Shoen v. Zacarias

245 Cal. Rptr. 3d 683, 33 Cal. App. 5th 1112
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedApril 4, 2019
DocketB284374
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 245 Cal. Rptr. 3d 683 (Shoen v. Zacarias) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shoen v. Zacarias, 245 Cal. Rptr. 3d 683, 33 Cal. App. 5th 1112 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

HOFFSTADT, J.

*1114When a landowner grants someone permission to use her land, she generally retains the right to revoke that license at any time. ( Emerson v. Bergin (1888) 76 Cal. 197, 201, 18 P. 264.) The landowner may nevertheless be estopped from revoking that license-and the license will accordingly become irrevocable for "so long a time as the nature of it calls for"-if the person using the land has "expended money[ ] or its equivalent in labor" improving the land "in the execution of the license." ( Cooke v. Ramponi (1952) 38 Cal.2d 282, 286, 239 P.2d 638 ( Cooke ); Stoner v. Zucker (1906) 148 Cal. 516, 520, 83 P. 808 ( Stoner ).) Critically, however, the expenditure of money or labor can make a license irrevocable only if that expenditure is " 'substantial,' " "considerable" or "great." ( Richardson v. Franc (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 744, 756, 182 Cal.Rptr.3d 853 ( Richardson ); Dinsmore v. Renfroe (1924) 66 Cal.App. 207, 211-212, 225 P. 886 ( Dinsmore ); Stepp v. Williams (1921) 52 Cal.App. 237, 240, 257, 198 P. 661 ( Stepp ).) Here, we conclude that the trial court's grant of an irrevocable license was an abuse of discretion because the court construed the "substantial expenditure" requirement too permissively and used the wrong legal *1115standard in declaring the license to be forever irrevocable. For these reasons, we reverse the grant of the irrevocable license and remand for further proceedings on the private nuisance claim.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. The disputed area

Lilli Shoen (Shoen) and Juliet Zacarias (Zacarias) are neighbors whose backyards consist primarily of steep upward hillsides. At the top of Zacarias's hillside and midway up Shoen's is a flat patch of ground. The property line zigzags through this flat patch. Of this patch, 490 square feet are on Shoen's side of the line; the remainder is on Zacarias's.

Before either Shoen or Zacarias bought their parcels, someone had leveled out the flat patch, poured three concrete "meditation pads," and placed ornamental gravel on the patch. The prior owner of Zacarias's parcel had also installed steps made of railroad ties leading all the way up to the flat patch, while the prior owner of Shoen's parcel had installed railroad-tie steps leading two-thirds of the way to the flat patch but stopping about 20 to 30 feet shy of the patch.

B. Zacarias improves the flat patch while believing it was part of her property

Zacarias bought her parcel in 2003. She mistakenly believed that the entire flat patch was on her land. Over the next two years, she (1) brought in contractors to grade the patch to make it flatter, (2)

*686removed stacks of bamboo and cleared overgrown brush from the patch, (3) installed new ornamental gravel, (4) planted a low, 18-inch-tall hedge and built a foot-tall wooden fence around the perimeter of the patch, (5) populated the patch with a 10 foot-by-10 foot cloth cabana, a chaise lounge, a table and chairs, none of which is affixed to the ground and each of which remains movable, (6) installed underground electrical conduit from her house to the patch, and (7) installed sprinklers and then replaced them with a drip system in order to water the hedges on the patch. Each of these improvements was made in 2003, 2004 or the early part of 2005.

*1116C. Zacarias learns that a portion of the patch is not hers, and continues to maintain it

1. Zacarias learns she does not own the entire patch

In October 2005, the prior owner of Shoen's land did a survey of his property line and discovered that 490 square feet of the flat patch belonged to him ("the disputed area"). The prior owner shared this discovery with Zacarias, but told her she could continue to use the entire flat patch. The prior owner told Zacarias that his willingness to let her keep her furniture in the disputed area lasted only as long as he owned the property, and Zacarias understood as much.

2. The Shoen family buys the property and allows Zacarias's use of the disputed area to continue

In 2006, the Shoen family trust acquired the parcel now owned by Shoen. At that time, the prior owner disclosed Zacarias's encroachment of the flat patch. Both Shoen and her father admitted knowing that the disputed area was on their land. From that time until April 2011, and in an effort to be a "good neighbor," neither the trustees of the Shoen family trust nor Shoen (who was living on the property) told Zacarias to stop using the disputed area.

In the latter part of 2011 and the early part of 2012, Shoen acquired the property from the Shoen family trust. In a series of letters sent first by Shoen's father in April 2011, then Shoen in April 2012, then Shoen's attorney in May 2012, the authors asked Zacarias to vacate the disputed area because Shoen desired to landscape the area. Zacarias ignored all of the letters.

3. Zacarias's work on the disputed area between 2006 and 2011-2012

During the period between the Shoen family trust acquiring the disputed area and its (and Shoen's) letters asking Zacarias to stop using that area, Zacarias spent time and money to keep the entire flat patch usable. In particular, she (1) kept the trees near the patch trimmed, (2) cleared the brush on her hillside every year, (3) replaced the plants comprising the low ficus hedge when it died, (4) watered the hedges, (5) sometimes used the cabana's lighting or other electricity, and (6) re-upholstered the top of the cabana and the furniture.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
245 Cal. Rptr. 3d 683, 33 Cal. App. 5th 1112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shoen-v-zacarias-calctapp5d-2019.