General District Court of Virginia

District of Virginia Beach, Virginia

Barbara Jones
Plaintiff,

:
:
:
:

v.
Shawn Andrews
Defendant

Case Number: 15-CIV-281

:
MEMORANDUM OF LAW

Plaintiff, Barbara Jones, respectfully submits the following Memorandum of Law

in support of her Motion for Right-of-Way Easement.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The Plaintiff purchased her lakefront property located at 2501 Duke of Winsor
Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454, on August 23, 1997. At time of purchase there was
a paved driveway that connected her property to the public right of way, that crossed over
the property located at 2503 Duke of Winsor Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454. On
March 10, 2002, the Plaintiff paid the full cost to have the paved driveway repaired. On
October 5, 2013, Shawn Andrews, Defendant, purchased the property located at 2503
Duke of Winsor Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454. Since then the Defendant has
repeatedly tried to prevent the Plaintiff from using the driveway easement.
A title search for the two properties has resulted in the discovery of a Driveway
Easement Deed created in 1985, when the two properties were created from one. The
Driveway Easement Deed was created in accordance to Virginia Code, Section 55-48. Va.
Code Ann. 55-48 (West 2014). The Driveway Easement Deed states that the owner of
the property located at 2503 Duke of Winsor Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454,
grants a driveway easement to the owner of the property located at 2501 Duke of Winsor
Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454. It further states that the maintenance of the
driveway easement is to be shared between the two owners.
In the case Anderson v. Delore, the Virginia Supreme Court provides that when
ascertaining the rights of the parties, customary rules governing the construction of
written documents must be applied, regarding the terms of an easement granted by deed.
Anderson v. Delore, 278 Va. 251, 257, 683 S.E.2d 307, 309 (2009). In the current
situation, the Driveway Easement Deed clearly and consisly states that the driveway
easement is for the enjoyment of the owner residing at 2501 Duke of Winsor Road,
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454 for the use to access their own property.
Furthermore, in accordance to Virginia Code, section 55-50.1, it is provided that
the servient landowner may not impede the with the dominant landowners enjoyment of
the easement. Va. Code Ann. 55-50.1 (West 2007). In the current situation, the
Defendant installed a large fence across the driveway easement on May 29, 2015, which

includes a heavy chain and pad lock. As a result, the Plaintiff is unable to use the
driveway easement for its intended purpose. The locked fence is in direct violation of
Virginia Code, section 55-50.1. Va. Code Ann. 55-50.1 (West 2007).
CONCLUSION
For the for going reasons, this Court is respectfully asked to grant the Plaintiff the
continued use of the paved driveway easement located on the property at 2503 Duke of
Winsor Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454. The Plaintiff also respectfully asks that
this Court require the removal of the locked fence at the cost of the Defendant as well as
such other relief as this Court deems just.

Sincerely,

Date: June 14, 2015

Amanda Wells, Esq.

ROSSI & BEST, P. A.
3305 Centerville Tnpk., Suite 202
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23456
Phone: (757) 437-5856

Reference:
Deborah E. Bouchoux, Concise Guide to Legal Research and Writing, Aspen
Publishers, VitalBook file, 424-428 (2nd ed. 11/2013).
Va. Code Ann. 55-48 (West 2014),
https://a.next.westlaw.com/Document/N18E88D80C11311E3A864D08E61EF182D/View
/FullText.html?navigationPath=Search%2Fv3%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fnavigation
%2Fi0ad6040a0000014dedb7bb1ac6261652%3FNav%3DSTATUTE
%26fragmentIdentifier%3DN18E88D80C11311E3A864D08E61EF182D%26startIndex
%3D1%26contextData%3D%2528sc.Search%2529%26transitionType
%3DSearchItem&listSource=Search&listPageSource=73228e62e16681be5753b44902b5
58aa&list=STATUTE&rank=1&grading=na&sessionScopeId=a1ff2e7809fa7bb90d73e2b
21a128153&originationContext=Search
%20Result&transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=%28sc.Search%29.
Anderson v. Delore, 278 Va. 251, 257, 683 S.E.2d 307, 309 (2009),
https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?
findType=Y&serNum=2019835773&pubNum=711&originatingDoc=Id28fe6044d5d11e
3a341ea44e5e1f25f&refType=RP&originationContext=document&transitionType=Docu
mentItem&contextData=(sc.CustomDigest)#co_pp_sp_711_309.
Va. Code Ann. 55-50.1 (West 2007),
https://a.next.westlaw.com/Document/NA57ABA40F8BE11DB9AAE9CA83BEB5080/V
iew/FullText.html?
originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.
Default).