Opinion ID: 1059034
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: thomas property

Text: Thomas owns approximately 51 acres of real estate situated north of the Jones parcel and west of the Amstutz property. The Thomas tract does not abut Brightwell Road because a portion of the Jones tract lies between it and the road. However, the president of Jones acknowledged that Thomas has the right to come over [the Jones property] for ingress and egress. As with Jones, the issue is whether Thomas has an easement over that portion of Brightwell Road that traverses the Amstutz property. Thomas acquired her property in approximately 1957 as an investment. The intent was to replant the area and allow a stand of timber to grow. After the replanting, Thomas received periodic reports from a forester about the timber growth. Thomas' husband also inspected the timber about twice a year. Thomas was not aware of any access to her property except by traveling over the disputed portion of Brightwell Road. Thomas never asked permission from anyone to use the road. Starting in 1994, Charles T. Wright, a consultant forester, used the disputed road to access the Thomas property for the purpose of locating and marking the boundary lines, cruising the timber, conducting a sale of the timber, monitoring the timber harvest, and coordinating the reforestation of the Thomas property. Wright testified that, when he first traveled over the disputed road, it had several mud holes with fresh ruts in [them], indicating vehicular traffic on the roadway. There were no trees or shrubs growing in the road. Wright further stated that, during the timber harvest on the Thomas property, the road was improved and equipment used to harvest the timber traveled over the road. The logger who actually cut the timber stated that trucks loaded with logs exited the Thomas property via the disputed road. Before the Thomas timber was harvested, an agreement was entered into between Thomas and Chesapeake (the owner of the Amstutz property at that time), which granted a temporary right-of-way over the now disputed portion of Brightwell Road to State Route 612. The stated purpose of the right-of-way was to transport timber from and to reforest the Thomas property. However, Wright testified that, at the time the agreement was made, no one voiced any objection to using the road; the agreement was mainly to provide for maintenance of the road during the timber harvest on the Thomas parcel. Chesapeake's former land manager also agreed that the purpose of the agreement was for road maintenance.