O'Dell v. Stegall
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O'Dell v. Stegall | |
Court | West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals |
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Citation | 703 S.E.2d 561 |
Date decided | November 24, 2010 |
Facts
- O'Dell = purchaser of a church land in West Virginia re-purposed for residential use
- O'Dell's new property had direct access to a public road through a driveway on the building's south side
- On the north side of O'Dell's property was a gravel lane connected to the aforesaid public road
- Ownership of the gravel lane was unknown
- Stegall = owner of a private property dependent on the gravel lane to access the public road; Stegall's house was to the north of the gravel lane
- Stegall was paying for the upkeep of the gravel lane.
Procedural History
- O'Dell sued Stegall & neighbors to the north seeking legal recognition of his prescriptive easement of the gravel lane.
- O'Dell won in the trial court.
Issues
- Must land use supporting a prescriptive easement be adverse, continuous, & either
- actually known or
- open & notorious?
Arguments
- O'Dell argued that he had a prescriptive easement over the gravel road because churchgoers had been using the gravel road on the north to access the former church
- Stegall argued that O'Dell's use of the gravel lane was causing wear & tear
Rule
- Prescriptive easement = an easement acquired by adverse possession
- American courts generally dis-favor prescriptive easements
Resources