The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine vacated a lower court’s judgment that had declared a public prescriptive easement over Cedar Beach Road.

The court’s decision hinges on the elements of “adversity” and “nonacquiescence” required to establish a public prescriptive easement. The public’s use of private uncultivated lands is presumed to be permissive. To overcome this, “adversity” must be proven by demonstrating continuous use without permission, as if the claimant owned the property, providing adequate notice to the owner that their rights are in jeopardy. “Nonacquiescence” refers to actions by the owner to prevent the easement’s acquisition.

The trial court found adversity based on loud parties on beaches accessed via the road, littering on the road, and the removal of a chain-link fence. The Supreme Judicial Court found these insufficient:

• Loud parties and littering were not considered sufficiently “adverse” to the road itself.
• The removal of the chain-link fence, while an act of adversity, was a single incident over a long period, which is not enough to establish continuous adversity.
• Crucially, the Court determined that the erection of the chain-link fence by the Haley family, who held a deeded appurtenant easement over the road, constituted an act of “nonacquiescence,” even though they were not the fee simple owners. A single act of nonacquiescence can interrupt a prescriptive easement claim.

Therefore, the Supreme Judicial Court concluded that Gables Real Estate LLC had established nonacquiescence, defeating the claim for a public prescriptive easement.

Summary by Gemini