A dispute arose between owners of adjacent apartment buildings concerning access to a shared outdoor swimming pool and a garbage disposal facility located on the defendants’ property.
The plaintiff asserted that it held easement rights permitting continued use of the facilities based on the original design and joint development of the properties in the late 1960s.
The defendants argued the plaintiff had only a revocable licence and counterclaimed for trespass arising from construction activities on their land.
The court held that the evidence established an implied easement arising from the common intention of the original developers when the lands were severed and developed as a single complex.
The plaintiff therefore retained enforceable easement rights over the defendants’ land for both facilities, and the defendants’ trespass claim failed because the impugned acts were committed by independent contractors without the plaintiff’s control.
