Jesurum v. WBTSCC, L.P.

by
Plaintiff Robert Jesurum was a resident of Rye since 1990. Defendants WBTSCC Limited Partnership and William H. Binnie, trustee of the Harrison Irrevocable Trust, owned property located on Wentworth Road in Rye, the majority of which was used as a golf course. At issue in this case was a small, parabolic-shaped area on the northeastern corner of the defendants’ property, referred to by the trial court as “Sanders Point.” Wentworth Road abutted the property’s northern border. To the southeast, Sanders Point connected to Little Harbor Beach via a five-foot wide sandy walking path. Little Harbor Beach was on an inlet to the Atlantic Ocean and formed the southeastern border of the golf course. In the 1990s, usage of Sanders Point increased. Tensions between the public and the defendants rose concomitantly with the increase in the public’s use of Sanders Point. In 2013, plaintiff brought this action seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that both the plaintiff and the public had the right to a prescriptive easement over Sanders Point for parking and to access Little Harbor Beach. Both sides moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and denied defendants’ motion, ruling that the public possessed a prescriptive easement over Sanders Point. The trial court did not, however, determine the scope of the public’s easement rights because the parties had not briefed that issue. Instead, the court scheduled a hearing on the “scope” issue, which was held in June 2015. Following the hearing, the court ruled that the public was entitled to use Sanders Point to park and to access Little Harbor Beach, subject to certain restrictions. Defendants appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the trial court erred in its award of attorney’s fees to plaintiff. The Court affirmed the trial court in all other respects. View "Jesurum v. WBTSCC, L.P." on Justia Law