Argosy Trust v. Wininger

• Decision Date: 29 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 30683.,30683.
• Citation: 114 P.3d 128,141 Idaho 570
• Parties: ARGOSY TRUST ex rel. ITS TRUSTEE, Alan Andrews, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Edward WININGER and Vicki Wininger, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

114 P.3d 128

141 Idaho 570

ARGOSY TRUST ex rel. ITS TRUSTEE, Alan Andrews, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Edward WININGER and Vicki Wininger, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 30683.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, April 2005 Term.

April 29, 2005.

Rehearing Denied June 28, 2005.

Featherston Law Firm, Sandpoint, for appellant. Brent C. Featherston argued.

Dean & Kolts, Coeur d'Alene, for respondents.

EISMANN, Justice.

This is an appeal by the owner of the dominant estate from a judgment limiting its road easement to a width of ten feet and denying its claim for timber trespass. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The defendants-respondents Edward and Vicki Wininger own a rectangular parcel of property with the long sides running in a north-south direction. The plaintiff-appellant Argosy Trust owns two parcels of real property abutting the Winingers' property. What has been called "Parcel A" abuts the northern portion of the eastern boundary of the Winingers' property, and what has been called "Parcel B" abuts both the northern boundary of the Winingers' property and the northern boundary of Parcel A.

In 1965, Ellis and Josiane Smith, who at the time owned land that included both the Winingers' property and Parcel A, granted an easement to Donald and Susan Allison, who at the time owned land that included Parcel B. The document granting the easement did not describe the location or dimensions of the easement, but simply stated that it was for "ingress and egress." When the easement was granted, there was a one-lane dirt road running diagonally in a northwesterly direction across what is now Parcel A and the northeastern corner of what is now the Winingers' property to what is now Parcel B.

Since the easement granted was appurtenant to the Allisons' property, it passed to the grantees of Parcel B. Davis v. Peacock, 133 Idaho 637, 991 P.2d 362 (1999). After acquiring Parcels A and B, the Trust decided to subdivide them. A dispute arose between the Winingers and the Trust, and on March 22, 2002, it brought this action against the Winingers seeking to establish its easement for ingress and egress and to recover damages for timber trespass. After a court trial, the district court found that the Trust had an easement ten feet in width for ingress and egress and that it had failed to prove its claim for timber trespass. The Trust then timely appealed.

II. ISSUES ON APPEAL

A. Did the district court err in determining that the width of the easement was ten feet?

B. Did the district court err in denying damages for timber trespass?

III. ANALYSIS

A trial court's findings of fact will not be set aside on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous. Camp v. East Fork Ditch Co., Ltd., 137 Idaho 850, 55 P.3d 304 (2002); IDAHO R. CIV. P. 52(a). When deciding whether findings of fact are clearly erroneous, this Court does not substitute its view of the facts for that of the trial court. Id. It is the province of the trial court to weigh conflicting evidence and to judge the credibility of witnesses. Id. On appeal, this Court examines the record to see if challenged findings of fact are supported by substantial and competent evidence. Id. Evidence is regarded as substantial if a reasonable trier of fact would accept it and rely upon it in determining whether a disputed point of fact has been proven. Id.

A. Did the District Court Err in Determining that the Width of the Easement Was Ten Feet?

The document granting the easement across the Winingers' property did not specify either the width or the location of the easement. It simply granted "the right of ingress and egress" over the property. It was a general grant of easement since it did not place any limitations on its use. McFadden v. Sein, 139 Idaho 921, 88 P.3d 740 (2004). "A grant indefinite as to width and location must impose no greater burden than is necessary." Conley v. Whittlesey, 133 Idaho 265, 270, 985 P.2d 1127, 1132 (1999). "An instrument granting an easement is to be construed in connection with the intention of the parties and circumstances in existence at the time the easement was given and carried out." Quinn v. Stone, 75 Idaho 243, 250, 270 P.2d 825, 830 (1954). That intent is a question of fact, and the trial court's findings on the issue will not be disturbed on appeal if supported by substantial and competent evidence. Conley v. Whittlesey, 133 Idaho 265, 985 P.2d 1127 (1999).

Ellis Smith's father built the single-lane dirt road in 1931 and used it for logging a portion of his property. That part of the road crossing the Winingers' property is about 200 feet in length. In 1965, when the Smiths granted the easement, the road remained eight to ten feet in width and consisted of two tracks in the dirt. The district court found that the Smiths only intended to grant an easement ten feet in width. The Argosy Trust challenges that finding on several grounds.

First, the Trust contends that the district court erred in determining the width of the easement because it did not request such relief in its complaint. The decisions of this Court require that a judgment determining the existence of an easement across the land of another must also set forth the width and location of the easement.

In Hall v. Taylor, 57 Idaho 662, 67 P.2d 901 (1937), the trial court granted the plaintiff a water right in a spring on the defendant's land and an easement to enter upon the land to repair the ditches used to convey the water and to maintain a dam sufficient to divert the water. The defendant appealed the grant of the water right, and this Court remanded the case to determine the definite flow of water from the spring. This Court then sua sponte addressed the issue of the lack of specificity regarding the easement, stating:

The decree is also too indefinite and uncertain as to the extent and character of easement awarded to the respondent for the purpose of maintaining and protecting such water right as he has acquired. The extent of the right of way or easement necessary for respondent to protect and enjoy the water right he has acquired, should be definitely and certainly fixed and described in the decree (as to location, length, and width) in order that conflicts between the land owners may be avoided.

57 Idaho at 668-69, 67 P.2d at 903 (italics in original). This Court remanded the case with directions that the trial court "find and decree, with certainty, the character, location, width, and length of easement acquired by respondent and necessary for his use." 57 Idaho at 669, 67 P.2d at 903 (italics in original).

In Kosanke v. Kopp, 74 Idaho 302, 261 P.2d 815 (1953), this Court remanded a case establishing a road easement because of the insufficiency of the trial court's description of the easement in its judgment. When doing so, this Court stated:

A judgment which affects the title or interest in real property must describe the lands specifically and with such certainty that the court's mandate in connection therewith may be executed, and such that rights and liabilities are clearly fixed and that all parties affected thereby may readily understand and comply with the requirements thereof.

74 Idaho at 307, 261 P.2d at 818. We directed the trial court to modify the judgment "by setting forth therein with precision and particularity the origin, courses, distances and destination" of each of the two roads at issue. Relying upon Kosanke v. Kopp, this Court in Sinnett v. Werelus, 83 Idaho 514, 365 P.2d 952 (1961), again remanded a case because the inadequacy of the description of an easement in the trial court's judgment. Likewise, in Palmer v. Fitzpatrick, 97 Idaho 925, 557 P.2d 203 (1976), we remanded a case for the completion of a survey of a road easement.

The above cases made it clear that any judgment determining the existence of the easement must also specify its width. By bringing this action seeking a judgment establishing the easement, the Argosy Trust also placed at issue the width of the easement. That was an issue properly determined by the district court.

Next, the Argosy Trust contends that the district court used the wrong legal standard when determining the width of the easement. It contends that the width of the easement should be what "is reasonably necessary for that general access...