Zissler v. Saville

240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 590, 29 Cal. App. 5th 630
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedNovember 29, 2018
Docket2d Civil No. B286043
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 590 (Zissler v. Saville) 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
Zissler v. Saville, 240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 590, 29 Cal. App. 5th 630 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

YEGAN, Acting P. J.

*634Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but legal ambiguity is not. As we shall explain, there is no objective legal ambiguity in the easement here at issue.

Patrick J. Saville, as Trustee, appeals from a judgment entered in favor of respondent James F. Zissler, as Trustee. These Montecito neighbors have a dispute over an easement. The trial court "interpreted" an ingress-egress easement burdening respondent's property for the benefit of appellant's property. The trial court ruled that the easement was ambiguous, decided the case based upon extrinsic evidence *594of historic use, and added language limiting the easement.

We reverse and remand the matter with directions to prepare a new judgment consistent with the views expressed in this opinion. Our analysis is guided by these general principles: 1. A broad grant of a right-of-way easement "will ordinarily be construed as creating a general right of way capable of use ... for all reasonable purposes." ( Laux v. Freed (1960) 53 Cal.2d 512, 525, 2 Cal.Rptr. 265, 348 P.2d 873 ( Laux ); see post , pp. 599-600.) 2. "[A] bona fide purchaser for value who acquires his interest in real property without notice of another's asserted rights in the property takes the property free of such unknown rights." ( Melendrez v. D & I Investment, Inc. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 1238, 1251, 26 Cal.Rptr.3d 413.)

Facts

The trial court's 47-page statement of decision provides a detailed factual summary. We draw upon it to explain the facts. (See Axis Surplus Ins. Co. v. Reinoso (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 181, 184, fn. 1, 145 Cal.Rptr.3d 128.)

The unpaved dirt road easement was created by a grant recorded in 1994. As Appendix A to this opinion, we attach a photo showing the location of the easement. The document granting the easement is attached as Appendix B.

*635George and Annette Corbett conveyed to Peter and Kristi Lupoli an easement "[p]roviding Grantee access, ingress and egress to vehicles and pedestrians over Grantors' real property from Green Meadows Road to Grantees' real property." The easement runs across "the most easterly portion of Grantors' real property." It is 10 feet wide and 90.46 feet long.

Respondent purchased his property from the Corbetts (the grantor) in 1999. Appellant purchased his property from the Lupolis (the grantee) in 2013. Appellant's rectangular property, which consists of about two acres, fronts onto and is accessible from Picacho Lane. (See Appendix A.) Appellant's property is hereafter referred to as the "Picacho property." The easement provides access from Green Meadows Road over respondent's one acre parcel to the back unimproved portion of the Picacho property. The main entry to the Picacho property is on Picacho Lane.

Peter Lupoli, a lawyer, drafted the document granting the easement. He told the Corbetts that the easement " 'would always be used lightly' " and "sparingly and infrequently."

When Peter Lupoli drafted the easement, he intended it " 'to be prohibitive of construction access' " and to be " 'used infrequently [by the Lupolis and their gardener] for landscape purposes.' " " '[I]t would be used in a non offensive way.' " Peter Lupoli also intended that no " 'heavy vehicles' " would be allowed on the easement. By "heavy," he meant " 'anything much bigger than a pickup truck.' " There was no showing that Peter Lupoli communicated to the Corbetts his subjective intent as to the scope of the easement. The Corbetts did not testify.

Kristi Lupoli testified that the Corbetts "kindly let us have that easement because they knew [that without the easement] it would be very difficult for us to maintain the back part of the [Picacho] property." "The easement definitely makes a difference in being able to use the back part."

Jose Lorenzo, appellant's present gardener and the Lupoli's former gardener, testified that he drove a pickup truck and on average used the easement three times per month for landscaping purposes.

Appellant is a licensed real estate broker. He testified: He paid $4.7 million for the Picacho property. He intended to develop *595it as an estate property, and the easement "was necessary to carry out his plan." Without the easement, "the property value was reduced 40%." "[T]here is no way to drive a vehicle to the rear of the property other than [on] the Easement." Before appellant purchased the Picacho property, no one said that the easement was subject to any restrictions in addition to those expressly set forth in the document granting the easement. *636Appellant originally intended to use the easement for a construction project on the Picacho property that "involves the complete demolition of the house, garage and swimming pool and the construction of significantly larger buildings and amenities. It includes very significant cut and fill." Appellant "contend[ed], based on his review of the Easement[,] that it can be used for all access, ingress and egress - within the ten feet [width] - for any purpose, whether it be construction or digging a well." "[H]e believed he had 'unrestricted['] all vehicle access and all pedestrian access via use of the Easement pursuant to a written agreement."

Darrell Becker, respondent's construction expert, opined that the proposed construction project would take from 18 to 24 months to complete and would involve 14,000 trips to the Picacho property.

Alan D. Wallace, an attorney and adjunct professor at UCLA and Loyola law schools, testified as an expert witness for appellant. He did not appear at the trial; a video of his deposition was shown. Wallace spoke "about how the [real estate] industry views things and how [respondent's] interpretation of the [easement] affects the industry." Wallace "opine[d] that to rely on historic use [of the easement] or intent [of the parties creating the easement] would wreak havoc in the industry." "It would be disastrous to have to ferret out what the grantor or grantee intended because something is not delineated in the document." Wallace agree[d] that [appellant] as a buyer and broker had a reasonable duty to investigate the Easement if there was something unclear; but since this was a standard easement, no investigation was required." The easement "is clear on its face; ...

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

Related

Romanowicz v. Starr CA1/5
California Court of Appeal, 2024
Blanco v. Cargasacchi CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2024
Smykla v. Mark CA1/2
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Perera v. Moine CA2/7
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Louderback v. Walking U Ranch CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Zilincik v. Tesla CA1/2
California Court of Appeal, 2022
Silva v. City of L.A. CA2/2
California Court of Appeal, 2022
18131 Ventura Blvd v. 5223 Lindley CA2/7
California Court of Appeal, 2021
Axline v. Reimund CA3
California Court of Appeal, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 590, 29 Cal. App. 5th 630, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zissler-v-saville-calctapp5d-2018.