Luevano v. Maestas
| Decision Date | 06 April 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 14310,14310 |
| Citation | 1994 NMCA 51,874 P.2d 788,117 N.M. 580 |
| Parties | Marilyn LUEVANO and Charles Luevano, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Herman MAESTAS and Margaret Maestas, his wife; Kenneth Maestas; Lester C. Cannain and Carolyn S. Cannain, his wife; Larry O. Bryant and Sally A. Bryant, his wife; Daniel J. Mayfield and Teresa G. Mayfield, his wife; Nolan Dean Neff and Linda J. Neff, his wife; Kenneth Leppke and Carla B. Leppke, his wife; Eddie L. Lucero and Louise S. Lucero, his wife; Ambrosio J. Ortega and Eva P. Ortega, his wife; Robert O. Sigmund and Sheila Sigmund, his wife; Jack W. Tipps and Lutresha Tipps, his wife; Eugene Burch and Ann Burch, his wife; Albert G. Simms II, M.D., as Personal Representative of the Estate of Albert G. Simms, Deceased; Sunwest Bank of Albuquerque, as Personal Representative and Trustee for the Estates of John F. Simms Jr., Deceased, and Ruth Simms, Deceased, his wife; The following heirs of John F. Simms Jr., Deceased, and Ruth Simms, Deceased, his wife; John F. Simms III, Quita Simms Benton, Charlotte Simms, Joshua R. Simms, Thomas A. Simms, and Joseph Simms; Caballero Farms Ltd., a New Mexico Limited Partnership; The City of Albuquerque; The County of Bernalillo; and All Unknown Claimants Or Parties Who May Claim An Interest in the Use or Ownership of the Road, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of New Mexico |
Plaintiffs appeal the district court's order granting Defendants' motion for summary judgment and denying Plaintiffs' motion on a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment. Having determined there were no material issues of fact in dispute, the district court held that Defendants were entitled as a matter of law to use Los Poblanos Ranch Road (the road), which lies between property owned by Plaintiffs and property owned by Defendants in Albuquerque's north valley, on several of the theories advanced by Defendants. We affirm the district court's decision that the public acquired rights by implied dedication.
In 1941, the road was deeded to Albert G. Simms in fee simple. In 1953, he granted an easement appurtenant in the road to several neighboring landowners who lived south of the road. See Luevano v. Group One, 108 N.M. 774, 777, 779 P.2d 552, 555 (Ct.App.1989). Subsequently, Plaintiff Marilyn Luevano and her husband John (since deceased) acquired a portion of one of the tracts to which the easement was appurtenant.
The road runs east-west, leading to a dead end at an irrigation ditch at its western end and providing access to Guadalupe Trail at its eastern end. Plaintiffs' land abuts the western portion of the road. Defendant neighbors own lands located on the north side of the road. The eastern portion of the road was annexed by the City in 1986 and later paved. The western portion of the road lies in Bernalillo County.
In Luevano, this Court considered a prior attempt by Plaintiffs to determine the nature of their interest in the road. At that time, Plaintiffs sought to foreclose access to the western portion of the road by their adjoining neighbors, as well as to determine whether their neighbors north of the road were entitled to any access at all. The neighbors north of the road relied on an assignment of an interest in the easement appurtenant by two of Plaintiffs' adjoining neighbors south of the road. This Court determined that the easement was appurtenant to the land and non-assignable, and we remanded the matter to the district court for a determination of whether the defendants who lived north of the road had acquired rights by prescription or dedication. Id. at 778, 779 P.2d at 556. On remand, the district court determined that the heirs of Albert G. Simms were the owners in fee simple of the road and dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice because it lacked indispensable parties.
In 1989, Plaintiffs again brought suit in Bernalillo County district court to limit use of the road. Initially, there were three defendants, Herman L., Margaret, and Kenneth L. Maestas. Subsequently, in 1991, Plaintiffs amended their complaint to include what appears to be all of their neighbors north of the road, as well as the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, and heirs of Albert G. Simms. Shortly thereafter, Defendant heirs to Albert G. Simms accepted service, but disclaimed and abandoned any interest in the road. Several Defendants counterclaimed or cross-claimed. In ruling on the motions for summary judgment, the district court considered the following undisputed facts.
From 1967 to 1988, Plaintiffs operated Albuquerque Garage Door Sales and Service, Inc., on their property. During the same period, they advertised in the Yellow Pages that the business was located on the road, and their customers, suppliers, and employees used the road to reach the business. Plaintiffs have since moved the business to Edith Boulevard. In 1987, Plaintiffs built a fence of barbed wire and railroad ties on the north side of the road that blocked access by the landowners on that side.
The County maintained the length of the road from 1974 to 1987 by inspecting, grading, watering, and levelling it. Plaintiff Marilyn Luevano or her husband objected to this maintenance in 1987. Since then, the County has maintained the road, except for the portion that abuts Plaintiffs' property. The County Assessor lists the road as a public road, and there is no taxpayer of record for the land comprising the road. The City paved its portion of the road, installed water and sewer lines under the entire road pursuant to a public utility easement granted by the district court in Luevano, upon stipulation of the parties, and installed fire hydrants along the north side of the road. The County has placed street signs on the road and changed its name. Mail is delivered to addresses on the road.
Plaintiffs sought the following relief from the district court: (1) a bar to Defendant neighbors' use of the road for ingress and egress; (2) a declaration that the entire road is a private easement, with access limited to those who own property on the south side of the road; and (3) permission to extend the fence the full length of the road. Defendants' counterclaims or cross-claims were based on various theories, and not all Defendants made the same claims. However, Defendants joined in a single motion for summary judgment raising several theories, and the district court recognized all but one as applicable and supporting the motion.
On appeal, Plaintiffs contend the district court erred in determining that (1) the road is a public road either under NMSA 1978, Section 67-2-3 or by common law dedication; (2) the public has a public prescriptive easement to use the road; and (3) Defendants Mayfield and Maestas have private prescriptive easements to use the road to access their properties that abut the road. It is undisputed that Plaintiffs have an easement appurtenant in the road. Plaintiffs primarily contended at trial and argue on appeal that their easement appurtenant precluded recognition of an easement or other rights in the public. Although the amended complaint contained allegations that Plaintiffs' right of use had been unreasonably infringed, see Dyer v. Compere, 41 N.M. 716, 722, 73 P.2d 1356, 1360 (1937); Huff v. McClannahan, 89 N.M. 762, 765, 557 P.2d 1111, 1114 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 90 N.M. 8, 558 P.2d 620 (1976), Plaintiffs seem to have relied more heavily on a legal claim that the easement appurtenant afforded them and other landowners south of the road an exclusive right to use it. That argument is too broad, and we begin by analyzing the nature of Plaintiffs' rights in the road.
The interest created by an easement is a right of use, measured by the nature and purpose of the grant, "and, so far as [is] consistent therewith, the owner of the fee may make any reasonable use desired of the land in which the easement exists." Dyer, 41 N.M. at 720, 73 P.2d at 1359; see also Huff, 89 N.M. at 765, 557 P.2d at 1114 (). Since the owner may make reasonable use of the land in which the easement exists, he or she should be able to grant others the same right. Thus, while the fee owner might complain about use of the road by those to whom no express or implied permission has been given, the holder of an easement appurtenant ordinarily cannot complain if the owner of the fee gives others the same right.
Plaintiffs appear to concede this point regarding their adjoining neighbors south of the road. In Luevano they sought to quiet title to "the western portion of the road easement." 108 N.M. at 775, 779 P.2d at 553. One group of defendants were landowners south of the road. Id. This Court recognized an easement appurtenant to the tracts south of the road and adjoining Plaintiffs' property to the east. In this lawsuit, Plaintiffs have named as defendants only those neighbors north of the road, and thus appear to acknowledge the landowner's right to grant an...
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