Guam § 62112 - Public Rights of Way.

§ 62112. Public Rights of Way.

(a) The public shall have the right to pass unhindered over a

Public Right of Way. For the purposes of this Chapter, a Public

Right of Way includes (1) easements for roadways created by law

or operation of law; (2) those subdivision easements, access, or

rights of way created by delineation on approved maps, way of

formal grants or dedication of easement, access, or right of way,

regardless of formal acceptance by the government; and (3) those

rights of way mandated by the Subdivision Law within a

subdivision or lot parceling which appear on an approved final

subdivision or lot parceling map as dedicated easements,

dedicated access, rights of way, or roadways.

(b) The signature of the owner and approval of the

Department of Land Management on a final subdivision or lot

parceling map delineating an easement, access, roadway, or right

of way, thereby grants to the public the right to pass unhindered

over that public right of way.

(c) The Department of Public Works shall have oversight

responsibility for the development of public rights of way through

the Highway Encroachment permitting process. However, such

oversight responsibility notwithstanding, the Government of

Guam shall in no way be encumbered to develop this roadway.

The obligation to develop the roadway shall remain with the

subdivider as provided in § 62501 of this Chapter.

(d) A public right of way serves the public and all the

landowners whose properties abut the easement, and the

subdivider shall in no way retain special property rights that would

allow him to encroach upon, obstruct, place obstructions upon,

hinder passage over, place signs upon, or hinder maintenance of

the public right of way.

(e) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property

rights that would allow him to charge fees for passage or

otherwise, that would allow him to prohibit, and therefore,

discriminate against, any member of the public from using the

public right of way.

(f) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property

rights that would allow him to grade, change water courses upon,

or modify the topography and roadway elevation of the public

right of way without the prior written authorization from the

Department of Public Works.

(g) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property

rights that would allow him to use any portion of the public right

of way to meet set-back or other zoning requirements.

(h) In subdivisions approved since 1975 where the subdivider

has not opened, improved, or established a public access road, any

landowner whose property is served by the public right of way

may, with the express written authorization of the Department of

Public Works, take necessary and reasonable measures to make

the public right of way passable for ingress and egress to his

property. The subdivider shall in no way retain special property

rights that would allow him to obstruct the lawful development of

this public right of way.

(i) In subdivisions where the subdivider or the government

has not maintained the public right of way, any landowner whose

property is served by that right of way may take the necessary and

reasonable measures to maintain that portion of the easement that

immediately abuts his property. Reasonable maintenance is herein

defined as cutting brush, mowing vegetation, filling potholes, and

removing rocks and other obstructions to passage; it does not

include grading or otherwise changing the topography or elevation

of the roadway