Mcdonald v. Harris

978 P.2d 81 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P and D owned adjacent lots of real property. David Truss previously owned a larger parcel that included both of the lots, as well as a gravel pit. Truss sold the lot now owned by P to a predecessor in title in 1978. Ps then selected the exact site for their log home on the lot in late 1982 or early 1983. Ps then selected the exact site for their log home on the lot in late 1982 or early 1983.P built a driveway to the property in the spring of 1983. P then erected a barbed wire fence on the side of the driveway that was thought to abut the lot later purchased by D. Ps have maintained and used the driveway year-round from 1983 to the present. In addition to posting 'no trespassing' and 'private drive' signs, P put logs across the access road behind the house in approximately 1986 to block public traffic. Truss and others used this driveway as an access to Truss's gravel pit. The public did not generally use the driveway. For the three months out of the year that the gravel pit was in use, alternative routes existed to access the pit. D bought her property in April 1986. She did not have a survey performed; instead, she relied on a rough sketch of the property that did not correctly identify its boundaries. Nine and a half years later, she commissioned a formal site survey and discovered that Ps' driveway encroached on her property. D blocked the driveway. P sought a prescriptive easement. The court awarded the prescriptive easement. D appealed.