Anchors v. Manter

• Decision Date: 17 June 1998
• Docket Number: No. K,K
• Citation: 714 A.2d 134
• Parties: Mark T. ANCHORS v. David L. MANTER, et al. en-97-128.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 134

714 A.2d 134

1998 ME 152

Mark T. ANCHORS v. David L. MANTER, et al.

No. Ken-97-128.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Submitted on Briefs Nov. 24, 1997.

Decided June 17, 1998.

Elliott L. Epstein, Isaacson & Raymond, Lewiston, for plaintiff.

David L. and Roberta T. Manter, Wayne, for defendants.

Before ROBERTS, and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA and SAUFLEY, JJ.

CLIFFORD, Justice.

¶1 David Manter and Roberta Manter appeal from a judgment entered in favor of Mark Anchors following a non-jury trial in the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Atwood, J.). The Manters contend that the court erred: (1) in concluding that Anchors has a right-of-way in a road known as the Woods Road as measured by Anchors's surveyor across the Manters' land, and that the right-of-way includes reasonable motor vehicle use; (2) in enjoining the Manters from interfering with Anchors's use of the right-of-way; (3) in awarding compensatory and punitive damages to Anchors for interference with the use of the right-of-way and in finding against the Manters on their counterclaim. Finding no error or abuse of discretion, we affirm the judgment.

¶2 There are four property interests located in Fayette that relate to this litigation: (1) lot B, the servient estate, owned by the Manters; (2) lot A, a small parcel contiguous to lot B; (3) an island in Hales Pond called Cook's Island, owned by Anchors that is the dominant estate appurtenant to the easement; and (4) the Woods Road, a road running across lot B from the Young Road to Hales Pond, that the court found to be the easement to the island.

¶3 Anchors's claim to a right-of-way over the Manters land stems from (1) a conveyance to Robert Ingham, the then-owner of Cook's Island, from Doris Ingham ¹ of a right-of-way across what is now known as lot B to Hales Pond; ² and (2) the reservation of that same right-of-way over lot B in a conveyance of lot B, by deed from Doris Ingham to the Manters' ultimate predecessor in title, Clifton L. Merrill. That deed reserved a right-of-way to Hales Pond in favor of the grantor to be used in common by Olive Mooney and Robert C. Ingham, their heirs and assigns. ³ The conveyance of the right-of-way to Robert Ingham and the deed to Merrill containing the reservation are both dated and were executed on April 30, 1968.

¶4 Several months before Anchors purchased the island, he and the Manters discussed relocating the right-of-way. They talked about Anchors relinquishing his rights in the right-of-way on the Woods Road and purchasing a strip of land on the edge of the Manters land for his access to the island. The negotiations broke down, however.

¶5 In the spring of 1989 Anchors discovered that the Manters had blocked his access to the right-of-way with boulders. On one occasion, David Manter, brandishing a hammer menacingly, informed him that he would now be restricted to foot access. After Anchors's attempted use of the right-of-way was again blocked in the spring or summer of 1991, when David Manter threatened to protect his property with a gun, Anchors returned with a police officer later that summer and cleared the Woods Road, which was starting to grow in. The same thing happened again in October of 1992, with Anchors having to get help from a state trooper, who called a wrecker to move a trailer the Manters had used to block the right-of-way. Again on another occasion, the right-of-way was blocked with boulders. Anchors testified that five or six times since 1989 he travelled to Hales Pond from Rhode Island, but due to the Manters conduct was unable to get to his island, and estimated his travel costs at $100 per trip. David Manter stated that he believed no one but he was entitled to drive a vehicle on the Woods Road, and that he had blocked it with boulders, trailers, wood, and other items "for the purpose of keeping anybody from going on to my property at that location and causing me further duress (sic)."

¶6 Anchors brought this action in 1994, seeking a declaratory judgment that he holds a right-of-way over lot B, for access to his island. Anchors sought injunctive relief prohibiting the Manters from interfering with the right-of-way. He also sought compensatory and punitive damages. The Manters filed a counterclaim seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages. The court concluded that the Woods Road, shown on a survey commissioned by Anchors, was an easement held in common by Anchors and the Manters, and awarded Anchors a judgment for compensatory ($400) and punitive damages ($500) caused by the Manters intentional interference with Anchors's use of the right-of-way. The court found that access by motor vehicle was a reasonable use of the easement, and enjoined the Manters from interfering with Anchors's use and maintenance of the easement for pedestrian or motor vehicle use. This appeal by the Manters followed.

I.

¶7 The Manters first contend that Anchors cannot enforce the right-of-way over lot B. The reservation of the right-of-way over lot B in favor of Robert Ingham in the deed from Doris Ingham to Merrill could not benefit Robert, the Manters argue, because the right-of-way was conveyed to Robert after the conveyance of the servient estate to Merrill. They rely on the doctrine that a reservation benefitting one not a party to the deed cannot create any interest not previously existing, and thus Anchors should not have an easement over lot B. See Fitanides v. Holman, 310 A.2d 65, 67 (Me.1973) (reservation in favor of stranger to the title will not be enforced). See also Town of Manchester v. Augusta Country Club, 477 A.2d 1124, 1130-31 (Me.1984) ("A mere reservation in favor of one not a party to the deed cannot create any right in interest not previously existing") (emphasis added); Thompson on Real Property § 60.03(a)(2)(ii) (1994) ("the conceptual problem underlying the existence of the rule was that the easement one wished to convey to a third person did not exist before the property was conveyed away...."). ⁴

¶8 The conveyance of the easement by Doris Ingham to Robert Ingham, and the deed from Doris Ingham to Merrill, in which the easement was reserved were of the same date, April 30, 1968. Although the grant to Robert contains some language that could be construed to imply that the right-of-way was conveyed after the fee simple grant ("said right-of-way having been reserved in the [deed to] ... Clifton L. Merrill under even date herewith,") (emphasis added), given that the two documents were executed and acknowledged on the same date, before the same Justice of the Peace, construing the right-of-way grant as coming first gives effect to the grantor's intention to provide a right-of-way for her son to the pond. See Friedlander v. Hiram Ricker & Sons, 485 A.2d 965, 972 (Me.1984) ("[T]he cardinal rule for the interpretation of deeds [is] the expressed intention of the parties, gathered from all parts of the instrument, giving each word its due force, and read in the light of existing conditions and circumstances."). Cf. Morrell v. Rice, 622 A.2d 1156, 1159 (Me.1993) (inferring that deeds signed on different dates were delivered simultaneously, in order to fulfill parties' reasonable intentions). We construe the deeds to give effect to the intent of the grantor to create an easement to benefit her son, and conclude that the easement created by the deed from Doris to Robert Ingham is enforceable by Anchors, Robert's successor in title.

II.

¶9 The Manters also contend that the right-of-way fails because when it was created there was no land adjacent to the easement holder's land and thus no appurtenant estate. They contend that Hales Pond (and not the island) is the dominant estate, and that Hales Pond is a Great Pond belonging to the State of Maine. Accordingly, the Manters argue that the easement could not run with or burden the land and is merely a covenant personal to Robert Ingham and thus is not assignable. We disagree.

¶10 Easements that are intended to be personal rights and do not profess to create a benefit in favor of any land are easements "in gross," terminable at the death of the individual for whom created, and not assignable. O'Neill v. Williams, 527 A.2d 322, 323 (Me.1987); see also LeMay v. Anderson, 397 A.2d 984, 987 (Me.1979) (finding an easement in gross because the retained right-of-way in the deed "speaks only in terms of a personal benefit in favor of 'the grantor and others.' "). Easements appurtenant, by contrast, are "created to benefit the dominant tenement and therefore run[ ] with the land." O'Neill, 527 A.2d at 323 (giving effect to intention of parties by holding that easement was not in gross merely because the grant did not convey to grantee and "heirs"). "The traditional rules of construction for grants or reservations of easements require that whenever possible an easement be fairly construed to be appurtenant to the land of the person for whose use the easement is created." LeMay, 397 A.2d at 987. The general rule is stated:

[I]f an easement is in its nature an appropriate and useful adjunct of the land conveyed, having in view the intention of the parties as to its use, and there is nothing to show that the parties intended it to be a mere personal right, it should be held to be an easement appurtenant and not an easement in gross. If doubt exists as to its real nature, an easement is presumed to be appurtenant and not in gross.

25 Am.Jur.2d Easements § 12 (1996) (emphasis added).

¶11 Although the right-of-way is described as running over Merrill's land (lot B) to Hales Pond, generally where "access to a body of water is sought for particular purposes beyond merely reaching the water, and where such purposes are not plainly indicated, a court may resort to extrinsic evidence...." Badger v. Hill, 404 A.2d 222, 226 (Me.1979). In this case the extrinsic evidence showing the extensive use of the right-of-way by the parties as access to Cook's Island supports the conclusion that...