LAKE PLACID -- State lawyers are looking to British law from 1830 to make their road-closure case against Jim McCulley.

Truly.

Department of Environmental Conservation attorneys claim highway laws made in England in the 19th century direct precedent in New York.

DEC spokeswoman Maureen Wren said it is not unusual for American courts to look to English law for guidance, specifically in property issues.

"Yes, we are using English common law. It can be used to guide disputes in New York and in other states, and DEC staff used it in this instance because our argument relating to abandonment is not covered in existing provisions of state highway law."

McCulley, president of Lake Placid Snowmobile Club, has driven motor vehicles on Old Mountain Road in North Elba, claiming the town never formally abandoned the road.

DEC ticketed McCulley for alleged violations in 2002 and 2005.

A three-day hearing last fall brought the long-standing dispute before an administrative law judge.

BRITISH LAW

Briefs filed this month by DEC attorney Charles E. Sullivan date public rights-of-way definitions to England, where three types of traffic were allowed on roads: foot traffic; a prime and pack way for pedestrian and horse traffic; and a carriage way for pedestrian, horse and vehicle traffic.

One use could be discontinued in Queen Victoria's era without closing the road to the others. The idea here is that while Old Mountain Road is closed to motorized traffic, it justifiably remains open to skiers, hikers and horses.

No such precedent exists in New York, according to Sullivan's brief.

ARGUMENT ABSURD'

McCulley's attorney, Matthew Norfolk of the firm Briggs, Norfolk in Lake Placid, responded with disdain.

"With only her majesty's law in hand, (DEC) staff now argues for the first time since the Old Mountain Road dispute between DEC and Mr. McCulley began in 2002 that New York state town roads or public highways consist of a bundle of various types of rights."