By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger
Chittenden property owner John Gerlach has been found in contempt in the latest development of an ongoing legal battle with Mountain Top Resort. The May 22 decision came after Gerlach removed a rope barring access to one of the resort’s cross-country trails.
The dispute began last summer when Gerlach and his wife, Debra, relocated two of the resort’s trails that ran through their private land.
The Gerlachs purchased the property with an easement that allowed Mountain Top Resort to operate ski trails within their property lines, but also permitted the Gerlach family to move trails as long as cross-country skiers had access to similarly safe and groomed trails.
The resort’s general manager and activities director said at the time that the two modified trails were too narrow and steep to groom, limiting their cross-country skiing guests’ access and potentially hurting their business.
In October, Rutland Superior Court Judge Alexander Burke agreed with the resort in a preliminary injunction, which granted the resort permission to use the original trails and prohibited the Gerlachs from interfering with existing trails or the resort’s maintenance and safety measures.
But in February, the resort claimed in a motion to the court that the Gerlach family violated the terms of the order by obstructing safety markers and using snowmobile equipment on resort trails. The resort asserted such activities affect employees’ ability to maintain existing trails, although snowmobiles are used on other resort pathways.
During a Christmas visit to Chittenden from his primary residence in Florida, John Gerlach took down a rope the resort placed on the Sunset Trail to bar cross-country skiers entry, and used a snowmobile on trails crossing his property where such activities are not allowed by the resort.
In the May 22 decision, Burke held John Gerlach in contempt for removing the rope marking the trail closure, but disagreed that use of snowmobile equipment violated the injunction and impaired the resort’s ability to maintain trails.
John Gerlach’s son, Jake, also was found to have snowmobiled and repeatedly removed rope from a closed trail during a visit to the Chittenden property in March, but Burke did not find him in contempt, as he was not the subject of the initial injunction.
The Gerlachs were ordered not to remove the resort’s trail closure ropes and to instruct their guests to follow suit. The Gerlachs must also pay the resort’s attorney fees related to the motion requesting enforcement of the injunction and sanctions.
This is not the only legal conflict the Gerlach family has faced over trails.
The Gerlachs claimed the town of Chittenden failed to legally establish a public trail running through their 600-acre property. The previous land owners had entered an agreement in 2006 allowing a former road running through the property to be transformed into a publicly accessible hiking trail.
In a May 5 ruling, Burke denied the Gerlachs’ request for the court to rule that no past agreements properly set up the trail for public use after a similar route was discontinued in the 1800s. Burke instead granted summary judgement to the town, asserting the previous owners “unequivocally intended to dedicate the disputed trail to public use.”
A lawyer for the Gerlach family and lawyers for the town of Chittenden were not immediately available for comment Friday, June 6.
Khele Sparks, general manager of the Mountain Top Resort, said the resort could not offer comment at this stage of litigation.
