Opinion ID: 2390586
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of the Gravel Lane

Text: In 1890, Isaac Strider acquired a 23-acre tract of land along the Leetown Pike. Beginning in 1893, Mr. Strider divided parts of the tract into numerous smaller residential lots for sale. Four of these lots, which now border the gravel lane at issue, were created between 1893 and 1911. Mr. Strider kept the remainder of the 23-acre tract, which also borders on the gravel lane. The four lots created by Mr. Strider are related to one another in a roughly square pattern: two lots (one of which is now the plaintiff's) border the Leetown Pike/Route 15, a public highway; the other two lots (one of which is now the defendants') are situated behind the first two, andbut for the 25-foot-wide gravel lane at issue in this case would be landlocked. The gravel lane at issue extends eastward from the Pike and separates the two northern lots from the two southern lots. The plaintiff owns the southern lot bordering the Leetown Pike; the defendants own the southern lot that is landlocked. As best we can discern from the record, Mr. Strider retained all of the land to the east of the four lots, and he used the gravel lane as one way to access the remainder of his 23-acre tract from the Leetown Pike. (See Figure 1.) [ATTACHED IN SEPARATE DOCUMENT] The first of the four lots, conveyed in 1893, is about 1½ acres in size, borders the Leetown Pike and now borders the north side of the gravel lane. The 1893 deed from Mr. Strider makes no mention of the gravel lane. The current owners of the lot, Clifford E. and Mary Belle Starliper, have lived on the lot for over 50 years and claim no ownership interest or other right in the gravel lane. The second of the four lots (about ½ acre in size) was conveyed by Mr. Strider in 1898, borders the Leetown Pike/Route 15, and borders the south side of the gravel lane. The 1898 deed makes no mention of the gravel lane. Although the lot is now owned by plaintiff O'Dell, as previously mentioned the lot was originally used by the German Baptist Brethren Church. [2] The trial testimony suggested that in the decades before 1999, churchgoers used the gravel lane at least twice a week to access a parking lot at the rear of the church. This testimony did not reveal if the use was with the permission of the owner of the gravel lane, or whether the churchgoers were trespassing. The gravel lane at issue is first mentioned in an 1899 deed by Mr. Strider conveying the third of the four lots. The third lot (about ½ acre in size) is located on the north edge of the gravel lane, and is landlocked behind the lot owned by the Starlipers. The third lot is now owned by Sidney Seibert. The plat in the 1899 deed shows a 25-foot-wide way marked as a road or driveway owned by I.H. Strider extending eastward from the Leetown Pike, passing adjacent to the first and third lots, and extending beyond to a tract of land marked as being owned by I.H. Strider. In the deed, Mr. Strider conveyed to the buyer of the third lot and her heirs and assigns forever the right to use the road for ingress and egress 25 ft. wide running from the said lot through the land of I.H. Strider to the Leetown & Charles Town road[.] Mr. Strider conveyed the fourth lotthe southern landlocked lot which is now owned by the defendantsin 1911. The plat with the 1911 deed shows that the fourth lot (about ½ acre in size) borders on the gravel lane, which is labeled in the plat as a lane to public road. While the deed apparently contains no wording creating an explicit right for the owner of the lot to use the gravel lane, [3] it appears that since 1911 all of the owners of the defendants' lot have used the gravel lane to access the Leetown Pike. In 1988, three parties with property bordering the gravel lane (the prior owners of the defendants' landlocked lot; the prior owners of Ms. Seibert's landlocked lot; and the owners of the remainder of the 23-acre tract formerly owned by Mr. Strider) signed a road maintenance agreement that was recorded with the county clerk. The plaintiff's predecessor, the German Baptist Brethren Church, did not sign the 1988 agreement. The road maintenance agreement notes that the three parties were the owners of parcels of real estate that are made accessible to [the Leetown Pike/]Route 15 by a right of way 25 feet in width[.] The parties agreed, for themselves, their heirs and assigns, that they would maintain the road surface of the 25 foot wide road and right of way in its present state of repair by sharing equally the cost of maintenance and repairs. As the current owners of one of the landlocked lots, the defendants agree that they are bound by the 1988 road maintenance agreement. Donald and Patricia Walker (who appear to now own the remainder of the 23 acres formerly owned by Mr. Strider) admit that over the years, they used the gravel lane as a means of access to their land from the Leetown Pike with construction equipment and vehicles. At some point in 2006, the Walkers subdivided the remainder of the 23-acre tract, constructed another road for access, and represented to the county planning commission that they would no longer allow access to their land by way of the gravel lane. [4] After the instant lawsuit was filed in 2008, the Walkers stopped using the gravel lane.