Tarr v. Delsener

70 A.D.3d 774, 895 N.Y.S.2d 168
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedFebruary 9, 2010
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 70 A.D.3d 774 (Tarr v. Delsener) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tarr v. Delsener, 70 A.D.3d 774, 895 N.Y.S.2d 168 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

In an action, inter alia, pursuant to REAPL article 15 to compel the determination of claims to real property, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Baisley, Jr., J.), dated February 3, 2004, as granted those branches of the motion of the defendant Ellin Delsener which were for summary judgment dismissing so much of the complaint as sought certain injunctive relief and damages based on obstructions on, in, and along a 10-foot-wide right-of-way running across the property of that defendant and, in effect, declaring that an express easement that was established along the 10-foot-wide right-of-way pursuant to a deed dated April 22, 1955, benefits only that portion of its real property that was formerly designated as tax lot 16, that no easement was created by prescription over the 10-foot-wide right-of-way benefitting those portions of its property other than the portion formerly designated as tax lot 16, that the express easement does not extend an additional two feet on either side of the 10-foot-wide right-of-way, that it does not have the right to use the easement for vehicular traffic or for ingress to and egress from a public thoroughfare known as Middle Lane, that the defendant Ellin Delsener has the right to maintain obstacles on, in, and along the easement which may interfere with its usage of the easement, including a wooden split rail fence and speed bumps installed by that defendant, that it does not have the right to use the easement in the same manner and to the same extent that it did before the defendant Ellin [775]*775Delsener erected the wooden split rail fence, that the terms of the easement are not binding upon that defendant, and that the defendant Ellin Delsener is entitled to maintain a fence immediately outside the perimeter of the easement, and, sua sponte, directed the dismissal, as academic, of the complaint insofar as asserted against the defendant Berkley Bowen, and the defendant Ellin Delsener cross-appeals, as limited by her brief, from so much of the same order as denied that branch of her motion which was for summary judgment on her first and third counterclaims and for certain injunctive relief.

Ordered that on the Court’s own motion, the notice of appeal from so much of the order as, sua sponte, directed the dismissal, as academic, of the complaint insofar as asserted against the defendant Berkley Bowen is deemed to be an application for leave to appeal from that portion of the order, and leave to appeal is granted (see CPLR 5701 [c]); and it is further,

Ordered that the order is modified, on the law, (1) by deleting the provision thereof granting those branches of the motion of the defendant Ellin Delsener which were for summary judgment dismissing so much of the complaint as sought injunctive relief and damages based on any fencing or speed bumps erected within the 10-foot-wide easement running across the property of that defendant, and substituting therefor a provision denying that branch of the motion, (2) by deleting the provisions thereof granting those branches of the motion of the defendant Ellin Delsener which were for summary judgment, in effect, declaring that the express easement that was established along the 10-foot-wide right-of-way pursuant to a deed dated April 22, 1955, benefits only that portion of the plaintiffs real property that was formerly designated as tax lot 16, that no easement was created by prescription over the 10-foot-wide right-of-way benefitting those portions of the plaintiffs property other than the portion formerly designated as tax lot 16, that the plaintiff does not have the right to use the easement for vehicular traffic or for ingress to and egress from Middle Lane, that the defendant Ellin Delsener has the right to maintain obstacles on, in, or along the easement that may interfere with the plaintiffs usage of the easement, including the wooden split rail fence and speed bumps installed by that defendant, that the plaintiff does not have the right to use the easement in the same manner and to the same extent that it did before the defendant Ellin Delsener erected the wooden split rail fence, and that the terms of the easement are not binding upon that defendant, and substituting therefor provisions denying those branches of the motion, and (3) by deleting the provision thereof which, sua sponte, directed [776]*776the dismissal, as academic, of the complaint insofar as asserted against the defendant Berkley Bowen; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for further proceedings and the entry thereafter of a judgment, inter alia, declaring that the defendant Ellin Delsener is entitled to maintain a fence immediately outside the perimeter of the 10-foot-wide easement and that the express easement established pursuant to the deed dated April 22, 1955, does not extend an additional 2 feet on either side of the deeded 10-foot-wide right-of-way.

The plaintiff owns real property benefitted by an easement, created by a grant contained in a deed dated April 22, 1955 (hereinafter the deed), which provides ingress to and egress from its property via a public thoroughfare known as Middle Lane in the Village of East Hampton. The easement is described in the deed as a “perpetual right-of-way,” allowing passage “along a private roadway 10 feet wide.” Consequently, a 10-foot-wide easement runs through property owned by the defendant Ellin Delsener. Pursuant to a separate deed, a 10-foot-wide easement also runs through adjacent property formerly owned by the defendant Berkley Bowen. In September 2000 the plaintiff began construction of a pool house and swimming pool on the southern portion of its property. During construction, large commercial trucks and other vehicles, rather than following the deeded right-of-way, traversed the northwestern corner of Delsener’s parcel of property and proceeded straight toward the southern portion of the plaintiff’s parcel of property. In September 2001 Delsener installed a wooden split rail fence that roughly followed the metes and bounds description of the deeded right-of-way, blocking the straight roadway created by the construction vehicles. Delsener also installed speed bumps within the deeded right-of-way.

The plaintiff subsequently commenced this action alleging, inter alia, that it is the owner of real property benefitted by a prescriptive'easement, which provides it with an additional two feet of land on either side of the deeded 10-foot right-of-way. The plaintiff additionally sought a judgment declaring, among other things, that Delsener did not have the right to maintain obstacles on, in, or along the deeded right-of-way which interfered in its use of the easement, including the split rail fence and speed bumps, and, in effect, that the 10-foot-wide right-of-way provided an easement that benefitted not only that portion of its property formerly designated as tax lot 16 (hereinafter Lot 16), but also, either expressly or by prescription, [777]*777benefitted the remainder of its property as well. The plaintiff also demanded certain injunctive relief and damages. Delsener counterclaimed, inter alia, for a judgment declaring that the plaintiff was entitled to use the subject easement only for ingress to and egress from Lot 16, and for an injunction barring the plaintiff from using the easement for the benefit of any other portion of its property.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 A.D.3d 774, 895 N.Y.S.2d 168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tarr-v-delsener-nyappdiv-2010.