Farmer v. Kentucky Utilities Co.

642 S.W.2d 579 (1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In 1978, Farmer (P) acquired a small tract of land. Next to P's land was a utility pole owned by Kentucky Utilities (D). The wires that are sued overhang P's property but the poles they are hanging on are not on P's property. In 1966, D entered the property and cleared out the undergrowth under the wires. The then owner sued D claiming that the chemicals used to clear the undergrowth, had killed some lettuce, a grapevine, some trees and had adversely affected the soil. This suit was settled for $700. In 1980, D determined that the need to clear the land again existed and did so. P then sued D for the resulting clearing. The trial court found that D had a prescriptive easement for the overhanging wires but that they did not have any right to enter upon the land for the purpose of clearing the land. The court of appeals held that the prescriptive easement for the overhang included an incident of right to enter the property for the purposes of maintenance and repair. This court granted review.