Manatt Delivers Complete Defense Victory in Easement Dispute Clearing Path for 4,000 Home Project

A Manatt team led by Partner with support from Associate secured a complete defense victory for Pacific Coast Energy Company (PCEC) LP and Solstra Communities California, LLC, defeating all claims brought by North Four Deer, LLC concerning the scope and use of a roadway easement. After a bench trial spanning several weeks, the Santa Barbara Superior Court held that the easement permits the proposed development and does not overburden or convert it into a public road, clearing the way for the Solomon Hills project—including the development of up to 4,000 homes and related community benefits—to proceed.

The dispute centered on a 1994 Roadway Easement Agreement between Union Oil, which sold its land to PCEC, and Chevron, which sold its land to North Four Deer, that binds successor owners of the parties’ adjacent properties. When North Four Deer learned of PCEC and Solstra’s plans to develop their property using the Roadway Easement as a key access point, they filed suit to kill the project. The declaratory relief action had more than ten issues in play, including whether: (i) the easement could only be used for oil and gas or agricultural uses (and not real estate development), (ii) the proposed use would overburden the easement, (iii) the proposed use would improperly convert a private easement into a public road, and (iv) the proposed use would violate the terms of an existing conservation easement.

Manatt dismantled each theory, guiding the court through complex easement law, oil and gas industry practices, and the foreseeability of the proposed development. After the examination of the parties’ principals, key representatives, expert witnesses, and closing arguments, the Honorable Judge Jed Beebe issued an oral tentative ruling—and later a formal Statement of Decision—finding in favor of PCEC and Solstra on every issue tried.