Easements—Defendants Removed Vegetation and Cleared a Foot Path Pursuant to an Alleged Easement—Plaintiffs Sued for Trespass and for Treble Damages for Removal and Destruction of Trees Under RPAPL 861 and For a Declaratory Judgment that the Easement is Invalid
THE PLAINTIFFS HAD COMMENCED an action for, inter alia, “a declaration of the parties’ rights and obligations with respect to a ‘pedestrian walk way’” (path), “located in a residential subdivision” which was “presumably intended to provide access to a body of water….” A developer had created a subdivision, consisting of 11 lots. Seven lots were located directly on the water. Four lots (out lots) were separated from the water by a road. At or about the time that the subdivision was developed, “an easement was filed that purported to reserve a five-foot [path] between two of the lots fronting on [the water].” The easement reserved the path “solely for the pedestrian use of owners” of the out lots.
