Opinion ID: 2632294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Gate

Text: [¶ 15] Landowners further contend that the language used within the easement allows them to construct and maintain a gate on the easement where the easement meets the county road. They argue that the language used within the easement that [t]he foregoing right of way is subject to the condition that said right of way shall remain a private road and shall be shared with the Grantors, and their heirs, successors and assigns ... and either Grantee or Grantors, or their heirs, successors, or assigns, shall have the right to construct and maintain a roadway over, across and along the above described easement right of way to the extent as may be deemed necessary by either party for proper access along said right of way for access to Grantors' or Grantee's land. (emphasis added) confers upon landowners this right. Again, we do not agree. [¶ 16] As we stated previously, the language used within the easement is clear and unambiguous and expresses a solitary desire to grant an easement for ingress and egress or right of way to the grantee, his heirs, successors and assigns to their land and reserves the right of the grantors, their heirs, successors, and assigns to use the easement to access their land. This language, however, does not give landowners the express right to place a gate on the easement where it meets the county road. Rather, easement owner and landowners only possess the right to construct and maintain a roadway over, across, and along the easement for proper access along that right of way. [¶ 17] As aptly recognized by landowners, this court has previously stated that the owner of an easement and the owner of the land each possess rights and each must, as far as possible, respect each other's use. Lamb v. Wyoming Game & Fish Comm'n, 985 P.2d at 437; Edgcomb, 922 P.2d at 854 (quoting Steil v. Smith, 901 P.2d at 396). Moreover, this court has stated that the rights of the easement owner and the landowner are not absolute but are so limited, each by the other, that there may be a due and reasonable enjoyment of both the easement and the servient tenement. Bard Ranch Co. v. Weber, 557 P.2d 722, 730 (Wyo.1976). Landowners confuse their reserved right to access along the easement with the right to contain their horses within their land in conducting their horse business. Simply put, the easement reserved them access and a right of way to their land as expressly described and nothing more. [¶ 18] Likewise, the language used within the easement confers upon easement owner a right of way along the easement to access his property. This is an unfettered right which is unduly affected by the placement of a gate upon the easement where it meets the county road. As recognized in WYMO Fuels, Inc. v. Edwards, 723 P.2d 1230, 1236 (Wyo.1986): We have said that the owner of the surface estate and the owner of an easement each possess rights. We have, however, accepted the proposition that the rights of the owner of the easement are paramount to the extent of the easement and include all rights incident or necessary to its proper enjoyment. The owner of the servient estate retains only such incidents of ownership as are not inconsistent with the easement. (Citations omitted.) In Weiss v. Pedersen, 933 P.2d at 500, we specifically held that the owner of the servient estate cannot impede the easement holder's use of the easement by the placement of a gate in lieu of a cattle guard. Furthermore, Van Raden, 891 P.2d at 79, stands for the proposition that an easement holder's installation of a cattle guard is not an unauthorized increase in the burden on the servient estate. Consequently, our precedent supports the conclusion that, in most cases, the easement owner has the ultimate right to decide whether gates or cattle guards will be employed on access easements. Allowing the placement of a gate on the easement where it meets the county road by landowners prohibits the access and convenient passage of easement owner along the easement as expressly granted.