Charter

In the County of Colusa, there is a little, narrow road known as Hahn Road, which runs three miles from Cortina School Road to Highway Interstate 5. It is not of yellow brick but in the words of Colusa County’s director of public works, is “an old, worn-out 15-or-16 foot wide asphalt surface with dirt shoulders. . . .” This is the story of how the little, narrow road tried to grow and become a big, wide road.

Hahn Road was established in 1874 when the mode of transportation was literally horse power. The used part of the roadway remained essentially the same width and contour for 112 years. In 1986, however, the County of Colusa (County) wanted to make Hahn Road into a big, wide road and especially wanted to do so with state funding. To qualify for such funding, County must certify “it possesses adequate width of right-of-way to construct the new facility.” The right-of-way required for the project is 80 feet. County then filed suit seeking a declaration it owned an 80-foot right-of-way along the 3 miles of Hahn Road. Defendants, some of whom are descendants of the original owners when Hahn Road came into being, are the contiguous landowners along Hahn Road. They…