Frech v. Piontkowski

Connecticut Supreme Court · Property

PropertyPrescriptive easementsArtificial water bodiesAdverse useBoundary disputesprescriptive easementartificial reservoirnonnavigable water

Facts

The defendants owned a nonnavigable artificial reservoir and the land beneath it, while the plaintiffs owned adjoining subdivision lots. For more than twenty-five years, the plaintiffs and their predecessor in title used the entire reservoir for boating, swimming, fishing, skating, and ice fishing without permission, and they made physical improvements at the water's edge, including pallets for boat access and a sandy beach. When the defendants posted "No Trespassing" signs near the plaintiffs' lots, the plaintiffs removed them. The parties also disputed whether the plaintiffs' lots extended to the current water's edge.

Issue

May an abutting landowner acquire a prescriptive easement for recreational use over a nonnavigable, artificial body of water? If so, was there sufficient evidence that these plaintiffs proved open, visible, continuous, uninterrupted use for fifteen years under a claim of right?

Rule

Because ownership of a nonnavigable artificial body of water is governed by the same principles as any other parcel of real estate, an abutting landowner may acquire a prescriptive easement over such water. To establish a prescriptive easement, the claimant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the use was open, visible, continuous and uninterrupted for fifteen years, and made under a claim of right; the use must be such that a reasonably diligent owner would learn of its existence, nature, and extent.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Asheville, North Carolina, Dana Mercer owns a lot bordering a privately owned, nonnavigable reservoir created decades ago by a dam on neighboring land owned by Owen Kline. For twenty years, Dana and her family have regularly used the reservoir for kayaking, swimming, fishing, and winter skating without permission, and they maintain a visible gravel launch at the shoreline.

If Owen argues that no prescriptive easement can ever arise for recreational use over an artificial reservoir because water rights differ from land rights, how should a court rule under the majority rule of this case?

Explanation. The majority held that an abutting owner may, as a matter of law, acquire a prescriptive easement for recreational use over a nonnavigable artificial body of water. Its reasoning was that such a water body is governed by ordinary real-property principles, not a special rule barring prescription. Thus the issue is not categorical availability, but whether the ordinary elements of prescription are proved. (Derived from Frech v. Piontkowski (n.d.).)