Hemphill v. Taff
Hemphill v. Taff
Opinion of the Court
On September 5, 1977, Rutha Lee Hemphill filed a complaint in equity seeking temporary and permanent relief from Jimmy Taff s alleged continuous trespass upon a private road, called Trout Lane, in the Hiawassee Lake Estates subdivision. Plaintiff relied on her ownership of lot 58 on Trout Lane in that subdivision and the reciprocal restrictions contained within her deed and the recorded plat of survey. The applicable restriction states that "The boat launching road and all other roads shown (except for the County Road) are for the exclusive use of the owners of lots 1 through 60 shown hereon.” Trout Lane is a deadend private road, not a boat launching road.
At the time suit was filed, defendant was the owner of a strip 2 feet by about 275 feet within the subdivision contiguous with and lying alongside the west side of Trout Lane, the strip being designated as "lot 61.” Defendant began construction of a driveway from Trout Lane across his strip to the adjoining property which he owns, which is not part of the subdivision and which is referred to as the "Sims Property” on the plat of survey.
In ruling for the defendant, the trial court stated: "The Court hearing the evidence, finding that there is no issue as to the facts, found as a matter of law that the Defendant is owner of Lot 40 of Hiawassee Lake Estates, that as owner of Lot 40, the Defendant, as a matter of law, has a right to use the boat launching road and all other roads in Hiawassee Lake Estates as set out in the restrictions. That Trout Lane is one of the roads in Hiawassee Lake Estates, that Lot 61 is contiguous with and adjacent to Trout Lane. Therefore, the Defendant may use Trout Lane to gain access to Lot 61 and may cross Lot 61 to his property.”
We affirm. In our view, the trial court has correctly interpreted the restriction and determined that as owner of lot 40 the defendant was entitled to use Trout Lane even
In view of this interpretation of the restriction, it is not necessary to consider now the other issues raised, such as easements appurtenant, easements by necessity, and adverse possession.
Judgment affirmed.
Although Trout Lane was the only means of
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.