Unopened public street easements in Washington: Whose right to use that land is it, anyway?

This Comment argues that landowners whose property abuts unopened public st reet easements have a right to reasonable, non-interfering use of such ease ments until the city or county opens the street for its intended purpose. U nopened public street easements are dedicated streets that a city or county has not developed or used. Often, landowners use this land to store firewo od, park boats, or garden. In 1995, the City of Seattle enacted Municipal C ode section 15.02.100, which prohibits all use of unopened public street ea sements. Several Washington court decisions purportedly support the Seattle ordinance. These decisions suggest that abutting property owners have no l egal right to use unopened streets absent permission from the city. However , other Washington court decisions have held that abutting property owners have a right to reasonable, non-interfering use of unopened streets. Under these decisions, this right of use continues until the city or county uses the street for its intended purpose. Other major Washington cities follow t his rule. In 1999, the Washington Court of Appeals attempted to reconcile t he conflicting decisions but was unable to resolve the issue satisfactorily . This Comment argues that courts and municipalities have misconstrued case s purporting to prohibit all use by the abutting landowner and that an abut ting landowner may make reasonable non-interfering use of an unopened stree t easement.