Tower 10, L.L.C. v. 10 W. Broad Owner, L.L.C.

Citations

• 154 N.E.3d 1060
• 2020 Ohio 3554

Syllabus

Judgment reversed. The trial court erred in granting appellees' respective motions for summary judgment, denying appellant's motion for summary judgment, and declaring that appellees possessed an express easement to access the walkway passing through the LeVeque Tower at any time. In a 1985 document, appellant's predecessor-in-interest, Katherine LeVeque, granted appellees' predecessor-in-interest, One Columbus, an easement to access the walkway. The 1985 document unambiguously provided that the walkway would be maintained open during normal business hours of One Columbus building. Although Katherine LeVeque permitted One Columbus workers to have keycard access to the walkway after normal business hours, Katherine LeVeque did not grant One Columbus a permanent easement to access the walkway after normal business hours. As there was no evidence of an oral agreement to provide One Columbus with an easement to access the walkway after normal business hours, appellees' contentions concerning the partial performance exception to the statute of frauds failed. The record evidence established that normal business hours of One Columbus building were 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. As the trial court declined to address appellees' alternative arguments asserting that they had acquired easements to access the walkway by either prescription or estoppel, this court would not address such arguments in the first instance on appeal.