Scheinberg

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

The Salmons owned about 20 acres of land near Highway 116 in Sebastopol. A strip of land originally used for a railroad track divided a small triangular parcel of their land, which abutted Highway 116, from the rest of their land, which did not. The Salmons offered to buy the railroad right-of-way and donate it to the County for use in developing a public trail. In December 1987, the Salmons and the County entered into a dedication agreement. It provided that the Salmons would donate the railroad property to the County and that, in exchange, “the County shall convey to [the Salmons] an easement over and across the [r]ailroad [p]roperty for the purpose of allowing [the Salmons] access between real property owned by them which lies on either side of the [r]ailroad [p]roperty. The easement shall be 70 feet wide.” The day after the dedication agreement was entered, escrow closed on the railroad property, and the Salmons executed a grant deed conveying the land to the County. The deed provided that it was “subject to all of

1 Scheinberg filed a motion to strike the County’s cross-appellant’s reply brief on the grounds that the County had used it…