RKJ Prevails in Bench Trial to Enforce Private Beach Easement on Palm Beach

The firm recently prevailed in a bench trial on behalf of several homeowners to enforce a private beach easement in the Town of Palm Beach.

The firm’s clients are owners of residences located within the Esplanade Estates section of the Town of Palm Beach. They hold an easement that runs from North Ocean Boulevard to the Atlantic Ocean, which was granted to residents of Esplanade Estates in 1956. In 2020, the defendant, who had recently purchased the beach lot over which the easement ran, raised the ground level within the easement area and planted dense vegetation along the northern and eastern boundaries of the easement area, preventing the residents of Esplanade Estates from being able to access and use the easement.

The firm filed a declaratory judgment action on behalf of its clients against the owner of the beach lot to enforce the clients’ easement rights. The owner of the beach lot filed counterclaims seeking a declaration that the clients’ easement had been extinguished by adverse possession, abandonment, and estoppel; on these bases, the beach lot owner sought to quiet title to the property and eliminate the easement.

The major issues in the bench trial concerned (1) the scope of the easement rights as provided in the easement deed, (2) whether the easement had been previously extinguished, and (3) whether the beach lot owner’s actions interfered with the clients’ easement rights.

Based on the testimony and evidence presented, the Court found in favor of the firm’s clients, holding that the scope of their easement rights included the right to use the easement to access the Atlantic Ocean and to use the area within the easement. The Court also found that the easement had not been extinguished through adverse possession, abandonment, or estoppel, and required the beach lot owner to remove the impediments to the clients’ use of the entire easement area.

Firm attorneys Christopher Kammerer and Andrew Abreu represented the clients at trial.

If you have a legal matter or issue concerning real estate litigation, including easements, contact the attorneys at Rabin Kammerer Johnson at 561-659-7878.