Lance v. Robinson

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the decisions of the trial court and court of appeals agreeing with Plaintiffs that a local water district owned an open-space area at Medina Lake the community had long considered public space for recreation and access to the lake. Plaintiffs, three families who owned lots on a peninsula at Medina Lake, filed suit after new neighbors, who claimed that they owned the open-space area and that the community members had no easements or other rights to use it, denied Plaintiffs access to the disputed area. The trial court declared that the new neighbors did not own the open-space. The Supreme Court agreed, holding (1) the new neighbors did not own the disputed area, and therefore, they had no standing to challenge Plaintiffs’ alleged easement over that area or authority to exclude Plaintiffs from the area; but (2) the court of appeals erred in upholding the award of attorney’s fees to the water district. View "Lance v. Robinson" on Justia Law