Scheel v. Henderson
This appeal involves a dispute between adjacent landowners over a 40-foot strip of land running along the eastern boundary of the plaintiffs’ property. The defendants claim a right to use the strip as a road for vehicular traffic on the grounds either that the plaintiffs never owned it or that they had obtained an easement by prescription. The trial court concluded that the plaintiffs owned a fee simple interest in the strip but that the defendants only had a prescriptive interest in the strip as a path for foot traffic.
The defendants, Richard and Mildred Henderson, acquired the property located at 8801 Sunset Avenue in Fair Oaks in 1963. Since 2003, that property has been owned by the Henderson 2003 Family Trust. The trustee of that trust is defendant and cross-complainant John P. Henderson.[1] Plaintiffs and cross-defendants Norman and Jonelle H. Scheel acquired the northern portion of their property in 1985 and the southern portion in 1998. Their address is 4825 Arbardee Drive in Fair Oaks.[2]
From 1963 until the early 1970s, the Hendersons’ sole means of accessing their property was on a dirt roadway that ran along the eastern edge of what is now the Scheels’ property. While the Henderson property’s address is 8801 Sunset Avenue, the property does not actually abut Sunset Avenue.
In late 1971, Arbardee Road, which abuts the northwest corner of the Hendersons’ property “opened up,†and they began using Arbardee Road to access their property by car. They continued to use the old roadway for pedestrian and recreational use.
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