Galvin v. Gaffney
| Decision Date | 09 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 3:95CV1081(WWE).,CIV. 3:95CV1081(WWE). |
| Parties | James P. GALVIN and Kathleen M. Galvin v. Elizabeth GAFFNEY. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
Robert Joseph Piscitelli, Kantor, Mickelson & Meyers, Avon, Robert G. Skelton, New Haven, CT, for James P. Galvin, Kathleen M. Galvin, plaintiffs.
Donald A. Mitchell, Law Firm of Donald A. Mitchell, Danbury, CT, for Elizabeth Gaffney, defendant.
RULING
On June 8, 1995, James P. Galvin and Kathleen M. Galvin, the owners of property in New Milford, filed a complaint to prevent defendant's interference with plaintiffs' lawful use of an easement, and seeking confirmation of their right to install utility lines across defendant's property to serve their residence. By agreement of the parties,1 a trial on the merits was bifurcated, with the first stage limited to determining the existence and scope of an easement by deed.2
This ruling addresses issues previously reserved for the second stage of this litigation. The questions before the Court are whether an easement created in the 1802 deed from Buck to Phelps, and later extinguished upon unity of ownership of the dominant and servient estates in 1810, was newly created by implication or necessity upon the severance of the servient and dominant estates in 1826, or created by prescription during the intervening years since. If so, the Court must decide the scope of that easement.
Evidence was heard on January 7 and 9, 1998; James Galvin testified for the plaintiffs and Attorney Peter Ruvuolo, a title searcher, for the defendant. Proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law3 were filed on February 20 and final argument was held on April 27, 1998.
Testimony and evidence adduced at the hearing are summarized below as necessary to explain the Court's findings and conclusions.
Based on the credible testimony, the exhibits, and the entire record compiled during the first stage of the litigation and the hearings on January 7 and 9, 1998, the Court finds the following facts established which are relevant to this ruling.
1. James and Kathleen Galvin reside at 178 Indian Trail Road, New Milford, Connecticut. [Compl. 1].
2. Defendant Elizabeth Gaffney resides at 440-60 Elbertson Street, Elmhurst, New York. [Compl. 2, Answ. 2].
3. Mrs. Gaffney is the owner of the "servient estate" created when Samuel Buck conveyed a portion of his land, including the "passway" parcel, to Luke Hallock in 1802. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 23].
4. Defendant acquired her interest in the servient estate on September 7, 1945, by virtue of two deeds, one from the Estate of McGraw and the other from Nathan McGraw. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 24].
5. All of the land referred to in this case was originally part of the "Northpurchase," land purchased from the native inhabitants of the New Milford area and sold and confirmed by the committees of Hartford and Windsor to the proprietors of the tract by an act of the governor and company of the colony of Connecticut on October 2, 1731 and by act of the General Court on October 18, 1731. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 3, Doc. # 62 ¶ 1].
6. The original proprietors then laid out the Northpurchase into a series of "lots," with "highways" designated in the plan so that each of the lots had access to the planned public road system. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 2].
7. The proprietors thereafter sold these lots to private individuals by reference to the "layout" and to the "highways." [Doc. # 62 ¶ 3].
8. The 57th lot, as created by the proprietors, was conveyed to one Daniel Nobel, being described in the conveyance as The highway on the north boundary of the 57th lot is referred to as the "ten rod highway." [Doc. # 62 ¶ 4].
9. All of the parcels of land involved in this action were once part of the 57th lot. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 5].
10. Prior to February 15, 1802, Samuel Beebe Buck owned an irregularly shaped piece of land situated in the 57th lot of the Northpurchase in the Town of New Milford. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 4, Doc. # 59 at 1, Doc. # 62 ¶ 7].
11. Buck's land was entirely surrounded by land of other private landowners, except for a portion 6 rods wide and 32 rods long which abutted a road (now Indian Trail Road) to the south, and which provided access to the remainder of Buck's property. This 6 × 32 rod portion is referred to as the "passway". [Doc. # 46 ¶ 5, Doc. # 59 at 1, Doc. # 62 ¶ 8].
12. On February 15, 1802, Samuel Buck deeded to Luke Hallock a part of Samuel's property located on Indian Trail Road. (This was the western portion of his land, including the passway, now owned by the defendant.) [Doc. # 46 ¶ 6, Doc. # 59 at 1, Doc. # 62 ¶ 9].
13. The deed specifically provided that Buck "reserve to myself and heirs ... the right of passing occasionally to and from other lands ..." (hereinafter "passway rights"). [Doc. # 46 ¶ 7, Doc. # 59 at 2, Doc. # 62 ¶ 10].
14. Buck's "other lands" consisted of approximately 25 acres of land adjacent to the piece that he sold to Luke Hallock, now the Galvin estate. These "other lands" were landlocked, except for the passway rights reserved by Buck. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 8, Doc. # 59 ¶ 5, Doc. # 62 ¶ 11].
15. The passway rights reserved by Samuel Buck were appurtenant to the land that Buck retained because, without them, Buck had no access to the public road system. His retained property was bounded entirely by other private property owners. Therefore, the reservation was necessary to maintain the value of his retained land. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 9, Doc. # 59 at 2].
16. On that same day, February 15, 1802, Buck conveyed his "other lands" (Galvin Estate) by quit claim deed to William Phelps. The deed included "... a privilege of passing south to and from the highway in the old passway so called." [Doc. # 46 ¶ 10, Doc. # 59 at 2, Doc. # 62 ¶ 12].
17. At the time of the Buck conveyance to Phelps, Phelps already owned a parcel of land between Buck's land [the Galvin estate] and the "Ten Rod Highway" to its north. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 11, Doc. 59 at 3, Doc. # 62 ¶ 13].
18. As a result of the conveyance from Buck, Phelps owned a parcel of land that bounded to its north the "Ten Rod Highway", as laid out by the proprietors of the Northpurchase. Phelps had direct access from the dominant/Galvin estate to the land designated by the original proprietors as the "Ten Rod Highway." [Doc. # 62 ¶¶ 14, 15].
19. The "Ten Rod Highway" referred to in various deeds was never built; it was only a "paper" highway, the property for which had been sold off to private land owners before 1802. [Doc. # 46 ¶ 12, Doc. # 59 at 3].
20. The northern portion of the plaintiffs' property, described as Ten Rod Highway on the Hart Map, has never been used as a roadway. [Doc. # 59 at 3; Ex. 24].
21. The property to the east and west of plaintiffs' property along the northern boundary identified as Ten Rod Highway yields no physical evidence that it has ever been used as a roadway, has a steep grade and is impassable by automobile. [Doc. # 59 at 3].
22. The passway, originally created when Samuel, James and Asaph Buck split their holdings, would not have been necessary if Ten Rod Highway were an actual access route to the property retained by James and Asaph. [Doc. # 59 at 4, 3/29/96 Tr. at 79-82].
23. When Asaph Buck and James Buck split their holdings prior to 1802, Asaph retained a right to pass over the passway, which right would not have been necessary had Ten Rod Highway been an actual access route to Asaph's retained property. [Doc. # 59 at 4].
24. Portions of Ten Rod Highway had been conveyed by the Town of New Milford to private landowners prior to 1802. [Doc. # 59 at 4-5].
25. In 1815, the Town of New Milford conveyed a portion of Ten Rod Highway to Joseph and Amos Hallock, part of which became incorporated in plaintiffs' property. [Doc. # 59 at 5].
26. The two-rod wide strip created in the 1802 Buck to Phelps deed was carved out specifically to connect the plaintiffs' property to the passway. [Doc. # 59 at 5].
27. The 1826 severance deed between Joseph and Amos Hallock references the two-rod strip which is now part of the plaintiffs' parcel. [Doc. # 59 at 5].
28. The two-rod strip connects to the six-rod passway. [Doc. # 59 at 5].
29. The two-rod strip retained by Joseph and Amos Hallock in the 1826 severance deed provides the dominant/Galvin estate with access to the passway and thereby to Indian Trail Road. [Doc. # 59 at 5].
30. On April 27, 1805, Luke Hallock conveyed all of his interest in the land that he received from Samuel Buck to Joseph D. and Amos Hallock, including the "passway" parcel (the servient/Gaffney estate). [Doc. # 62 ¶ 18].
31. On March 5, 1810, William Phelps conveyed all of his interest in the land that he received from Samuel Buck (the Galvin estate), along with his interest in the adjacent piece of land to the north that he had acquired from Elijah Stone, to Joseph D. and Amos Hallock. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 19].
32. In 1824, Amos Hallock quit claimed his interest in the land that he and Joseph D. Hallock received from Luke Hallock, including the passway piece, to Joseph D. Hallock, with all appurtenances thereof. The land so conveyed included the original Buck-to-Hallock land and other lands. [Doc. # 62 ¶ 20].
33. In 1824, Joseph D. and Amos Hallock conveyed a portion of their property known as the "Buck Swamp Parcel" to Jessie Hallock, giving Jessie Hallock the "privilege of passing and repassing" over the passway to the highway. (Ex. 6). This was the same passway referred to in the 1802 deed from Buck to Phelps. [Doc. # 59 at 6].
34. At the time of the 1824 transfer, Jessie Hallock owned adjacent property with access to a...
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