gate on easement/access road

[EveL]

What is the name of your state? California
I apologize in advance for the length.

My parents live on a ranch up in the hills in a rural part of California. There is only one way up to their ranch that they have legal access to and that is through a road that to my understanding is called a private access road. I believe this “private access road” is part of their easement which is 25 pages long of small legal print. The easement document seems only to declare specifics of boundaries and really does not seem to address rights or responsibilities as far as I can tell.

One of the neighbors below my parent’s property recently put up a gate that crosses over the private access road. He said it was to protect his property from non residence (Sunday drivers) from getting on to his property. It’s not the gates placement that is the issue so much as the gate type. They put up a cheap gate that is difficult to manage. Today my mother went to open it and it was stuck and she had to get another neighbor to help her to open it and he had to use a crow bar to jar it loose. Where they live they have mountain lions, coyotes and rattle snakes. And where the gate is specifically located, they have several neighborhood dogs that chase and viciously bark at cars as you drive past. Getting out of the car to open and then getting back out again to close this gate, besides being difficult and cumbersome, is also unsafe especially at night. They also have issues with getting out of the car when they have terrible storms with rain and hail during the winter time. My parents are getting up there in age and my father’s health is not such that he can mange this gate without a great deal of difficulty. As my Dad says, “he is not denying me access to my property, just making it a living hell”. My mom is terrified to drive at night because she doesn’t want to deal with the gate.

They want him to place an automatic gate opener on it so they can just drive up to a key pad and open their car window to access it. Do they have the right to request this? Does the right to ingress and egress have to be reasonable and safe? Help. We don’t think he will be responsive but we want to try the friendly way first. We would like to write a nice letter to the neighbor first and request this but want to make sure we know we have the right to tell him this needs to be done.

 

[seniorjudge]

They can ask for anything that they want.

Since the easement is 25 pages long (California, right? Makes a weird kind of sense then.), no one can give you a better answer than that....


I believe this “private access road” is part of their easement which is 25 pages long of small legal print.

 

[jpathfynder]

They can ask for anything that they want.

It is typical that all parties pay a proportinate share of improvements and maintenance of shared easements. However, I believe only the land owner has the right to construct improvements, unless the easement states otherwise.

If other neighbors use the gate, how about getting together with them and seeing if they would all pitch in.

 

[EveL]

Well thank you for that very simple answer. Yes, I guess you are correct in that they can ask for whatever they want. After all, we do live in the USA

I guess was hoping someone might know the California details pertaining to easement laws. And if reasonable and safe access would be part of the language of the law since our position is that the current situation is not safe, nor reasonable for the location of the gate.

I should have clarified about the 25 page easement document. My parents have to pass through 10 different easements just to get to their property and then have 5 of their own for utilities and such. All of the 15 easements make up the 25 page document. The specifics of the easement document only pertains to the location of the easements and their purpose (ingress and egress, utilities, etc.). No other details in the document. So I would assume if it doesn’t say anything else, the California law regarding easements would rule. I can’t find the laws regarding easements anywhere online to help give me some guidance.

Thanks though.

 

[EveL]

It is typical that all parties pay a proportinate share of improvements and maintenance of shared easements. However, I believe only the land owner has the right to construct improvements, unless the easement states otherwise.

If other neighbors use the gate, how about getting together with them and seeing if they would all pitch in.

All neighbors due currently share the cost of the maintenance of the road. However this gate is not maintenance, nor an improvement. No other neighbors want the gate. In fact we pretty much believe the gate was put up as a vendetta against another neighbor they are at “war” with. It difficult to explain but the way the gate is currently place the only one who benefits from it is the one neighbor who put it up. In fact the way his property is situated he would actually benefit much better by placing the gate 100 ft off the road and in front of his driveway but he made a deliberate point to put it right across the main access road. All the neighbors are fighting about one thing or the other and over the years the only neighbors staying out of the mess were my parents. But now they are in the middle of this "war" and feel compelled to say something and speak up but they want to be very careful and sure of what they are saying and asking.

 

[seniorjudge]

If the easement language simply says for ingress and egress, then it is up to y'all to negotiate the best you can.

But make sure it is in writing and recorded in the land deed records of the county where the land is.


(I have seen killings over water rights and easements. So I promised myself I'd never buy land that had either problem.)

 

[EveL]

If the easement language simply says for ingress and egress, then it is up to y'all to negotiate the best you can.

But make sure it is in writing and recorded in the land deed records of the county where the land is.


(I have seen killings over water rights and easements. So I promised myself I'd never buy land that had either problem.)

That's a good promise. Its funny you should say that because my parents also have issues with another neighbor about water rights as well. Long story but they are living with the current water problems as it stands right now. I get very upset about it because it just doesn’t seem fair and at one point they were looking for an attorney who specialized in water rights, not too many of them in our area. But they almost fell to the floor when the attorney told them how much of a retainer he wanted. My parents say they are too old, too tired, and too poor to fight it out with a neighbor who has bottomless pockets so to speak. I just want them to live in peace.

It's funny how they put so much time, money and effort into creating a "country" lifestyle for simple living and to get away from the chaos. And now they live in a war zone with all the different ranch owner at each others throats. Thanks for your input.