Opinion ID: 901405
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Right to locate personalty within the easement:

Text: [¶ 31.] We have previously held that the owner of a servient tenement may not place a locked gate upon the easement that restricts the easement holder from traveling upon a portion of the easement intended as a right of way. Salmon, 84 SD at 506, 173 NW2d at 285. However, we have not had occasion to review the issue of a servient tenement owner's right to locate personalty on land subject to a right of way easement, but not part of the roadway itself. [¶ 32.] Only one jurisdiction, Missouri, appears to have dealt with this issue. Courts in Missouri begin by noting that the servient tenement owner retains all incidents of ownership over the easement and may use it for his or her own purposes up until the point where such use interferes with the dominant tenement owner's reasonable use of the easement. See Maasen v. Shaw, 133 SW3d 514, 520 (MoCtApp 2004). The right to store, park, plant, and construct on the non-roadway portions of the easement remain with the servient owner. Id. (citing Earth City Crescent v. Assoc's v. LAGF Assoc's-Mo., LLC, 60 SW3d 44, 46 (MoCtApp 2001); Frain v. Brda, 863 SW2d 17, 19 (MoCtApp 1993); Baum v. Glen Park Properties, 660 SW2d 723, 726-27 (MoCtApp 1983); Schroer v. Brooks, 224 SW 53, 57 (MoCtApp 1920)). The servient tenement owner's uses of non-roadway portions of the easement include parking, signage, curbing, planting or removal of trees, sod and other vegetation. Id. [¶ 33.] Thus in the present case, Zimmionds may not engage in any conduct that interferes with Picardis' right of ingress and egress to their single family residence. Therefore, no permanent structures such as fences may be placed within the roadway as it is currently configured. In addition, once Picardis elect to exercise their right under the easement to expand the roadway from its current width to its maximum allowable width of twenty-eight feet, all permanent structures within the twenty-eight foot width designated as roadway must be removed. Until that time, permanent structures are permissible in any area of the easement other than in the roadway itself. [¶ 34.] Zimmionds, as the owners in fee of the land underlying the forty-four foot easement, have the right to use those portions of the easement not intended for ingress and egress to the Picardis' residence, in any reasonable manner that does not interfere with Picardis' ability to travel upon the roadway. This includes the right to use the ditches of the current roadway, and the ditches of any future roadway, for parking, signage, fences, fence posts, curbing, planting or removal of trees, sod, or other vegetation. Therefore, personalty may be located by Zimmionds within the area designated and used as ditches adjacent to the road, as long as the personalty does not unreasonably interfere with ingress and egress. [¶ 35.] The pictures in the record (including the one attached to this opinion) indicate Zimmionds' vehicles parked in front of their garage are off the roadway as it is currently configured, and thus are permissible under the terms of the easement. However, any vehicles parked behind them in the roadway itself are not permissible as they at times preclude passage for even one vehicle, and unduly interfere with Picardis' right of ingress and egress to their property. If and when Picardis elect to expand the roadway, these vehicles as currently parked directly in front of Zimmionds' garage are permissible as long as the vehicles are located in the non-roadway portion of the easement and do not block passage along the roadway. [¶ 36.] Affirmed in part and reversed in part, and remanded for a new judgment consistent with this opinion. [¶ 37.] SABERS, KONENKAMP, ZINTER, and MEIERHENRY, Justices, concur.