Right to use economic path / others' and own land

Hello

I have been following for quite some time, but this is my first post: My property I bought 10 years ago and the house has been finished for 7 years. It was a lot of work, but I am satisfied. Between my property and the neighboring property there is an access road consisting of two parcels. One parcel is 350 cm wide, the second parcel is 100 cm wide. Until recently, I assumed that only the 350 cm parcel constituted the access road and that the 100 cm belonged to the neighbor’s property. Since the neighbor built his stairs with the space underneath for the garbage bins on this parcel, I had assumed this so far. Prompted by new work, I inquired and am now wiser. I paved the access road (350 cm) so that I can drive to my garages located behind the house. I have received official permission from the municipality for these works as well as the assurance that I can access my garages via the access road. Two weeks ago, my neighbor began to repave the side access to his front door. For this, he set curbstones that rise up to 43 cm above the access road. Through these works, he has not only built over the 100 cm parcel to about 600 cm, and thus this part of the access road can no longer be used for passage. At the same time, he has also appropriated 25 cm of the second parcel (350 cm). Now the access road has actually shrunk from 450 cm to 325 cm. The 125 cm of the access as well as 100 cm of the stairs stand on the municipally owned path. I spoke to the neighbor about this, but he was not interested at all. Since I and the village already have problems with this family anyway, I am not willing to accept this appropriation of municipal land. Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can proceed?

Stefan

Hello Steven,

Basically, 3m is sufficient as a driveway, but the neighbor - unless he has made a corresponding agreement with the municipality - is not allowed to build on municipal land.

If he has acquired the 1m strip (which is possible without you knowing), he would also be allowed to use it structurally.

I would suggest asking the municipality/building authority; I think this can be clarified quickly.

Best regards Dirk Grafe

If he has acquired the 1m strip (which is possible without you being aware of it), he would also be allowed to use it structurally.

Would he still be allowed to do so if the property is explicitly designated as a path parcel without a building envelope?

Depends. A staircase is possibly only considered a subordinate component, so it does not necessarily have to comply with boundary distances or only from a certain size onwards, and it also does not necessarily have to be within the building envelope (if there is even one).

It has to be looked at in detail, but basically I consider it possible that the neighbor is acting completely correctly here. At least the situation could be resolved through acquisition if no other adjoining owner suffers restrictions as a result.

Access to garages is definitely ensured via a 3.25m wide parcel.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Hello

Both parcels definitely belong to the municipality.

Steven

Then you have to make a decision now:

Either you accept it and live with the current situation because you still have enough space to drive into your garages – or you go to the municipality and inquire about what is going on.

However, it is still possible that everything is legal, or put differently: from here, I would not necessarily come to the conclusion that the neighbor is in the wrong, even if that is the initial impression.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe