[§198-5] Enforcement of easement. (a) All conservation easements, whether held by public bodies or qualifying private organizations, shall be considered to run with the land, whether or not such fact is stipulated in the instrument of conveyance or ownership, and no conservation easement shall be unenforceable on account of the lack of privity of estate or contract, or on account of such conservation easement not being an appurtenant easement, or because such easement is a general easement.
(b) Actual or threatened injury to or impairment of a conservation easement, or actual or threatened violation of its terms, may be prohibited or restrained, or the interest intended for protection by such easement may be enforced, by injunctive relief granted by any environmental court of competent jurisdiction in a proceeding initiated by the grantor or by the holder of the easement.
(c) In addition to the remedy of injunctive relief, the holder of a conservation easement shall be entitled to recover money damages for any injury to such easement or to the interest being protected thereby or for the violation of the terms of such easement. In assessing such damages there may be taken into account, in addition to the cost of restoration, the loss of scenic, aesthetic, or environmental value to the real property subject to the easement, and other damages.
(d) The environmental court may award to the prevailing party in any action authorized by this section the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees. [L 1985, c 149, pt of §1; am L 2014, c 218, §8]
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