Court Opinion

ID: 9557948
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:00:51.468392+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:07:48.230755
License: Public Domain

TUCKETT, Justice
(dissenting):
The record is without dispute that the plaintiff was the owner of an easement running along its canal to permit the plaintiff to clean and to make necessary repairs to the canal. The plaintiff having acquired an easement, it makes no' difference whether the acquisition of the easement was by grant or user, the plaintiff is entitled to have the easement protected from interference by the defendants or others. The powers of the court should not be used to protect the defendants’ interference with an established property right. If the interference is maintained for the requisite period of time, the effect will be to create the new right in the defendants and extinguish the plaintiff’s right of way.
I would remand with directions to the court below to determine the essential width of the easement to permit the plaintiff to carry on its maintenance and repair work and. to identify property in the decree so as to avoid future disputes.