Opinion ID: 1106057
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: statutory ways of necessity

Text: Section 704.01(2), Florida Statutes (2003), establishes the right to a statutory way of necessity and provides in full: STATUTORY WAY OF NECESSITY EXCLUSIVE OF COMMON-LAW RIGHT.  Based on public policy, convenience, and necessity, a statutory way of necessity exclusive of any common-law right exists when any land or portion thereof outside any municipality which is being used or desired to be used for a dwelling or dwellings or for agricultural or for timber raising or cutting or stockraising purposes shall be shut off or hemmed in by lands, fencing, or other improvements of other persons so that no practicable route of egress or ingress shall be available therefrom to the nearest practicable public or private road. The owner or tenant thereof, or anyone in their behalf, lawfully may use and maintain an easement for persons, vehicles, stock, franchised cable television service, and any utility service, including, but not limited to, water, wastewater, reclaimed water, natural gas, electricity, and telephone service, over, under, through, and upon the lands which lie between the said shut-off or hemmed-in lands and such public or private road by means of the nearest practical route, considering the use to which said lands are being put; and the use thereof, as aforesaid, shall not constitute a trespass; nor shall the party thus using the same be liable in damages for the use thereof; provided that such easement shall be used only in an orderly and proper manner. Thus, to obtain a statutory way of necessity, the landowner must establish that the land is (1) outside of a municipality, (2) being used or desired to be used for residential or agricultural purposes, and (3) shut off or hemmed in by lands, fencing, or other improvements of other persons so that no practicable route of egress or ingress shall be available therefrom to the nearest practicable public or private road. Id. [4] If these three circumstances exist, the owner of the landlocked parcel is entitled to use and maintain an easement for persons, vehicles, stock, franchised cable television service, and any utility service, ... over, under, through, and upon the lands which lie between the landlocked parcel and the public or private road by means of the nearest practical route. Id. No judicial determination is required for the landlocked owner to assert the right to a statutory way of necessity under section 704.01(2). However, the Legislature has provided for a judicial remedy when the servient landowner objects or refuses to permit the use of a statutory way of necessity. See § 704.04, Fla. Stat. (2003). [5] Section 704.04 allows a circuit court to determine entitlement to the easement; the type, extent, duration, and location of the easement; and compensation for use of the easement. When this judicial remedy is utilized, section 704.04 expressly provides that [t]he easement shall date from the time the award is paid. Id.