A Short Walk To The Beach – What Is Reasonably Necessary For A Prescriptive Easement?

One of the requirements to establish a prescriptive easement is that it is "reasonably necessary" for the better enjoyment of the owner of the land who claims the prescriptive right. In some cases this may be obvious, but in other situations, particularly involving recreational and seasonal properties, whether the easement is reasonably necessary may be a matter of considerable debate.

In Mighton v. Palmer,2021 ONSC 2275 (CanLII), the applicant owner of a summer cottage sought a prescriptive easement over a narrow sandy footpath on an adjacent property through trees and underbrush leading to the eastern shore of Lake Huron. There was an alternate route available for the applicant to get to the lake, but this entailed a substantially longer walk. After the applicant purchased his cottage in 1980, he did occasional maintenance on the path to the lake, in the form of replenishing sand in places where it was needed, to make walking easier and safer.