Berghold

Defendants Joseph Berghold and Kay Berghold appeal from a judgment enjoining them from maintaining gates across a private roadway easement owned by plaintiffs Jon Van Klompenburg, Sarah Van Klompenburg, Barbara Due, Joseph Due and Julie Due. Defendants contend the trial court erred in failing to consider whether the gates unreasonably interfered with plaintiffs’ use of the easement. We disagree and shall affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs and defendants each own separate parcels of real property located outside Lodi. Defendants’ property abuts Highway 12. Plaintiffs’ property is located approximately three-fourths of a mile off Highway 12, along the Mokelumne River. Both properties contain vineyards. Defendants’ property also contains their residence and other buildings. Plaintiffs lease their property to a farmer; no one resides there. Plaintiffs’ property has been in their family since before 1913. At one time plaintiffs’ and defendants’ properties were owned by plaintiff John Due’s great-grandparents, Peter and Louisa Joens.

The only permanent means of accessing plaintiffs’ property is by a private roadway easement stretching across…