Hickey v. Pathways Association, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-161-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11603 BRIAN S. HICKEY & others[1] vs. PATHWAYS ASSOCIATION, INC., & others.[2] Suffolk. October 7, 2014. – September 22, 2015. Present: Gants, C.J., Spina, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Beach. Way, Private. Real Property, Registered land: Easement, Beach, Easement. Easement. Civil action commenced in the Land Court Department on April 15, 2009. The case was heard by Karyn F. Scheier, J., on a case stated. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Jennifer S.D. Roberts for Lorraine M. Paglia & another. Brian M. Hurley for Brian S. Hickey & another. Kevin T. Smith for Elizabeth J. Walker & others. David L. Delaney for Pamela A. Maher & others. Roland W. Young, pro se. Peter L. Freeman, for William J. Creonte & others, was present but did not argue. LENK, J. This case involves a dispute among landowners in the same subdivision over access rights over a private way to the beach. The plaintiffs own two beachfront lots in the town of Dennis (town), fronting on Shore Drive. Shore Drive runs along the waterfront parallel to Cape Cod Bay. The plaintiffs’ lots are separated by a twenty-foot way that extends south from Cape Cod Bay, along the length of the lots, to Shore Drive. The defendants[3] own lots located to the south and west of the plaintiffs’ lots, starting from the inland side of Shore Drive. All of the land involved is registered land; it had formed part of a 217.24 acre tract of land originally owned by Frank B. Tobey and registered in the Land Court in 1903. In 1917, Tobey conveyed the parcel to two sisters who thereafter subdivided the parcel repeatedly through 1977. Over that sixty-year period, they subdivided the parcel a small section of residential lots at a time. The way appears on the subdivision plans creating the plaintiffs’ lots, and on some of the plans creating the defendants’ lots. The defendants maintain that, according to provisions in their deeds and certificates of title, all of which reference easements over ways in subdivision plans, they hold rights of access over the way. The plaintiffs contend that they hold all ownership rights in the way, and the defendants have no right to use it for any purpose. The plaintiffs claim that, […]