Ryder v. Petrea

In this declaratory judgment suit, an owner of two subdivision lots claims an interest in an abutting 50-foot right-of-way shown on the recorded subdivision plat. The subdivider’s successor in title successfully argued in the trial court that the lot owner had no such right because his lots also abut a public road.

In June 1949, Hattie Townes recorded a 24-lot “Plat of Subdivision” of a portion of her property that fronted on the north side of Route 620 in Spotsylvania County. A right-of-way shown on the plat extends in a generally northern direction from Route 620 and abuts the west side of…