House Bill No. 5219
Public Act No. 14-67
AN ACT CONCERNING MAINTENANCE OF PRIVATE EASEMENTS AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2014) (a) As used in this section: (1) "Residential real property" has the same meaning as provided in section 20-325c of the general statutes, but does not include property owned by the state or any political subdivision thereof; (2) "benefited property" or "property that benefits" includes residential real property burdened by an easement or right-of-way, the owner of which residential real property uses such easement or right-of-way; and (3) "easement" or "right-of-way" means a private appurtenant easement or right-of-way.
(b) The owner of any residential real property that benefits from an easement or right-of-way, the purpose of which is to provide access to such residential real property, shall be responsible for the cost of maintaining such easement or right-of-way in good repair and the cost of repairing or restoring any damaged portion of such easement or right-of-way. Such maintenance shall include, but not be limited to, the removal of snow from such easement or right-of-way.
(c) If more than one residential real property benefits from such easement or right-of-way, the cost of maintaining and repairing or restoring such easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each owner of a benefited property, pursuant to the terms of any enforceable written agreement entered into for such purpose. In the absence of such agreement, the cost of maintaining and repairing or restoring such easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each owner of a benefited property in proportion to the benefit received by each such property.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, any owner of a benefited property who directly or indirectly damages any portion of the easement or right-of-way shall be solely responsible for repairing or restoring the portion damaged by such owner.
(e) If any owner of a benefited property refuses to repair or restore a damaged portion of an easement or right-of-way in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, or fails, after a demand in writing, to pay such owner's proportion of the cost of maintaining or repairing or restoring such easement or right-of-way in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, an action for specific performance or contribution may be brought in the Superior Court against such owner by other owners of benefited properties, either jointly or severally.
(f) In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this section and an agreement described in subsection (c) of this section, the terms of the agreement shall control.