .3 acre lot). Use of and control of someone else's land for free, without their consent, constitutes a land grab.
- Right-of-way: In the context of property law, it is the right to travel over someone's land and to have the reasonable use and enjoyment of their property as long as it is not inconsistent with the owner's use and enjoyment of the land. Some rights of way are for a specific use such as those stipulated by the US Patent Deed that established the lots and the rights-of-way all across Walton County. They share this stipulation: "This patent is subject to a right-of-way not exceeding 33 feet in width, for roadway and public utilities purposes." (See also US Patent Deed.)
- Roadway: "Road" means a way, open to travel by the public, including, but not limited to, a street, highway, or alley. (See Driveway for the antonym)
- US Patent Deed: "A land patent is a document of title proving that a parcel of land is no longer publicly owned but is now privately owned. A land patent from the federal government is the highest evidence of a private deed." In other words, what it says, goes. You can see an example here.
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