A dispute along the shores of Lake George

We went to Lake George on vacation a couple of times when I was a kid, so I am blogging this recent case out of New York, Edscott Realty Corp. v. LaPlante Enterprises, Inc., 61356, out of a sense of nostalgia. Also it's another ambiguity case, and I always find those interesting and instructive for thinking about things to watch out for. 

The parties operate two adjacent hotels on the shores of Lake George. In 1999, the parties had a dispute over water access that was eventually resolved in 2002 by dividing up the water according to a fence line "continued out into the waters of Lake George in an easterly direction along said course." The waters north of the fence line were reserved for the plaintiff and the waters south for the defendant. 

The parties are now disputing, among other things, the meaning of this division. The plaintiff alleged that it limits both the actual berthing of boats on the wrong side of this line plus ingress and egress to navigate into those berths. The defendant alleged that it pertains only to the berthing of boats and does not limit the navigation of boats on Lake George. The court found that there was an ambiguity as to how far out into Lake George the parties had stipulated their rights to extend, and so refused to award summary judgment on the issue.