Union Pacific Railroad v. Seber

477 S.W.3d 424, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9568, 2015 WL 5332942
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 10, 2015
DocketNO. 14-13-01141-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 477 S.W.3d 424 (Union Pacific Railroad v. Seber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Union Pacific Railroad v. Seber, 477 S.W.3d 424, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9568, 2015 WL 5332942 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

William J. Boyce, Justice

Charles and Barbara Seber sued Union Pacific Railroad Company contending that it wrongfully removed the Sebers’ private railroad crossing. The Sebers claimed a right to use the crossing pursuant to an implied easement by prior use. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Sebers, declaring that the Sebers have a right to use the crossing and ordering Union Pacific to reinstall the crossing. [426]*426Additionally, the trial court: denied Union Pacific’s no-evidence summary judgment motion. The trial court signed a final judgment incorporating the earlier interlocutory order granting summary judgment; the final judgment also awarded the Sebers attorney’s fees based on‘a bench trial. Union Pacific appealed the trial court’s summary judgment orders and final judgment.

The Texas Supreme Court clarified the law on implied easements in Hamrick v. Ward, 446 S.W.3d 377 (Tex.2014), while this appeal was pending. Relying on Hamrick, we conclude that the Sebers cannot assert an- implied easement by pri- or use. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s final judgment based on an order granting the Sebers’ motion for summary judgment. We remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Background1

Union Pacific’s predecessor , in. interest condemned a railroad right-of-way along Hufsmith-Kuykendahl Road in 1902 along with a 1.5 acre tract of land adjoining the right-of-way, which the railroad used for a section, house. The railroad constructed a crossing over the right-of-way, which permitted access between the otherwise landlocked 1.5 acre tract and Hufsmith-Kuyk-endahl Road. The 1.5 acre tract later was severed from the right-of-way and conveyed to a number of different owners until it became part of a larger tract of land, which the Sebers now own.

The Sebers’ larger tract of land is landlocked along its northern and eastern boundaries. The property’s western boundary abuts Stuebner-Airline Road. Union Pacific’s railroad right-of-way runs along the ■ property’s . entire - southern boundary. The Sebers accessed their property from both -Stuebner-Airline Road and the railroad crossing to Hufsmith-Kuykendahl Road until 2008, when Union Pacific permanently removed the railroad crossing.2 The Sebers now access their property only from Stuebner-Airline Road.

[427]*427[[Image here]]

The parties’ dispute in this, their second appeal to this court, is whether Union Pacific violated the Sebers’ rights when it removed the railroad crossing to Hufs-mith-Kuykendahl Road in 2008. We recount the case’s procedural history in detail to clarify the parties’ contentions. We also address an intervening decision from the Supreme Court of Texas that affects, our disposition of this appeal.

I. The First Appeal

The Sebers filed suit on October 30, 2008, alleging that Union Pacific’s removal of the private railroad crossing was “wrongful, constituted a trespass, and was done in derogation of [their] vested rights.” The Sebers sought a declaratory judgment that they were entitled to use the crossing and a mandatory injunction requiring Union .Pacific to replace the crossing. Alternatively, the Sebers sought monetary damages, including exemplary damages, for.(l) inverse condemnation of their right to use the crossing; and (2) Union Pacific’s interference with their “vested property rights.”. -

Union Pacific filed a motion for traditional summary judgment and contended that (1) the Sebers had no legal right to use the crossing; (2) Union Pacific’s railroad right-of-way entitled it to exclude the Sebers; (3) the Sebers’ claims were preempted by federal law; (4) the Sebers’ trespass claim failed as a matter of law; and (5) the Sebers could not obtain exemplary damages.3

' The Sebers filed a motion for partial summary judgment contending that Union Pacific’s predecessor in interest conveyed an express easement to use the crossing to the Sebers’ predecessor in title.

The trial court signed an order on January 26, 2010, granting Union Pacific’s motion for summary judgment. The Sebers timely appealed.

On appeal, we affirmed the trial court’s (1) summary judgment in favor of Union Pacific with respect to the Sebers’ trespass [428]*428and exemplary damage claims; and (2) denial of the Sebers’ partial summary judgment motion. See Seber v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 350 S.W.3d 640, 656 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, no pet.). Additionally, we determined that the property deeds filed as summary judgment evidence did not grant the Sebers’ predecessor in title an express easement to use the railroad crossing. See id. at 647. We determined, however, that a fact issue existed as to whether the Sebers had an implied easement to use the railroad crossing. See id. at 650.

We surveyed the law on implied easements in making our decision, noting at the outset that “potentially confusing terminology pertaining to implied easements [made] it more difficult to identify, apply, and analyze the correct governing framework.” Id. at 647. We discussed two types of implied easements, which we referred to then and will refer to now as “easements by necessity” and “easements by prior use.” Id. at 647-48, 648 n. 4.

“An easement by necessity has three requirements: (1) unity of ownership of both parcels prior to separation; (2) access must be a necessity and not a mere convenience; and (3) the necessity must exist at the time of severance.” Id. at 648 (citing Koonce v. Brite Estate, 663 S.W.2d 451, 452 (Tex.1984)). On the other hand, we stated: “A party claiming an easement by prior use must prove that at the time of the severance: (1) both parcels were under unified ownership; (2) the use was apparent; (3) the use was continuous; and (4) the use was necessary to the use of the dominant estate.” Id. (citing Bickler v. Bidder, 403 S.W.2d 354, 357 (Tex.1966) and Drye v. Eagle Rock Ranch, Inc., 364 S.W.2d 196, 207 (Tex.1962)).4

“The Sebers expressly den[ied] that they claim[ed] an easement by necessity.” Id. at 649. We determined that the dispute “centered] on an easement by prior use.” Id. We then focused on the fourth element for establishing an easement by prior use—that the party claiming the easement must prove that, at the time the dominant and servient estates were severed, the “use was necessary to the use of the dominant estate.” See id. at 648-49; see also Bickler, 403 S.W.2d at 357; Drye, 364 S.W.2d at 207.

We determined that Texas law required the Sebers to show “only reasonable necessity,” rather than “strict necessity,” to establish an implied easement because the Sebers alleged an implied grant of an easement and not an implied reservation of an easement. Id. at 649 (citing Mitchell v. Castellano, 151 Tex. 56, 246 S,W.2d 163, 168 (1952) and Howell v. Estes, 71 Tex. 690,12 S.W. 62, 62-63 (1888)).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
477 S.W.3d 424, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9568, 2015 WL 5332942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/union-pacific-railroad-v-seber-texapp-2015.