McChesney v. Cal. Home Development CA2/2

Filed 6/6/13 McChesney v. Cal. Home Development CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

WILLIAM McCHESNEY, B237410

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. EC046691) v.

CALIFORNIA HOME DEVELOPMENT, LLC, et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Laura Matz, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions in part and affirmed in part.

Marla A. Martinez for Plaintiff and Appellant.

L. Douglas Brown for Defendants and Respondents.

___________________________________________________

Plaintiff and defendants have had a multitude of property-related disputes, which resulted in numerous lawsuits. The instant case went to trial in January 2011. This appeal pertains to two issues: (1) whether an express easement in favor of defendants was terminated by adverse possession, and (2) whether plaintiff has easement rights over defendants’ side of a private dirt road. Plaintiff, appellant, contends that the trial court erred by finding an easement over his property effective in favor of defendants, and by finding that he did not have an easement over defendants’ half of the private dirt road. We reverse on the first issue and affirm on the second. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff lives at 9949 ½ Wheatland Avenue in Shadow Hills, a property he acquired in 1998. Shadow Hills is an “equestrian area,” relatively undeveloped and rural compared to other parts of Los Angeles. Defendant California Home Development, LLC (CHD), the principal of which is defendant Patrick Wizmann, owns a 17 ½-acre property that surrounds McChesney’s property on three sides. CHD purchased its property in 1999. Approximately five to 10 years ago, it attempted to develop a 21-home subdivision on the property, but was stymied by legal challenges. The Eastern Border of McChesney’s property McChesney lives on a rectangular lot of about 27,400 square feet. The southern, western, and northern sides of his property are adjacent to CHD land, as is a small portion of the eastern side. Most of the eastern edge of his property runs contiguous to land owned by a neighbor, Bobby Ross. McChesney’s lot was first created by deed in 1946 by William Ensign, a former owner of the property. That deed expressly provided that the lot would have: “[a]n easement for travel to adjacent property . . . over the east eight (8) feet of the property . . . with as little damage as possible to the ornamental growth thereon.” Parcel 29, one of the many lots owned by CHD, lies directly north of this easement. Wizmann testified at trial that the eight-foot easement over McChesney’s land was parcel 29’s only legal access to nearby streets and that, but for the easement, parcel 29 is “landlocked.”