SDC News One | Rosamond California 60th Street Property Access Dispute
DECLARATION
REGARDING HISTORICAL ACCESS, ROADWAY USE, UTILITY SERVICE, AND CONTINUOUS PROPERTY ACCESS
Superior Court of California, County of Kern, Mojave
Case Name: [CASE NAME]
Case Number: [CASE NUMBER]
I, [FULL LEGAL NAME], declare as follows:
I. PURPOSE OF THIS DECLARATION
I make this declaration based upon my personal knowledge, family records, historical documents, governmental records, utility records, and other records available to me concerning the property historically associated with the Smith family in the Rosamond/60th Street West and Butte Lane area of Kern County, California.
I submit this declaration to establish the long and documented history of physical access to the property and to preserve the historical facts concerning the roadway, utility service, governmental recognition, and continuous use associated with the property.
The property is presently being denied or substantially prevented from having physical access. This situation threatens the ability of the lawful property owners and occupants to enter, leave, maintain, protect, develop, and otherwise lawfully use the property.
I respectfully request that the Court consider the property's documented history and the longstanding circumstances surrounding access before permitting the historical access serving the property to be extinguished, blocked, or otherwise disregarded.
II. ORIGINAL SMITH FAMILY OWNERSHIP
On or about June 1958, my parents, Berry J. Smith and Rillie Louise Smith, purchased the original parcel of land that became associated with our family property.
To the best of my knowledge and based upon the historical records available to our family, Berry J. Smith and Rillie Louise Smith were among the first, and are understood by our family records to have been the first, residents associated with this original property offering.
At the time of the original purchase and development of the property, the surrounding area was substantially different from the developed areas that exist today.
The property was nevertheless treated as a place of residence and as property requiring ordinary physical access, utility service, mail delivery, governmental access, emergency access, and other services associated with an established residence.
III. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTRICAL SERVICE AND HISTORICAL ROAD IDENTIFICATION
In connection with obtaining electrical service for the property, it became necessary to identify the location by a street or roadway designation so that electrical infrastructure could be installed and serviced.
The Smith family paid approximately $650.00 per pole for the installation of four (4) high-voltage electrical poles extending toward and serving the property.
These electrical poles were not merely theoretical improvements. They were installed as physical infrastructure to provide electrical service to the property.
Historical Southern California Edison records identified the location associated with the Smith property as:
BUTTE LANE & 60TH STREET WEST
Route 1, Box 161
Rosamond, California 93560
The use of this location designation by the utility company is significant because it demonstrates that the property was historically identified by reference to Butte Lane and 60th Street West for purposes of providing utility service.
The electrical infrastructure necessarily required a physical route by which utility personnel could reach, install, inspect, maintain, repair, and service the facilities serving the property.
The existence of this infrastructure and the historical location designation are matters that should be verified against the original Southern California Edison records, maps, service records, pole records, work orders, and related documents.
IV. INVOLVEMENT OF KERN COUNTY OFFICIALS
The historical establishment and recognition of the property location involved Robert A. Graves, Sr., who was then a Kern County Supervisor representing the Southern Kern County region.
My understanding from the family history and available records is that Supervisor Graves was involved in the governmental and administrative matters associated with establishing the location and obtaining necessary services.
I further understand that Mrs. Graves had a personal connection to the surrounding area and assisted with the purchase of another parcel on which a church was subsequently established.
I do not offer these facts as evidence of any improper governmental action. I offer them to establish the historical circumstances under which the property, its location, roadway identification, and necessary services became recognized in the community and governmental records.
County archives, assessor records, road records, subdivision records, maps, utility correspondence, and other governmental records may provide additional evidence concerning the historical recognition of the property and its access.
V. LONGSTANDING GOVERNMENTAL, COMMERCIAL, AND PUBLIC RECOGNITION
The historical location was not known solely to the Smith family.
Various governmental agencies, businesses, service providers, and members of the public historically recognized the Smith residence and property in connection with Butte Lane and 60th Street West.
Among the entities known to have records or historical references associated with the property or location are:
a. Kern County Sheriff's Department;
b. Kern County Fire Department;
c. Kern County governmental offices;
d. Southern California Edison;
e. United States Postal Service rural delivery;
f. Sears and Roebuck;
g. United States Department of Defense;
h. Edwards Air Force Base;
i. Northrop/Northrop-related aircraft operations; and
j. The Bakersfield Californian newspaper.
These references are important because they may establish that the property was historically accessible and identifiable by persons and agencies other than the Smith family.
In particular, the United States Department of Defense and Edwards Air Force Base became involved with the area in connection with the removal and disposal of live munitions reportedly embedded on or associated with the property.
The existence of such governmental activity necessarily demonstrates that government personnel were required to locate and physically reach the property or surrounding area.
Likewise, historical references concerning an aircraft associated with Northrop that reportedly crashed near the property demonstrate that the location was known and identifiable in connection with significant events in the surrounding area.
Historical newspaper reporting by The Bakersfield Californian concerning the area may provide additional independent evidence establishing the location, accessibility, residents, roads, and activities associated with the property.
VI. HISTORICAL ACCESS WAS NECESSARY FOR ORDINARY USE OF THE PROPERTY
The Smith family could not reasonably have occupied and maintained the property without physical access.
Residential occupation required the ability to travel to and from the property, receive mail and deliveries, obtain utility service, receive emergency services, conduct maintenance, transport supplies, and perform ordinary activities associated with ownership and residence.
The installation and maintenance of electrical poles further demonstrate the practical necessity of physical access to the property.
Governmental, utility, postal, commercial, emergency, and other activities associated with the property further support the historical existence and recognition of physical access.
The access was therefore not a recent convenience created for the present dispute.
It was part of the historical circumstances under which the property was purchased, occupied, identified, serviced, and recognized.
VII. CONTINUITY AND RELIANCE
The Smith family relied upon the existence of physical access when acquiring, occupying, maintaining, and using the property.
The historical use of the property and its identification as being at or associated with Butte Lane and 60th Street West continued over a substantial period of time.
The family did not purchase the property with the understanding that it would be physically inaccessible.
To the contrary, the property's history demonstrates that access was treated as an existing and necessary condition of the property.
The present attempt to deny or obstruct physical access would therefore substantially alter the historical condition under which the property was acquired and used.
VIII. PRESENT ACCESS PROBLEM
At present, physical access to the property is being denied, obstructed, or challenged.
As a result, the property is effectively being placed in a condition in which lawful owners or occupants cannot reliably reach the property.
This creates serious practical consequences, including potential problems involving:
a. emergency access;
b. fire protection;
c. law-enforcement response;
d. medical response;
e. utility maintenance;
f. property maintenance;
g. delivery of materials and supplies;
h. inspection and repair;
i. protection of the property from damage or trespass; and
j. ordinary ingress and egress by lawful owners and occupants.
I believe that permanently eliminating the historical means of access without a determination of the property's historical and legal access rights would cause substantial and potentially irreparable harm.
IX. HISTORICAL RECORDS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
I respectfully request that the Court consider the historical records associated with this property rather than examining the present-day physical configuration alone.
Relevant records may include, but are not limited to:
a. original deeds and conveyances;
b. Kern County Recorder records;
c. Kern County Assessor records;
d. historical parcel maps;
e. road and right-of-way maps;
f. Southern California Edison service records;
g. electrical pole installation records;
h. utility correspondence;
i. United States Postal Service rural delivery records;
j. Kern County Sheriff's Department records;
k. Kern County Fire Department records;
l. Department of Defense records;
m. Edwards Air Force Base records;
n. historical newspaper articles;
o. historical aerial photographs;
p. historical surveys;
q. historical maps;
r. records concerning emergency response;
s. records concerning the removal of live munitions; and
t. any other governmental or private records identifying the property or its historical means of access.
I believe these records may establish facts concerning the existence, location, recognition, and historical use of the access serving the property.
X. PRESERVATION OF HISTORICAL ACCESS RIGHTS
I am not asking the Court to create a new road or grant a new privilege based solely upon present circumstances.
Rather, I ask that the Court determine and protect whatever historical property rights, easement rights, roadway rights, rights of ingress and egress, prescriptive rights, implied rights, rights arising from necessity, or other legally enforceable interests may have arisen from the property's history and longstanding use.
The Smith family's acquisition and occupation of the property beginning in or about 1958 predates the present dispute by many decades.
The historical utility service, roadway designation, governmental recognition, residential use, mail service, emergency access, and other documented activities should be considered in determining the nature and extent of the property's access rights.
Nothing in this declaration is intended to waive any claim, defense, easement, right-of-way, property right, statutory right, equitable right, or other legal theory available to the property owner or the Smith family.
I specifically reserve the right to supplement this declaration if additional historical documents, governmental records, utility records, photographs, maps, witnesses, or other evidence are located.
XI. REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL CONSIDERATION
I respectfully request that the Court recognize that this is not simply a dispute over a present-day driveway or an informal route across vacant land.
The evidence indicates a property with a documented history dating back to approximately 1958, including residential occupation, utility installation, historical roadway identification, governmental recognition, commercial activity, emergency considerations, and other uses requiring physical access.
Eliminating access to a property that has historically been occupied and serviced would have profound consequences for the property's use and value.
I therefore respectfully request that the Court deny any attempt to extinguish or obstruct the property's historical access rights unless and until the full chain of title, historical roadway records, utility records, governmental records, historical use, and all applicable California property law have been fully considered.
I further request that all relevant public agencies and private entities preserve any historical records relating to the property, including records concerning Butte Lane, 60th Street West, Route 1 Box 161, Southern California Edison service, governmental access, emergency response, and the Smith family's occupancy and use of the property.
XII. DECLARATION UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and belief. Where I have identified historical information obtained from records or family history rather than personal observation, I have identified it as such and request that the underlying records be considered as supporting evidence.
Executed on ____________________, 2026, at __________________________, California.
__________________________________
[FULL LEGAL NAME]
Declarant
Address: ______________________________
Telephone: _____________________________
Email: _________________________________
A very important legal point
I would not file this exactly as-is without checking the underlying documents. The strongest version of this case may come from proving a specific property right rather than simply arguing that the road has existed for a long time.
For a California property-access fight, I would have an attorney investigate these potential theories:
Express easement/right-of-way in an old deed or recorded instrument.
Prescriptive easement based on qualifying open, notorious, continuous use for the statutory period.
Easement by necessity, depending on how the parcels were created and whether access was legally necessary.
Implied easement based upon the circumstances surrounding the original conveyance and historical use.
Historical public/private roadway rights, including whether a county or other governmental entity ever accepted, maintained, mapped, or recognized the road.
Estoppel/reliance, if governmental or private parties represented or treated the access as existing and the property owners relied upon that representation.
Potential issues involving abandonment, extinguishment, relocation, or obstruction if someone is now claiming that a historically used route disappeared.
The $650-per-pole payment is particularly worth documenting. If you can locate the original Southern California Edison receipt, work order, service application, correspondence, map, or account record showing that the Smith family paid for the four poles and that the service address was Butte Lane & 60th Street West, that could be substantially more persuasive than simply stating it from family memory.
Likewise, I would try to obtain the actual Kern County road maps and recorder records from around 1958–1965, rather than relying solely on the modern description of the property.
And there's one thing I would be especially careful about: do not say that a government agency “established” or “recognized” a legal easement unless the records actually establish that. We can say the records identify the property, show access, or document use. Then let the evidence support the legal conclusion. That makes the declaration considerably harder to attack as speculation.
If you have the old deed, current deed, assessor parcel number, survey, legal description, road map, SCE document, or the opposing party's challenge, those documents could allow this to be turned into a much stronger California court-ready declaration with an exhibit list and a chronological 1958–2026 access timeline.
