07/06/2021
S&F Attorneys Prevail in Extended Legal Battle over Taney County Road Closure near Arkansas State Line
In February, 2020, Keith and Sarah Box of Arkansas purchased a large 300+ acre wooded property near Branson Airport. The property had an existing gravel road that ran through the entire property, connecting US Hwy 65 access to the Blue Ridge Subdivision, where several residential homes are located on the top of a very steep hill.
Blue Ridge Subdivision originally had two access roads, an extremely steep (17%) grade on the north that had fallen into disrepair and could only be accessed by large 4-wheel vehicles; and the southern route through properties owned by the College of the Ozarks, the Boxes, the Youngblood Family Trust, and Fisher Enterprises, LLC. The North access frequently flooded and was often impassible. The Taney County Commission voted against further repairs on the road, because of the steep incline and estimated repair costs of between $350,000 and $500,000.
Promptly upon their purchase of the 300 acres, Keith and Sarah Box brought in excavation equipment and dug large trenches, and placed felled trees and barbed wire near the road’s entrance to their property, effectively shutting off all access to the ten or so families that reside in Blue Ridge Drive.
In conjunction with Fisher Enterprises, the Boxes also placed a locked gate at the access road to US Highway 65, ensuring total closure of the road at both ends.
Residents of the subdivision were then forced to leave their homes, since they could not drive to their homes without large four wheel vehicles up the side of the mountain and could not receive propane deliveries or repair the broken well that serviced the subdivision. Further, one residence burned during this time because the fire department’s water trucks could not access the subdivision from the north road, because it was extremely steep and in disrepair.
S&F’s lead counsel on the case, Russ Schenewerk, petitioned the court multiple times for a temporary restraining order. He argued that the “south road” that ran through the Boxes’ property was the only feasible means of access to the subdivision. He also argued that the residents that lived there had regularly used the south access for over 30 years.
Christian County Circuit Judge Laura Johnson entered a temporary restraining order on February 2, 2021, requiring the Boxes to fill in the large ditches, repair the road, remove the trees and barbed wire and unlock and open the gate along the 65 access road.
A lengthy trial took place on April 28, 2021 at the Christian County courthouse in Ozark, Missouri on Plaintiffs’ four count petition: 1) permanent injunction; 2) common law public road dedication; 3) public prescriptive easement and 4) private prescriptive easement.
The trial culminated nine months of hotly contested litigation. The court then took the case under advisement, keeping the temporary order opening the road in place, pending the final ruling.
On June 28, 2021, the Court issued a 20-page written opinion, finding in favor of the Plaintiffs and declaring the road to be a public road and permanently enjoined the Boxes and Fisher Enterprises from interfering with the road again in the future.
Porton et al. v Box, et al. Case No. 2046-CC00228 (Taney County Circuit Court, tried in Christian County, Missouri).
