Do You Have the Right to Access a Public Drainage Easement on a Neighbor's Property

[roselane]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: California

Neighbor has an existing block wall running north and south 8 feet west side of his property line. in a malicious action to retaliate because i sued and won as his dog crossed the wall and injured my dog, he has installed a sharp tip chain link fence on the property line.

However the area between the wall and the cl fence is a "public serves and drainage easement" created by the city AFTER it vacated the same area for a future road. during the development of my side of the wall 25 years ago, the city required the subject area to be lined, by my developer, with rip-rap (rock swell) on his property, for drainage of my lot and all lots north of me to drain south. at the same time the city told the contractor to install a block wall between me and the neighbors north of me, a wall running east and west perpendicular to the original block wall which is now 8 feet of the malicious neighbor's property. he has block all drainage from the north (which drains under the east/west wall) and drainage of my lot in to the subject area (because of the type of fencing).

for the past 25 year i have been cleaning and maintaining the drain channel in the subject area, but now I'm fenced out yet i still need drainage into the subject area. i have cc&r effecting my side which give me the right to cross over others lot to maintain drainage but the same cc&r are not recorded on his lot. there is no documentation stating who is to maintain the drainage in his area.

I assume i have all of the right for a prescriptive easement? does the city attorney or manager have the right to grant me access right via there crated easement for maintenance? when i sued over the dog issue in small claims the judge does not have the discretion to grant injunction right, IE remove fence, and give prescriptive rights. I don’t have the money nor want to invest in an attorney however because of witness it would be easy to claim punitive damages, emotional distress elderly abuse and so on. whats your take on this. thanks

[Catmad]

If you feel you are entitled to a prescriptive easement, you will need to sue for that. It will probably be pretty expensive and obviously contentious, but that's the only way you can be granted an easement. Only a court can do that.

Maybe the place to start is with the city, and see what you can learn about your rights to drainage.

Elder abuse is a serious charge. Please contact the police or local Elder Advocates for help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

i have cc&r effecting my side which give me the right to cross over others lot to maintain drainage but the same cc&r are not recorded on his lot.

Why not? Is his lot part of a separate development?

there is no documentation stating who is to maintain the drainage in his area.

Your post is unclear in relation to the origin of the drainage ditch. Are we speaking of a pre-existing drainage ditch, which you were ordered to improve in order to get a building permit for your property? If it's a municipal easement, what is the position the municipality is taking on maintenance?

I assume i have all of the right for a prescriptive easement?

Why?

does the city attorney or manager have the right to grant me access right via there crated easement for maintenance?

Wehave no access to the granting documents relating to the creation or maintenance of the easement. If you do, please post the granting language. You can also try speaking with the city attorney or city manager about the situation and, if they can't resolve your concern, share with us what they say.

I don’t have the money nor want to invest in an attorney....

You cannot establish a prescriptive easement without suing and, even if it might be presently viable, over time your ability to assert a claim of a prescriptive easement will weaken.

...however because of witness it would be easy to claim punitive damages, emotional distress elderly abuse and so on.

None of those claims are going to be supported by a landowner's construction of a property line fence on his own land.