Francini v. Goodspeed Airport, LLC

• Decision Date: 02 January 2018
• Docket Number: SC 19705
• Citation: 327 Conn. 431,174 A.3d 779
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: William FRANCINI v. GOODSPEED AIRPORT, LLC, et al.

327 Conn. 431

174 A.3d 779

William FRANCINI

v.GOODSPEED AIRPORT, LLC, et al.

SC 19705

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued September 18, 2017

Officially released January 2, 2018

Mary Mintel Miller, with whom was John R. Bashaw, for the appellant (named defendant).

William Francini, self-represented, the appellee (plaintiff).

Rogers, C.J., and Palmer, Eveleigh, McDonald, Robinson, D'Auria and Espinosa, Js.

EVELEIGH, J.

In this certified appeal, we are tasked with determining whether easements by necessity can be granted for commercial utilities. More specifically, we consider whether an easement that affords ingress and egress to an abutting property can later be expanded, by necessity, for utilities. The plaintiff, William Francini, commenced the present action seeking, inter alia, a judgment declaring that he is entitled to an easement by necessity for underground utility lines across the property of the named defendant, Goodspeed Airport, LLC, and an injunction permitting use of the easement.¹ The defendant appeals from the judgment of the Appellate Court, which reversed trial court's award of summary judgment in favor of the defendant. We affirm the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The Appellate Court's opinion and the record contain the following facts and procedural history. "The following facts, as alleged by the plaintiff and admitted by the defendant, are not in dispute for the purpose of this motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff owns a parcel of land in East Haddam. The parcel's only access to a public highway is over an abutting property, owned by the defendant. [Both properties were originally part of a single parcel of land, subsequently divided into many parcels for residential use and conveyed through a series of transfers over the years to various individuals or entities.] The defendant took title to its property by warranty deed in 1999, subject to a right-of-way easement now enjoyed by the plaintiff as well as several of the plaintiff's neighbors, landowners who also own land abutting the defendant's property. The 1999 warranty deed expressly described the right-of-way, in general terms and without limitations on its use, by providing for ‘[s]uch rights as others may have to a [right-of-way] over a passway or driveway as set forth in a deed from [the property's prior owner], dated August 16, 1963 and recorded in ... the East Haddam [l]and [r]ecords ....'²

"In 2001, the defendant entered into an agreement with several of the plaintiff's neighbors, who also share the plaintiff's right-of-way across the defendant's property, to allow the neighbors to improve the right-of-way by installing and maintaining a utility distribution system under the existing right-of-way easement. As a result, a commercial utility system was constructed under the existing right-of-way and now provides electricity to the plaintiff's neighbors. In exchange for this utility easement, each of the plaintiff's neighbors paid the defendant $7500. The plaintiff offered to pay the defendant the same $7500 that his neighbors had paid for use of the utility easement, but the defendant requested that the plaintiff not only pay the $7500, but also grant it the power to move the location of the easement at will. The plaintiff declined the additional terms and the two parties never reached an agreement. Without an agreement, the plaintiff does not enjoy an easement for commercial utilities and his property is currently landlocked from access to commercial electricity. Currently, the plaintiff's house is powered by a generator, but the generator is alleged to be insufficient to run and maintain the basic requirements of the plaintiff's house such as powering security devices, turning on automatically in the event of a flood, and running a refrigerator to preserve perishable food without constant operation of the generator." (Footnote added.) Francini v. Goodspeed Airport, LLC , 164 Conn. App. 279, 281–82, 134 A.3d 1278 (2016).

In 2012, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint seeking a judgment declaring the existence of an easement by necessity for commercial utilities across the defendant's property and seeking an injunction requiring the defendant to permit use of that easement.³ The defendant, in response, filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that, although Connecticut law permits easements by necessity for ingress and egress to landlocked parcels, it does not permit similar easements for commercial utilities. The trial court granted the defendant's motion, and the plaintiff appealed to the Appellate Court. The Appellate Court determined that, although there was no precedent in this state favoring the grant of an easement by necessity for commercial utilities, the prior language of this court regarding easements by necessity, multiple treatises on the subject, and precedent from other jurisdictions throughout the country support expanding the scope of easements by necessity to include commercial utilities. Id., at 284–93, 134 A.3d 1278. The Appellate Court remanded the case to the trial court to deny the motion for summary judgment and for further proceedings. Id., at 296, 134 A.3d 1278. In reaching this conclusion, the Appellate Court did not specify the appropriate test to be used by the trial court to determine whether an easement by necessity existed. Instead, the Appellate Court concluded that easements by necessity for utilities are permissible, generally, and that "the facts as alleged by the plaintiff, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and undeveloped by any evidence, prevent the defendant from prevailing on its motion [for summary judgment]." Id. This appeal followed.⁴

We begin with the standard of review. "The standard of review of a trial court's decision granting summary judgment is well established. Practice Book § 17–49 provides that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.... The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and that the party is, therefore, entitled to judgment as a matter of law.... Our review of the trial court's decision to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment is plenary.... On appeal, we must determine whether the legal conclusions reached by the trial court are legally and logically correct and whether they find support in the facts set out in the memorandum of decision of the trial court." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) St. Pierre v. Plainfield , 326 Conn. 420, 426, 165 A.3d 148 (2017). Although the scope of an easement is normally a question of fact; Deane v. Kahn , 317 Conn. 157, 166, 116 A.3d 259 (2015) ; the issue raised in the present case is whether an easement by necessity can be granted for commercial utilities, a question of law over which our review is plenary. See id., at 175, 116 A.3d 259.

In the context of easements by necessity for access to a landlocked parcel, this court's precedent directs us to engage in a three-pronged analysis, considering (1) the cost of obtaining enjoyment from, or access to, the property by means of the easement in relation to the cost of other substitutes, (2) the intent of the parties concerning the use of the property at the time of severance, and (3) the beneficial enjoyment the parties can obtain from their respective properties with and without the easement. See id., at 181–82, 116 A.3d 259 ; Hollywyle Assn., Inc. v. Hollister , 164 Conn. 389, 398–99, 324 A.2d 247 (1973) ; Marshall v. Martin , 107 Conn. 32, 38, 139 A. 348 (1927) ; Robinson v. Clapp , 65 Conn. 365, 385, 32 A. 939 (1895) ; Collins v. Prentice , 15 Conn. 39, 44 (1842).

In the present case, however, the plaintiff is not seeking an easement by necessity for physical access for the purpose of ingress and egress to his property, but an easement by necessity for utility access along that preexisting right-of-way. Although this court has never directly addressed this question, it has recognized the broader principle that an easement by necessity may arise from a reasonable, but not strict, necessity. See Hollywyle Assn., Inc. v. Hollister , supra, 164 Conn. at 399, 324 A.2d 247.

Consistent with this broad principle, scholarly treatises generally agree that the scope of an easement by necessity includes those uses that are for the beneficial enjoyment of the property. See J. Bruce & J. Ely, Law of Easements and Licenses in Land (2017) § 8:7, p. 8–32; R. Powell, Real Property (M. Wolf ed., 2017) §§ 34.07 and 34.13, pp. 34–45 and 34–149; G. Thompson, Real Property (J. Grimes ed., 1980) § 336, pp. 419–23; 25 Am. Jur. 2d 688, Easements and Licenses § 18 (2014).⁵

This view is consistent with the Restatement (Third) of Property, Servitudes, which provides: "A conveyance that would otherwise deprive the land conveyed to the grantee, or land retained by the grantor, of rights necessary to reasonable enjoyment of the land implies the creation of a servitude granting or reserving such rights, unless the language or circumstances of the conveyance clearly indicate that the parties intended to deprive the property of those rights." (Emphasis added.)

1 Restatement (Third) Property, Servitudes § 2.15, p. 202 (2000). The commentary to this section discusses the policy rationales for easements by necessity, specifically, promoting the effective use of land and giving effect to the presumed intent of the parties. Id., comment (a), pp. 203–204. The commentary further observes that the rights necessary for the enjoyment of property are normally related to access to the property; however, it further provides: "a servitude will be implied to do whatever is reasonably necessary for the...