Northeast Olstedt Road (some county documents and signs refer to it as a "street") is at the center of a lawsuit filed against Clark County. The suit accuses the county of not properly recognizing the country lane as a public road. (Jake Thomas/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Northeast Olstedt Road sure looks like a public road.
It’s a dirt road in unincorporated Clark County outside of La Center that’s marked with a bright yellow road sign — the type the county uses. Cars can be seen crunching along the dirt surface of the road, which is lined with trees and multiple “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs.
But a lawsuit filed earlier this month on behalf of Adams and Krupp, LLC claims that the company is unable to develop a 40-acre parcel of land the road extends into because Clark County hasn’t properly documented if the road is public or private.
“The County has not officially established the road as a public road,” reads the lawsuit, filed Jan. 13 in Clark County Superior Court. “The Road is therefore not a road of record.”
The lawsuit claims that the ambiguity surrounding the road (county signage and some documents refer to it as a “street”) has made it difficult for Adams and Krupp, a company that has scant information about it online, to sell or build on the land, which has an assessed value of $210,569. Title companies have refused to insure access to property served by the road, according to the lawsuit. Lenders worried about proof of legal access to the property have also shied away, the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, the road is used by the public and has been maintained for over seven years by the county, which granted a right-of-way permit to the previous owner of the property that’s now owned by Adams and Krupp.
Jackson, Jackson & Kurtz, Inc. PS, the Battle Ground law firm representing Adams and Krupp, declined to comment.
Jamie Howsley, a land use attorney with Jordan Ramis PC who is not involved with the case, pointed to a state law that allows a landowner to appropriate land for public use by filing a plat, a map of the property, with a county or other relevant government. If the government accepts the plat, the property becomes public.
The lawsuit includes as a supporting document the plat for the property that was filed with Clark County in 1980. Howsley called the plat “a bit ambiguous,” pointing out that some notes on the document suggest the road is private while others indicate it is public.
“It is a bit unique,” Howsley said of the lawsuit. He said he suspects that the attorney for the property owner is trying to use the lawsuit to establish the road as public because it would be easier and cheaper than seeking easements.
“I think that the lawyer is seeking the path of least resistance,” he added.
Carol Levanen, executive secretary of the rural property owners group Clark County Citizens United, wrote in an email to The Columbian that she’s never seen a lawsuit like this one. She wrote that she can see how it would create problems for title companies that can’t confirm the egress and ingress to a parcel and suspects the property owner has been in limbo.
Clark County Public Works spokesman Jeff Mize declined to comment, citing the litigation. Chris Horne, Clark County chief civil deputy prosecutor, wouldn’t comment directly on the case but said he would file an answer to the lawsuit.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
