Inlet Harbour v. South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, 377 S.C. 86

Summary

The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed a trial court ruling limiting the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism's implied easement over Inlet Harbour Drive. The court held that the parties intended the easement to provide access to the conveyed tract only for purposes related to the Murrells Inlet Navigability Project, rather than for unrelated residential development. A dissent would have found no restriction on the scope of the easement as to the second tract.

Holdings

1. The scope of an implied easement is governed principally by the objective intent of the parties as shown by the facts and circumstances surrounding the conveyance; a reference to a plat creates a presumption of access over depicted streets but does not presumptively establish an unrestricted easement for a particular use.
2. The Department's easement over Inlet Harbour Drive was limited to environmental purposes associated with maintaining the navigability of Murrells Inlet and did not extend to residential development or other unrelated uses.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Department's easement over Inlet Harbour Drive extended beyond environmental purposes associated with maintaining the navigability of Murrells Inlet.
2. Whether the circumstances surrounding the conveyance demonstrated an intent to create an unrestricted easement for residential or other unrelated uses.

Disposition

affirmed