Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is a very complicated and fact-specific inquiry that you are not going to be able to resolve by posting on internet boards. In general terms, an easement is limited in scope to the purpose for which it was originally created. I have extensive experience in this area of law and I recently prevailed in an appeal which reversed a court judgment opening a private easement up to the public at large (see Scher v. Burke (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 381). If you want to talk more specifically about how to preserve your objections to the expansion, give me a call at 805-659-6800.

Whether winery traffic will create an overburden is a question of fact (as opposed to a question of law), and hence could be submitted to a jury. The language of the document creating the easement would be relevant, as it may reflect whether the parties, back in 1970, anticipated some kind of future development, but it sounds like a pretty "plain Jane" easement grant. My hunch is that if the winery and tasting room were open to the public without appointment that the ensuing traffic would very probably be an overburden, say 90%+ likely, whereas if visitors were accepted by prior appointment and there were few or no special events, the chances that a judge or jury would find an overburden might hover more in the 30-40% area. Other questions that might arise include whether the property has other access and whose lock is on the gate.