Opinion ID: 1964615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Stabawl Road

Text: [¶ 25] The Superior Court found that Jordan and Duschek had an easement by necessity over the portion of Stabawl Road owned by Babcock and the Sheas. Because Duschek did not allege an easement by necessity in his complaint or make a motion to amend the pleadings to include that issue, the Superior Court properly considered the issue only if it was tried by express or implied consent pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 15(b). [6] See Inniss v. Methot Buick-Opel, Inc., 506 A.2d 212, 218 (Me.1986). Here, the easement by necessity issue was before the court on Jordan's pleading, but Jordan based his claim on a different chain of title than Duschek. [¶ 26] An easement by necessity is created only when: (1) a grantor conveys a parcel of land out of a larger, divided parcel; (2) the conveyed lot is landlocked by the grantor's surrounding land; and (3) relief in the form of an easement across the grantor's retained land is available. Shadan v. Town of Skowhegan, 1997 ME 187, ¶¶ 8-9, 700 A.2d 245, 248; Amodeo v. Francis, 681 A.2d 462, 465 (Me.1996). [¶ 27] The evidence did support the easement by necessity finding for Jordan. When Jordan's little lot was conveyed in 1948, it was landlocked by the other parcel owned by Shea, because, as established by the 1998 judgment, title to Shea's share of Stabawl Road reverted to him upon the road's discontinuance in 1946. Even if Duschek had properly asserted easement by necessity, the evidence was insufficient to establish such an easement for Duschek. There is no evidence that Duschek's parcel was created from a division of the Sheas' parcel, the land over which he is seeking an easement. The determination that Duschek possessed an easement by necessity over the Sheas' portion of Stabawl Road was therefore in error. [¶ 28] Duschek contends, in the alternative, that the evidence presented at trial established the existence of a public, prescriptive easement [7] over Stabawl Road. This argument, advanced by counsel for the first time during closing arguments, was rejected by the Superior Court because the issue of public easement was not raised in the pleadings or any pre-trial submissions. Because Duschek amended his answer in 1999 to include the adverse possession counterclaim and third-party complaint, but did not seek to advance a public prescriptive easement claim until after the close of evidence a year and a half later, we cannot find that the Superior Court abused its discretion in denying Duschek's motion to amend. See Bahre v. Liberty Group, Inc., 2000 ME 75, ¶ 7, 750 A.2d 558, 560. [¶ 29] Even if the claim was properly alleged, the Superior Court previously decided the identical issue. In 1996, Duschek and the Town of Ellsworth filed a declaratory judgment action against Kenneth Shea, among others, asking the court to declare that the Stabawl Road was a public road. In 1998, the Superior Court declared: The Stabawl Road as it traverses property within the Town of Hancock was discontinued by the Hancock County Commissioners and reverted to the adjoining owners, as their interests may appear, to the centerline of said road; no easement by prescription in favor of the public in general has been created. (Emphasis added). The failure to appeal that judgment rendered it final and binding upon the parties. The issue of whether a public prescriptive easement exists over Stabawl Road was therefore resolved by the 1998 judgment. [¶ 30] Duschek also argues that his usage of more than 20 years has established a private prescriptive easement over the Stabawl Road. There is no dispute that, until 1998, all parties used the Stabawl Road believing that it was a public way. Citing precedent extending over more than a century, we noted in Glidden v. Belden, 684 A.2d at 1317-18, that an essential element of a prescriptive easement claim is a demonstrated intention by the adverse user to claim title or a right to use property. We also held that use of a right of way under a mistaken belief that it is a town way or a public way precludes the user from asserting sufficient adversity of use to claim a right of way by prescription. Id. at 1318. See also Crosby v. Baizley, 642 A.2d 150, 153 (Me.1994); McMullen v. Dowley, 483 A.2d 698, 700 (Me.1984); Tallwood Land & Dev. Co. v. Botka, 352 A.2d 753, 756 n. 2 (Me.1976). [¶ 31] The adversity issue is treated the same in adverse possession cases and prescriptive easement cases. See Glidden, 684 A.2d at 1318 n. 20; Rollins v. Blackden, 112 Me. 459, 464-65, 92 A. 521, 525 (1914). Thus, Duschek's prescriptive easement claim fails. [8] The entry is: The judgment is vacated insofar as it reformed the easement deed in favor of Jordan and declares an easement by necessity over the Sheas' portion of the Stabawl Road in favor of Duschek. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.