§ 717.
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/vt/title-19/chapter-7/717A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
§ 717. Evidence of highway completion or discontinuance
(a)The lack of a certificate of completion of a highway shall not alone constitute conclusive evidence that a highway is not public.
(b)A town or county highway that has not been kept passable for use by the general public for motorized travel at the expense of the municipality for a period of 30 or more consecutive years following a final determination to discontinue the highway shall be presumed to have been effectively discontinued. This presumption of discontinuance may be rebutted by evidence that manifests a clear intent by the municipality or county and the public to consider or use the way as a highway. The presumption of discontinuance shall not be rebutted by evidence that shows isolated acts of maintenance, unless other evidence exists that shows a clear intent by the municipality or county to consider or use the highway as if it were a public right-of-way.
(c)A person whose sole means of access to a parcel of land or portion thereof owned by that person is by way of a town highway or unidentified corridor that is subsequently discontinued shall retain a private right-of-way over the former town highway or unidentified corridor for any necessary access to the parcel of land or portion thereof and maintenance of his or her right-of-way. (Added 1999, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. May 29, 2000; amended 2005, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)