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The Court of Appeals of Indiana has reversed the grant of a preliminary injunction to a southern Indiana property owner who claimed his neighbor was “hostile” in blocking an easement on his property.
Appellee Chris Drenter owns property in Jefferson County while Melinda Crowe resides on property to his north. There is an access road easement that extends from Drenter’s property north along the eastern property line where Crowe resides to County Road 1400 West.
In July 2022, Drenter filed a complaint for trespass alleging he owns certain real estate, including the access road, which he said Crowe uses frequently without his permission. He filed for a preliminary injunction to stop Crowe from using the access road.
The Jefferson Circuit Court held a hearing at which Drenter testified that Crowe had been “very hostile” regarding the easement, including an incident when a gravel company had to stop work on the road because of Crowe’s behavior.
For her part, Crowe testified that she asked the gravel company, Gammons Excavating, for a business card because a tree they had plowed hit a neighbor’s boat and almost hit their vehicles. As for confronting Drenter, she said she had asked him to stop cutting trees on her side.
The trial court found that a preliminary injunction was warranted and ordered a 45-day window for the cleanup of a secondary access road. The injunction went into effect Dec. 10, 2022, and on Dec. 14, Crowe filed an emergency motion to stay pending appeal.
In an attached affidavit, Crowe said Drenter “claims that I have another easement available to me; however, my son says that this pathway has never been used, is covered with large trees, goes over a dry creek bed that occasionally floods as well [as] over [] a sinkhole, and is completely impassible,” and “[t]he only way for me to get to and from my residence is by using the roadway that Drenter is trying to block me from using.”
The trial court granted the stay, and the Court of Appeals reversed.
The appellate court determined Drenter didn’t have the right to exclude Crowe from using the access road to access the where property she resides.
“Here, the Access Road Easement, by its terms, is not exclusive. The Drenter Deed does not expressly state that the Access Road Easement may be used exclusively by the owner of the Drenter Parcel,” Judge Elaine Brown wrote.
The appellate court also noted that Crowe may not unreasonably interfere with Drenter’s use of the easement.
Judge Terry Crone and Senior Judge Margret Robb concurred.
The case is Melinda Crowe v. Chris Allen Drenter, 22A-CT-2815.
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