Vinoski v. Plummer

893 So. 2d 239, 2004 WL 1153748
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 25, 2004
Docket2002-CA-02109-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 893 So. 2d 239 (Vinoski v. Plummer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vinoski v. Plummer, 893 So. 2d 239, 2004 WL 1153748 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

893 So.2d 239 (2004)

William B. VINOSKI and Wife, Roberta N. Vinoski, Appellants,
v.
C.M. PLUMMER, Ronnie Plummer and C.M. Plummer, III, Appellees.

No. 2002-CA-02109-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 25, 2004.
Rehearing Denied October 26, 2004.
Certiorari Denied February 10, 2005.

*240 Joseph R. Meadows, Gulfport, attorney for appellants.

Floyd J. Logan, Gulfport, attorney for appellees.

Before KING, C.J., THOMAS and MYERS, JJ.

THOMAS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. The Vinoskis and Plummers are neighbors, each having received their property from a common source. The Plummers filed a complaint to obtain an easement by necessity across the Vinoskis' property. The Chancery Court of Harrison County granted the easement. Aggrieved, the Vinoskis assert the following issues on appeal:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE EASEMENT BECAUSE THE PLUMMERS HAD AN ADEQUATE REMEDY AT LAW FOR ESTABLISHING A PRIVATE RIGHT-OF-WAY PURSUANT TO MISS. CODE ANN. SECTION 65-7-201, ET SEQ.

II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE EASEMENT BECAUSE THE PLUMMERS HAD A MORE DIRECT AND REASONABLE ACCESS TO THEIR PROPERTY.

III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE EASEMENT BECAUSE AN EASEMENT OF ANY KIND ACROSS THE VINOSKIS' PROPERTY WOULD SEVERELY DAMAGE THE PROPERTY, WOULD ENCROACH ON THE HOME OR OUTBUILDINGS, WOULD DISRUPT THE VINOSKIS' PRIVACY, AND WOULD PREVENT THE VINOSKIS FROM THE PEACEFUL AND QUIET USE AND ENJOYMENT OF THEIR PROPERTY.

IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE EASEMENT BECAUSE IT WAS A TAKING OF THE VINOSKIS' PROPERTY WITHOUT JUST COMPENSATION, ALL OF WHICH IS GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION TO THE EXTENT THAT A PERSON'S PROPERTY MAY NOT BE TAKEN WITHOUT JUST COMPENSATION.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. In 1979, the Schermer family obtained a rectangular parcel of land in Harrison County which fronts 220 feet along Old Highway 49 and extended west 2,492 feet. In 1986, Sheila Schermer Casey conveyed a portion of the property to Floyd Smith. The property conveyed to Smith contained all of the frontage on Old Highway 49 and extended west approximately 460 feet. Casey retained the rest of the property at this point which was now landlocked and extended approximately 2,023 feet west of the property conveyed to Smith.

¶ 3. In 1996, Floyd Smith conveyed his portion of the property to the appellants, William and Roberta Vinoski. At the time of trial, the Vinoskis had a house and pool approximately centered on their property, and a barn slightly farther back on the south side behind the house. In 1999, *241 Casey conveyed the property that she had retained to the appellees, C.M. Plummer, Ronnie Plummer, and C.M. Plummer, III. The Plummers are builders and developers and purchased the land knowing that it was landlocked but hoped to develop it at a later date. The surrounding land is owned by James Bond.

¶ 4. On December 21, 1999, the Plummers filed a complaint to obtain an easement by necessity across the Vinoskis' property, requesting damages, costs of suit, and other relief that the court might deem proper. The Vinoskis responded, stating that the Plummers had a plain and adequate remedy at law, had a more direct and reasonable access to the property, that the taking of the easement by necessity without compensation would violate the Mississippi and United States Constitutions, and the Plummers knew that the property was landlocked when they purchased it. The Vinoskis were allowed to add the City of Gulfport as a necessary party due to a utility easement which the city had that ran across the Plummers' property.

¶ 5. The trial court dismissed the City of Gulfport after the city's attorney informed the court that the city only retained a water and sewer easement and in its opinion did not have the authority to grant a roadway-type easement to the Plummers. According to the city, it would not object to the Plummers' use of the easement as long as it did not affect its ability to maintain or install water or sewer lines, but that the actual landowner should be brought in to determine the landowner's rights in the matter. The city did not know who the landowner was, but indicated that it had initially received its utility easement from Orange Grove Utilities.

¶ 6. At trial, C.M. Plummer testified that the most direct and shortest route for access to his property would be across the Vinoski property, less than 500 feet to Old Highway 49. Plummer testified that he only wanted a temporary easement thirty feet wide in order to provide access to his property, but that he would not build a road. Although he wanted to develop the property, he understood that it would need a fifty foot right-of-way for development and that he would obtain that at a later date from another source as other property surrounding his was developed into subdivisions, which he estimated would take place in four to five years. Plummer testified that the distance from his property to the paved road over the city easement was 1,000 feet and that it was very muddy and he bogged up to his ankles when he tried to walk it. The Bond property is wooded and rough terrain and Plummer testified it would cost approximately $75,000 to $95,000 to gain access across it, and that it would be a greater distance than the access granted across the Vinoski property. Plummer also testified that a prior logging road which he referred to as more of a "trail" on the Bond property did not contact his property.

¶ 7. Roberta Vinoski testified that her property contained a series of large mature trees along the south property line, and that her gas meter and water well were within forty feet of the property line and her barn was forty feet from the line as well. Her home is forty seven feet from the northern property line. Vinoski testified that she is a real estate agent and that a thirty foot easement would destroy her privacy and diminish the value of her property by approximately forty to fifty thousand dollars as well as make the property hard to sell. Finally, a thirty foot easement would reduce her frontage on Old Highway 49 from approximately 230 feet to 200 feet. Vinoski testified that she did not want an easement across her property and that she felt there were other *242 reasonable access routes to Plummer's property, including the logging road on Bond's property, the city water and sewer easement, and other access routes across the Bond property.

¶ 8. The chancellor inspected the property and ruled the Plummers were entitled to an easement which would begin at Old Highway 49 along the south side of the Vinoskis' property. The chancellor did not grant the thirty foot easement sought by the Plummers, however, instead he granted only a twelve foot easement that weaves closely beside the shrubbery, avoiding trees, and goes between the barn and the shrubbery to the back of the Vinoski property. Since the easement goes through a fence put up by the Vinoskis, the Chancellor ruled the Plummers may install a gate consistent with the style and quality of the Vinoskis' fence. The Plummers were not given the option of removing trees except at the southwest corner where it meets their property. No damages were granted and the easement was deemed temporary and was to terminate at such time as any other road access became available.

¶ 9. The Plummers filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment requesting that the easement by necessity be increased from twelve to twenty feet wide.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
893 So. 2d 239, 2004 WL 1153748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vinoski-v-plummer-missctapp-2004.