Provides that the cost of maintaining and repairing or restoring an easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each owner of a benefited property and their costs shall be determined by and commensurate with the municipal appraisal of each property.

Plain-English Summary

This bill addresses how the costs of maintaining, repairing, or restoring a private easement or right-of-way are divided among the property owners who use and benefit from it. An easement or right-of-way is a shared path, driveway, or strip of land that multiple neighboring property owners are legally allowed to use to access their properties. Currently, there may be no clear legal standard in Rhode Island for how these maintenance costs get split, which can lead to disputes between neighbors.

Under this bill, each property owner who benefits from the shared easement or right-of-way would be required to contribute to its upkeep. The specific amount each owner pays would be based on their property's assessed value as determined by their local municipality — meaning owners with higher-valued properties would pay a larger share, and those with lower-valued properties would pay a smaller share. This creates a proportional cost-sharing system tied to an existing, objective measure rather than leaving neighbors to negotiate or argue on their own.

This bill would primarily affect homeowners and property owners in Rhode Island who share private driveways, access roads, or other easements with their neighbors. It could be especially relevant in situations where one neighbor has been refusing to contribute to maintenance costs or disputes have arisen over what is a "fair" split. The bill was introduced in the House Judiciary Committee and has been recommended to be held for further study, meaning it has not yet advanced through the legislative process.