There are a lot of cool people in Los Gatos, and some of them are actually famous. You can go to Wikipedia or other places to get a partial list of the high-profile people who live here or have lived here. I tend to avoid naming names on this blog because I figure most of those folks would rather just try to live a normal life and be somewhat incognito.

Yes, most of the famous people - I believe - really just want to be treated like regular folks (at least most of the time). Fame can be a great thing, but it can also be a terrible thing. It's terrible when you cannot enjoy a restaurant meal or just go shopping "like a normal person" because people won't leave you alone. It's also a downer when you aren't really sure who your friends are because so many just want to hang on your coattails because you're doing well and in the spotlight.  It is a nightmare when paparazzi have you in their sites and microanalyze your every move or people follow you in your car because they're curious or who knows what.

On the flip side, fame can offer some perks - it can be fun at times, but perhaps most of all, it can help those who have it to do a world of good when they bring attention to an important cause. 

And that's the case with Peggy Flemming, the famous Olympian skater, who resides here with her family here in The Cats.  I always smile to see her around town, and I always leave her alone. Our sons went to preschool together, and attended the same high school, though I don't think they really knew each other then (and I'm sure she would not remember me). So over the years, I've seen her here and there and thought it was neat that she was and is a woman with no "airs". Just another nice mom around town, but one I respect a lot.

Obviously, there's a lot more to her than what I've mentioned so far. Just now I read a neat article about Peggy Flemming Jenkins and all of this is just a lead-in to that. The article discusses her battle with breast cancer and the work she does in that arena now (as well as many other things, professional and personal, such as work with her and her husband's wines).

So have a read, and be inspired. There are good people all around us. Sometimes we just need to have the spotlight shine on them a bit so we know about it, and hopefully can be inspired to do some good ourselves as well.

What's an easement? In a nutshell, it is the right to use someone else's property.

The most common types of easements are ones we can't easily escape: they are for power, water, perhaps phone lines. The utility companies have a right to go onto your land to get to the water pipes outside your home or to the power or telephone lines in your backyard. They have a right to go there and do not need your permission, generally speaking, if the need arises. (That said, they usually do give notice unless it's an emergency.)

Easments can be given by the landowner to the person or organization that wants to use it too. This can be done for charitable reasons or for payment and it can involve cash payment for the use of the land. For instance, the right to use a driveway from one parcel to access another might be a great convenience to the person who wants the easment (it might be a much shorter route home than another alternative).

As a charitable example, an easment might be granted by a property owner to the general public to have a shortcut to a park or trail. In this case, the landowner might close the access off once a year and also post a "right to pass by permission" type of notice so that this easement is as a temporary gift and not a permanent loss of rights of the landowner. (An interruption in the use of the easement.)

A "prescriptive easement" is one that happens by accident as far as the landowner is concerned. In this case, others openly and notoriously used the property owner's land without interruption (as a shortcut, a driveway, etc.) for a period of years without the owner objecting or preventing that use. Eventually, the right to use the land for those purposes can become permanent. To form a prescriptive easement, the use must be open, notorious, for a period of years, and uninterrupted.

To give a real-life example, there were two homes in Cambrian Park with fences and gates - we'll call them lots A and B.  The the fence for Lot A extended further toward the street than that of Lot B. And the gate for Lot A opened not onto its own front yard, but onto the front yard of Lot B. (The gate was at a 90 degree angle to where it should have been.)

If the homeowner of Lot B did not object, but allowed the folks in Lot A to go through their gate and onto the land of Lot B for a period of time, it would become a prescriptive easement.

What to do? The only thing to do to prevent the prescriptive easement being formed is to object and to request (insist upon) the gate being rebuilt. Hopefully that would not require legal action. But to allow someone to cross your property without objection for a period of years is to invite the formation of a prescriptive easement.

When buying or selling a home, easments will be listed on the preliminary title report. Normally these are simply the utility easements. Not every easement is recorded, though, so do not rely on the preliminary title report for assurance that there are no easements. Home or landowners must pay attention to the use of the land and be aware of any risk of the formation of prescriptive easements.  Homebuyers should check the land too and see if it appears that the property is being used by others.

Could anything be worse for a homeowner than a prescriptive easement?

Yes.

Adverse possession. We'll discuss that later this week.