Opinion ID: 2601750
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the gate issue

Text: On remand the superior court entered an order addressing the particulars of the roadway easement. At the outset the court noted that the scope of the easement was in dispute and had to be determined because it had not been considered during the trial. The court then ruled as follows: All parties seem to agree that the existing road is a 30 foot gravel road. The widening and graveling of the road benefitted all of the users of the road including both the dominant and servient estates. The Court finds that the improvement of the road was a part of the normal development of the dominant estate. Although widened and improved, the road continued to be a private road and was never a public road. Based on these facts, this Court finds that Williams is entitled to an implied easement over the disputed road. The easement is limited to 30 feet in width. The easement shall be maintained in its current nature, i.e. a gravel road. Williams is not entitled to more intensive use than he now has. Both Williams and Fagnani have a joint obligation to contribute jointly to the costs reasonably incurred for repair and maintenance of the road. Because the road is a private road Fagnani is entitled to post signs and to maintain a gated entrance with locks with combinations that allows Williams' access but prevents use by the general public to create a right of way. Williams moved for reconsideration of this order. He argued that when he purchased the landlocked property there was no gate on the roadway. He argued further that no justification for a gate existed because Fagnani's house is reached from a different driveway, the property crossed by the roadway is not fenced, and no buildings or personal property of value are accessible from the roadway. Williams also argued that he and his wife are seriously inconvenienced by the gate, noting that they are in their late fifties and Mrs. Williams has a bad knee. He described problems regarding the location of the gate as follows: The approach of the subject road to Hollywood Road is up a steep embankment slope. After their entry onto Hollywood Road, the Williams must cross two lanes before they would be able to stop. There is no pull out and a very limited shoulder on which they may stop. One must exercise great care traveling down Hollywood Road. Frequently people travel the road at speeds of over 50 miles per hour. To open and close the gate, it will be necessary to stop some fifty feet from the gate, walk up the steep slope, open the gate, walk back down the road, drive through the gate, stop on an arterial road and walk back across the road to shut and lock the gate. This creates a significant safety hazard. The gate provides no security for any property owned by Mr. Fagnani. It only serves to inconvenience the Williams.[ [2] ] Fagnani opposed Williams's motion for reconsideration. He argued that any burden imposed on Williams's use of the roadway by the gate was justified by the need to prevent others, primarily owners of neighboring homesteads, from using the roadway: the Kutils, Boyd Connolly and even Williams have not yet internalized the distinction that `this [road] is a private place....' A padlocked gate on Fagnani's private road is the only way to convey to the Kutils, Boyd Connolly and the general public this simple fact. (First alteration in original.) (Citation omitted.) In addition, Fagnani minimized the inconvenience that the gate would cause Williams: With full access to the combination on the lock of the gate, the sole burden he faces is getting out of his vehicle, remembering the combination of the lock, opening the gate and driving through. Williams makes unsupported claims that stopping and opening the gate will expose him to `danger.' Fagnani also observed that Williams uses the property primarily as a recreational home and lives in Anchorage full time. [3] The superior court denied Williams's motion for reconsideration in an order that provided: The easement established is not a general public easement. Testimony at trial established that members of the public did and would use the easement although it is private. A gate as currently established does not impose an unreasonable burden on the Williams' right of passage. In accordance with this ruling, the court entered a final judgment granting Williams a thirty-foot easement across Fagnani's property, requiring Williams and Fagnani to mutually share the cost of maintaining the easement, and allowing Fagnani to maintain a locked gate. On appeal the parties largely repeat the arguments they presented to the superior court. Williams contends that the gate unreasonably restricts his use of the easement while providing no significant benefit to Fagnani. [4] Fagnani argues that the gate is a minor burden on Williams's use and is justified by Fagnani's interest in preventing trespassers from using the easement. The purpose of the implied roadway easement was to provide normal vehicular access to Williams's property. [5] Fagnani, as the owner of the servient estate, is entitled to make any use of the easement that does not unreasonably interfere with this purpose. [6] The Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes, section 4.9, provides: Except as limited by the terms of the servitude ..., the holder of the servient estate is entitled to make any use of the servient estate that does not unreasonably interfere with enjoyment of the servitude. The commentary to section 4.9 of the Restatement makes clear that section 4.9 serves as an aid to determining the intent or expectations of the parties in creating a servitude. [7] The commentary goes on to explain: Actions that make it more difficult to use an easement, that interfere with the ability to maintain and repair improvements built for its enjoyment, or that increase the risks attendant on exercise of rights created by the easement are prohibited ... unless justified by needs of the servient estate. In determining whether the holder of the servient estate has unreasonably interfered with exercise of an easement, the interests of the parties must be balanced to strike a reasonable accommodation that maximizes overall utility to the extent consistent with effectuating the purpose of the easement....[ [8] ] There are numerous cases from other jurisdictions involving questions of whether a servient easement owner can erect and maintain a closed or locked gate across a roadway easement. [9] A treatise has summarized the general rules that can be derived from the case law concerning gating an easement: Absent an express arrangement for an open way, courts generally permit a landowner to maintain an unlocked gate if such structure is necessary for the enjoyment of the servient estate. For example, use of the burdened land to raise cattle or for other agricultural purposes might be significantly hindered without appropriate gates to prevent passage of animals or trespassers. On the other hand, courts are likely to find that a gate that serves no purpose concerning the use of the burdened land is an unreasonable obstruction of an easement.[ [10] ] The right of a servient owner to erect locked gates presents an additional issue. Generally, courts hold that a locked gate constitutes an unreasonable interference with the use of the easement, even though the dominant owner is furnished a key. A locked gate, notwithstanding the presentation of a key, curtails the dominant owner's use by restricting deliveries and social visits.... Each situation, however, is governed by its particular set of facts, and courts have permitted locked gates when such gates were necessary for the servient owner to make reasonable use of the servient land.[ [11] ] As indicated by this summary, courts have recognized that gates, especially locked gates, amount to a significant burden on a rural homeowner's right of access. [12] Every time a homeowner drives from or to his home he must stop, exit his vehicle and open the gate, get back in his vehicle, drive through, stop and exit again to close the gate, and then get back in his vehicle and drive on. [13] In the ice and darkness of an Alaska winter these multiple operations can be especially trying. Further, a gate may bar or deter guests, visitors, delivery and service providers, and emergency vehicles from reaching a home served by a roadway easement. [14] For these reasons, gates must serve a substantial benefit to the servient land if they are to be maintained across a roadway to a home. [15] Typical examples of benefits found sufficient are to prevent livestock from straying, to prevent valuable property from being stolen or vandalized (usually in light of a history of such conduct), or to protect personal safety. [16] Even where reasons of substance justify maintaining a gate, they may be outweighed by the inconvenience suffered by the owner of the dominant estate. [17] In cases where there are reasons of substance on both sides, trial courts must weigh the benefits of a gate to the owner of the servient estate against the detriments to the owner of the dominant estate. [18] And sometimes a weighing process results in allowing gating only during periods when the need is most strongly justified. [19] The record on appeal is insufficient for us to determine whether the superior court struck an appropriate balance in permitting Fagnani to maintain a closed and locked gate across the roadway easement. At oral argument Williams's counsel stated that the house served by the easement is the Williamses' regular residence. Although this was not then contradicted by Fagnani's counsel, an unverified assertion filed by Fagnani in opposition to Williams's motion for reconsideration is contradictory. [20] Likewise, absent from the record on appeal is factual support for the particular burdens said to result from the physical circumstances regarding the location of the gate and the Williamses' infirmities. Williams's assertion that no property of value on the servient estate is protected by the gate is similarly not supported by record citations. Further, the superior court made no findings concerning any of these factual allegations. Accordingly this case must be remanded to the superior court. The court should make findings as to the facts that are relevant to the balance that must be struck to determine whether the gate constitutes an unreasonable interference with Williams's use of the roadway easement. When the court finds the relevant facts it should then determine whether the gate is an unreasonable interference in light of the facts and the principles of law expressed in this opinion.