Key v. Stefanis

• Decision Date: 10 May 2018
• Docket Number: 523782
• Parties: Jonathan KEY et al., Respondents, v. Achilles K. STEFANIS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

161 A.D.3d 1315

77 N.Y.S.3d 551

Jonathan KEY et al., Respondents,

v.Achilles K. STEFANIS, Appellant.

523782

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Calendar Date: March 27, 2018

Decided and Entered: May 10, 2018

Achilles K. Stefanis, Ulster Park, appellant pro se.

Peter F. Matera, West Park, for respondents.

Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Devine, Clark and Mulvey, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Devine, J.

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court (Connolly, J.), entered December 28, 2015 in Ulster County, upon a decision of the court in favor of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs access their property in the Town of Esopus, Ulster County via a driveway that runs across the adjacent property of defendant. A dispute over plaintiffs' use of the driveway led to the commencement of this action for, among other things, a declaration that they have a right-of-way over defendant's property. The parties eventually entered into a stipulation of settlement, placed on the record in open court, in which defendant agreed to grant an easement in favor of plaintiffs over a portion of the driveway. The parties anticipated that they would be able to prepare the necessary order that "clearly delineate[d] the scope and the direction of the easement," but agreed that Supreme Court would be empowered to issue "an appropriate order" in that regard if they could not do so.

The parties were unable to agree on a description of the easement. Supreme Court conducted a hearing on the issue and thereafter issued an order granting an easement and describing it in detail. Defendant appeals, and we now affirm.

Defendant contends that the absence of a material term in the stipulation—namely, a description of the easement—rendered it an unenforceable agreement to agree. The requirement of certainty in a contract is not a rigid one, however, and the stipulation will be enforceable if "sufficiently definite in its material terms so as to enable a court ‘to determine what in fact the parties have agreed to’ " ( Samonek v. Pratt, 112 A.D.3d 1044, 1045, 976 N.Y.S.2d 324 [2013], quoting Matter of 166 Mamaroneck Ave. Corp. v. 151 E. Post Rd. Corp., 78 N.Y.2d 88, 91, 571 N.Y.S.2d 686, 575 N.E.2d 104 [1991] ; see Carr v. Sheehan, 148 A.D.3d 1618, 1619, 51 N.Y.S.3d 293 [2017] ). In that regard, defendant agreed to grant an easement over a "northern branch" of the driveway that ran across his property. The pertinent portion of the driveway "[w]as depicted upon" a survey map submitted into evidence at trial and, while the map did not define the scope of the driveway, the parties anticipated being able to agree on a precise description. The parties also agreed that Supreme Court would create the description if they could not. Supreme Court then conducted a colloquy with counsel for the parties to clarify their understanding of the stipulation, during which they confirmed that the easement should be described using "the extent of the current driveway." These terms authorized Supreme Court to define the easement in the event of a dispute and, by tying the easement to the driveway as it existed on a given date, supplied "an objective method" with which to do so ( Matter of 166 Mamaroneck Ave. Corp. v. 151 E. Post Rd. Corp., 78 N.Y.2d at 91, 571 N.Y.S.2d 686, 575 N.E.2d 104 ; see Carr v. Sheehan, 148 A.D.3d at 1619...