Ephrata School District v. County of Lancaster
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
886 A.2d 1169 (2005)
Lancaster County (defendant) held a negative agricultural easement over the Lauvers' property requiring them to maintain its agricultural character; the Ephrata School District (plaintiff) sought to purchase a right-of-way over a strip of that same property from the Lauvers to build a school access road, but the county refused to consent to the acquisition or remove the strip from its easement, despite conceding the proposed right-of-way would not actually interfere with its negative easement. The trial court granted the county summary judgment, and the school district appealed.
Whether the owner of a servient estate retains the right to grant subsequent easements that do not unreasonably interfere with the rights of the prior easement holders.