MacKenzie

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

La Vuelta Road (La Vuelta or the road) is a "u"-shaped road in Montecito that begins and ends at two points along North Jameson Lane, which runs parallel to Highway 101. The road was created in 1921 pursuant to a survey subdivision map of the "Hermosa Vista Property," which includes part of the San Ysidro Creek (the creek).1 The subdivision consists of 16 parcels, all but one of which are bounded on one side by the centerline of La Vuelta. Thirteen of the parcels are entirely east of the creek, while two of the remaining parcels begin west of the creek and extend eastward over the creek to the centerline of La Vuelta.2 The owner of each parcel of property that includes a portion of La Vuelta also owns a 30-foot wide easement (the La Vuelta easement or the easement), which gives them "a right of way for all of the uses and purposes of a private roadway." Over the years, the residents of the subdivision have treated La Vuelta as a private road and have borne all responsibility for its maintenance and repair. "Private road" signs have been at both ends of the road for the past several decades. For the last 25 years, respondents have lived on the parcel…