I was wondering when someone was going to bring up the easment issue. I'm not an attorney (thank heaven) but I seem to remember from my real estate licence course that there are different kinds of easements. In past times easments were recognised for usage of land without written documentation if it could be shown that the property was continuously used for a specific purpose.
Example; A farmer had been herding his livestock over a particular route to a stream to water them for a certain amount of time, a new owner of the property they had been crossing sought to deny them the access across his land to reach the water. The courts granted the farmer an easment to continue.
I wonder how long these people had unrestricted access to the lake and if that might be a route to follow for them.
I've been screaming about easements and eminent domain condemnation ALL THREAD!! :o)