Opinion ID: 2320694
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Utility and Drainage Easements

Text: [¶ 14] In Anchors v. Manter, 1998 ME 152, ¶ 10, 714 A.2d 134, 138, we stated that easements in gross are [e]asements that are intended to be personal rights and do not profess to create a benefit in favor of any land. Conversely, appurtenant easements are created to benefit [a] dominant tenement and therefore run with the land. Id. (internal citations and quotations omitted). See also Stickney v. City of Saco, 2001 ME 69, ¶¶ 31-32, 770 A.2d 592, 605; O'Donovan v. McIntosh, 1999 ME 71, ¶¶ 7, 10, 728 A.2d 681, 683-84. Whenever possible an easement should be fairly construed to be appurtenant to the land of the person for whose use the easement is created. Stickney, 2001 ME 69, ¶ 33, 770 A.2d at 605; Anchors, 1998 ME 152, ¶ 10, 714 A.2d at 138; O'Neill v. Williams, 527 A.2d 322, 323 (Me.1987).
[¶ 15] The Superior Court held that the utility easement was in gross, because there is no dominant tenement. As noted above, an easement in gross does not benefit any dominant tenement. In this case, the record indicates that the utility easement was expressly reserved to ALC in the relevant deeds. It has not yet been used and appears to serve no purpose for the Coulthard Farms subdivision, but instead appears to serve as a way to transport utility services to adjacent property. Therefore, the utility easement does not benefit Coulthard Farms as the dominant tenement. The utility easement is in gross and personal to ALC. [¶ 16] The lot owners argue that the utility easement was created to benefit Coulthard Farms by furthering the development and sale of the lots within the subdivision. In the alternative, they argue that the utility easement benefits ALC in its ownership of Lot 1. There is no evidence that the unused utility easement either benefitted or would now benefit the sale and development of Coulthard Farms. To the contrary, the utility easement was reserved to ALC, with ALC granting a right of use to the developer of an adjacent subdivision. The utility easement may be used to benefit Wiley Farms, because it was reserved and retained by ALC for its own use. Therefore, we affirm the Superior Court's ruling that ALC may exercise its use of the utility easement over Lots 5 and 6 to benefit Wiley Farms.
[¶ 17] Easements are presumed to be appurtenant if there is a dominant tenement and there is nothing to show that the parties intended the easement to be personal. See Anchors, 1998 ME 152, ¶ 10, 714 A.2d at 138. Unlike the utility easement, the dominant tenement with respect to the drainage easement is Coulthard Farms. The drainage easement benefits many lots in Coulthard Farms via the swales that create a controlled pathway for surface water runoff through the development. In the absence of these swales, the lots in Coulthard Farms may become eroded or flooded with surface waters. Paragraph five of the restrictive covenant within the deeds to Coulthard Farms provides support for the view that the drainage easement benefits the Coulthard subdivision: 5. Surface Water. No owner of a lot, his agents or employees shall alter the natural course of surface water on any lot in a way which would materially alter the natural flow of such water across any other lot unless such alteration is approved by the owners of all lots affected. This provision shall not be construed to prevent the proper improvements or maintenance of drainage easements shown on said plan. [¶ 18] The reference to the drainage easement in a restrictive covenant that is to run with the land and the drainage easement's important benefit to the Coulthard Farms lots confirm its status as an appurtenant easement. Accordingly, we affirm the Superior Court's determination that the drainage easement is appurtenant to Coulthard Farms and may not be used by ALC for the benefit of the Wiley Farms property.