Sawyers v. Beller
Annotate this CaseAppellants and Appellees were adjoining landowners who disputed the rights to the use and maintenance of a road or access easement across Appellees' property. The circuit court ordered Appellees to permit Appellants to use the road for the purpose of the Appellants' personal, non-commercial access to part of their property but allowed Appellees to maintain the gate and to keep the gate locked at all times. The trial court further adjudged that Appellants had a duty to maintain the road for the purpose of making it passable for vehicles and farm equipment but barred them from paving or otherwise materially changing the current condition of the roadway. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that Appellants had an express easement to the road, without any reservations or restrictions, and therefore, (1) the trial court's judgment that Appellees could maintain a gate on the road was erroneous; and (2) the trial court's restriction limiting Appellants' use of the road to personal use and prohibiting Appellants from paving or rocking the road was unreasonable.
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