Birchwood Land Company, Inc. v. Krizan

Facts

In June 1982, Defendant bought a vacant, land-locked plot for $3000. Defendant also acquired an implied access easement over a portion of the adjacent lot, now owned by Plaintiff. This is the only way to access her property, and without frontage on a public road or access to utilities, the land was undevelopable. In December 2002, Plaintiff purchased the land surrounding Defendant’s land to the east, west, and south. In April 2005, Plaintiff received permission to develop the property, extending road access and water/sewer line connecting to Defendant’s land.

After Plaintiff developed the properties, Defendant informed the Town of her intent to develop her land. Now that the land was on a public road and connected to utilities, it was now developable. As a result, the assessed value of the land rose from $10,800 to $92,700, and the fair market value was no less than $117,000. Plaintiff calculated Defendant’s proportionate share of expenses, excluding the $2,405 water and sewer connection costs, to be $50,100. Defendant expressed interest in reimbursing Plaintiff for the water and sewer connection costs but refused to contribute to other expenses.