M.F. Farming Co. v. Couch Distributing Co.

This case concerns a conflict over the use of a parcel, “Parcel B,” owed by plaintiff M.F. Farming Co. (MF) but subject to an easement that plaintiff had granted to defendant Couch Distributing Company, Inc. (Couch Distributing), decades earlier along with two adjoining parcels, “Parcel A” and “Parcel C.” Parcel B is an approximately 60-foot-wide strip of land, which plaintiff MF retained, over which defendant Couch Distributing was granted “a nonexclusive right of way for ingress and egress and for all utility purposes.” Over the years, the distributing business of defendant Couch Distributing was built on the adjoining parcels and the easement was used as an essentially private road to service the business. More recently, plaintiff *185 sought to use Parcel B as a tertiary public road to access a proposed development, the Manabe-Ow development, in the City of Watsonville (City). The property dispute emerged during the development process with the City.

Plaintiff MF appeals from an order granting an anti-SLAPP motion brought by defendant Couch Distributing as to three causes of action: slander of title (second cause of action), cancellation of cloud on title (third…