Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/255/56/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 20:42:19+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 255 › Port of Seattle v. Oregon & Washington R. Co.
1. The navigable waters in Washington and the lands under them passed to the state upon its creation in full proprietary ownership, subject to the federal control over navigation. P. 255 U. S. 63.
in the adjoining water area, or to withhold such rights completely; the effect of the conveyance in this regard is determined by the local law. P. 255 U. S. 63.
3. Under the Washington law, a grantee from the uplands on a natural navigable waterway takes only to high water mark, without riparian or littoral rights. P. 255 U. S. 64.
4. So too, a grant by the a described parcel of tide land conveys no rights in or over adjoining tide land or water, these being withheld in order that the state may not be hampered in developing waterways and harbors in the public interest. P. 255 U. S. 66.
5. The same rule applies to a conveyance of tide land reclaimed by the state by filling and abutting on a natural waterway confined by such reclamation and deepened by dredging. P. 255 U. S. 67.
6. The State of Washington, through the Port of Seattle, filled in a large area of tide land up to bulkheads confining a waterway; dredged a channel in the waterway, leaving shoals on either side of it; divided the land into numbered blocks and lots, and conveyed lots abutting on the waterway by a deed describing them by their numbers, without mention of the waterway or of water rights, but referring to a plat on which the boundaries of the lots were set forth, with lineal measurements, and on which the waterway was also shown, and, within it, on each side and some distance from the bulkheads, a line marked "Pierhead Line."
(1) That, in view of the policy of the state to retain control over navigable waters, an intention to convey with the lots a right to wharf out to the line and thus gain access to the fairway could not be implied, even assuming that there was no law at the time under which permission to do so could be granted by the state harbor commissioners.
(2) That the establishment of the pierhead line by the United States did not create a right to wharf out as against the state, and, semble, under the state law, its presence on a plat had no other effect than as a publication of the federal action. P. 255 U. S. 67.
7. A municipal corporation of a state is a citizen of that state within the rule governing removal of causes to the district court. P. 255 U. S. 70.
8. The right to remove a suit brought by a municipality to quiet the title of the state to a navigable waterway against an abutting landowner claiming a right to wharf out cannot be denied on the ground that the state is the real party in interest where the municipality has an independent financial interest in the controversy. Id.
When the State of Washington was admitted into the Union, there lay in front of the City of Seattle extensive tidelands in the area now comprised within the limits of the municipal corporation known as Port of Seattle. Under appropriate legislation of the state, this area has been developed as a port. Waterways have been established and in part dredged; tidelands abutting upon the waterways have been filled, platted as city blocks, and laid out with streets, and lots therein have been sold for business and other purposes. Among the waterways so established is that known as East Waterway, which connects Duwamish River with Elliott Bay, an arm of Puget Sound. East Waterway, as established, has at the point in question a width of 1,000 feet. The bed of the waterway was, in its natural state, tideland. The 750 feet of the waterway which lie in the center have been dredged to a depth at mean low tide of from 26 to 30 feet. The rest of the waterway, being that portion which extends on either side for a distance of 125 feet from the bulkhead of the filled land to the fairway, is of varying depth, and is not navigable by large vessels. The bed of the waterway within these 125 feet areas slopes from the bulkhead to the line of the fairway. It is exposed at low tide ordinarily at points about 36 feet from the bulkhead.
and with the assent of abutting owners, the pierhead line was moved back to a point 125 feet from the bulkhead, leaving the fairway in the center 750 feet, as above stated, instead of 500 feet as originally indicated on the plat. The rights claimed by the railroad are limited to this 125 feet area.
"Whenever, in any waterways created under the laws of the State of Washington, the government of the United States shall have established pierhead lines in said waterway at any distance from the boundaries thereof established by the state, no structure shall be allowed in the strip of waterway between the boundary and the nearest pier head line except by consent of the state land commissioner and upon plans approved and terms and conditions fixed by him, and then only for such period of use as shall be designated by him, but any permit shall not extend for a longer period than thirty (30) years: Provided, however, that the owner of land abutting upon either side of any such waterway shall have the right, if application be made therefor within a period of ninety (90) days following the date when this act shall go into effect, to obtain . . ."
a permit authorizing the improvement and use of such area under conditions to be prescribed by the state authorities upon the payment of an annual rental dependent in amount upon the assessed value of an equal area of the abutting land.
by the port commissioners. This bill to enjoin such use of the waterway by the railroad and its lessees and to quiet title was therefore brought by the Port of Seattle.
The decree entered by the lower court declared in substance (1) that the state has no proprietary interest in the water area between the bulkhead and the pierhead line; (2) that it is not entitled to lease the same or otherwise to deprive the railroad of access to the fairway; (3) that c. 168 of the laws of 1913, insofar as it provides for such leasing, violates the federal Constitution; (4) that the railroad has no proprietary interest in the waterway, but, as owner of the abutting lots, is entitled to access to the deep or navigable waters "subject to proper governmental supervision." The decree declared further that the state had never established harbor lines in the waterway, and expressly recited that the court does not determine whether or not the state now has power to establish harbor lines, nor what the effect might be of hereafter establishing them.
piers, docks or other structures in aid of navigation and commerce, and to charge a rental for the privilege.
state, by executing the deed of the land, which in fact adjoined East Waterway, conveyed rights in that waterway. That question is, in essence, one of construction of the deed taken in connection with the plat therein referred to.
Third. The railroad admits that such are the rights of a grantee from the state, where it is the upland which is conveyed. But it contends that a different rule applies where the sale is of tidelands. No basis for the distinction can be found either in the decisions of the highest court of the state or in reason. Since the upland owner has been denied riparian rights in deference to the asserted right of the state to control unhampered the course and development of navigable waters, the state's right must be superior also to the claim of the tideland owner. For the assertion of title in the state was obviously made in order that it might not be hampered in developing waterways and harbors in the manner and to the extent that the public interest should from time to time demand. Such development obviously includes harbor facilities like piers, docks and wharves, as well as adequate channels. Compare State v. Bridges, 87 Wash. 260. The proprietary right of the state over navigable waters and of the soil thereunder is neither exhausted nor impaired by making a sale of a tract of tideland, be it the parcel nearest the upland or some other. The state may in one year fill and sell the 100 feet of tidelands nearest the upland, and in the next year fill and sell the parcel beyond.
Compare State v. Scott, 89 Wash. 63, 70, 72. Or it may sell first the parcel more remote from the upland, and later the one immediately adjoining it, or any other. In every case, it may, in conveying the tideland, either grant or withhold rights in the water or in the water area, as it sees fit. When land washed by the ebb and flow of the tide is conveyed by the state with clearly defined boundaries, no rights of any kind beyond those boundaries ordinarily pass under the deed. Pearl Oyster Co. v. Heuston, 57 Wash. 533. Where a tideland owner acquires rights of access to deep water, it is by arrangement with the owner of the intervening land. Compare Pioneer Sand & Gravel Co. v. Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co., 102 Wash. 608.
same which in other jurisdictions led to the recognition of riparian rights -- that is, the claim of the shoreland owner to access to deep water. But the court did not secure this interest to the shoreland owner by granting him extraterritorial rights -- i.e., riparian or littoral rights. It did so by construing the outer boundary of his land to be the line of navigability; holding that, since the legislature had not limited the outer boundary of shorelands, as it had done in the case of tidelands, it must have intended that the shorelands granted should extend to the line of navigable water, in the absence of legislation to the contrary. Compare Bilger v. State, 63 Wash. 457. The legislature confirmed this boundary, expressly restricting it to the lands to which the court had applied it -- that is, shorelands not within city limits. This doctrine can have no application to shorelands where the property line is fixed in the deed. And it cannot apply to tidelands, the dissimilarity of which to shorelands furnished the ground for enunciating the rule.
It appears, therefore, that the law of Washington does not recognize, as appurtenant to upland, tideland, or shoreland in its natural condition, rights of any sort beyond the boundaries of the property. A right of access to the navigable channel over intervening land, above or below low water, must arise from a grant by the owner of the intervening property.
harbor area so created to be used for the erection of piers and wharves. East Waterway was and is one of the navigable waters of the state. Our attention has not been called to any statute or decision which indicates that, at the time of the original grant, power to create harbor areas in it and to grant permits to erect wharves therein would not have been possessed by the harbor commissioners.
Even if the assumptions upon which the arguments rest were all true, the conclusion contended for would not follow. Ever since the organization of the state, it has been the clearly defined policy of Washington not to grant riparian rights in navigable waters. This policy, declared in its constitution and expressed in careful legislation, has been consistently enforced by its courts. A grant by implication of the riparian right here asserted might perhaps be inferred in other jurisdictions from the circumstances stated. But in Washington such an implication seems wholly inadmissible. If, in the development in question, it had been the intention of the state to make such a radical departure as that for which the railroad contends, the intention would doubtless have been expressed by appropriate language in the deed. But East Waterway was not even mentioned in it. Until we are so informed by the Supreme Court of Washington, we cannot, in the light of the waterway history of the state, believe that there were implications in the situation described which, without more, are sufficient to indicate an intention to depart from the settled policy of the state.
"The use of the words 'pierhead line' on the plat prepared by the state and in the decree is an unfortunate misuse of terms. The word means nothing under our Constitution and statutes. In some of the Eastern states, we understand that 'pierhead lines' are defined, but the constitution makers in this state were careful to avoid the confusion that may result from the drawing of an arbitrary line beyond which piers and docks should not be erected, by providing for an inner and an outer harbor line with an intervening area subject to state ownership and control."
It is unnecessary, therefore, for us to consider whether, on this record, it is open to the Port to contend that pierhead lines were in fact never fixed by any state official.
Railway Co. v. Missouri Railroad & Warehouse Commissioners, 183 U. S. 53, 183 U. S. 60. The objection to the jurisdiction of the district court is clearly unsound. The Port, being a municipal corporation under the laws of Washington, is a citizen of that state, and could have been sued in the federal court. Lincoln County v. Luning, 133 U. S. 529; Chicot County v. Sherwood, 148 U. S. 529. It had both the power and the duty to bring suit to protect the interests here involved, and it had a direct financial interest in the result. For c. 168 of the Laws of 1913 provides for a payment by abutting owners, in the nature of a rental, for the permit to use parts of the waterways in the erection of wharves, docks, or other structures, and that 75% of such rental shall be paid to the county "for the use of said Port district." The Port has thus an independent financial interest in this controversy, and although the state has also an interest, suit against the Port would not be prevented by the Eleventh Amendment. What effect the judgment in this case will have upon the state's interest we have no occasion to consider. Compare Tindal v. Wesley, 167 U. S. 204; Hopkins v. Clemson Agricultural College, 221 U. S. 636.
Reversed, and the cause remanded to the district court for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
"to create and improve for harbor purposes new waterways within the port district; to regulate and control all such water . . . within the limits of such port district so far and to the full extent that this state can and hereby does grant the same, and remove obstructions therefrom; to straighten, widen, deepen and otherwise improve any and all waters, . . . to execute leases of all lands, wharves, docks and property owned and controlled by said port district upon such terms as to the commission may deem proper."
It exercises also powers similar to those exercised by counties including the power to sue and be sued. State v. Bridges, 87 Wash. 260. The state did not transfer to the port districts its ownership in the beds and shores of navigable waters.
"First party does hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey unto the second party, and his heirs and assigns, the following described tidelands of the first class, situated in front of the City of Seattle, Kings County, Washington, to-wit:"
"Lots one to nine, inclusive, block 393, as shown on the official map of Seattle Tidelands, filed with the Board of State Land Commissioners at Olympia, Washington, March 15, 1895."
"Subject, however, to any lien or liens that may arise or be created in consequence of an act of the legislature of the State of Washington entitled 'An act prescribing the ways in which waterways for the uses of navigation may be excavated by private contract, providing for liens upon tide and shore lands belonging to the state, granting rights of way across lands belonging to the state,' approved March 9, 1893."
"Witness the seal of the state affixed."
See Scurry v. Jones, 4 Wash. 468; Cogswell v. Forrest, 14 Wash. 1; Washougal & La Camas Transportation Co. v. Dalles, Portland & Astoria Navigation Co., 27 Wash. 490; Johnson v. Brown, 33 Wash. 588; Van Siclen v. Muir, 46 Wash. 38, 40; Brace & Hergert Mill Co. v. State, 49 Wash. 326.
In some states, the shore between the high and the low water mark belongs to the private owner of the upland, and, as such owner, he has all rights not inconsistent with the public's rights incident to navigation. In other states, although the land below high water mark belongs to the state, the private owner of the upland has the right of access over it to the navigable channel and the right to use the state's land in connection therewith. See 27 R.C.L., §§ 273-279, 284. But, in Washington, it is "uniformly held that there is no riparian right in the owners of lands bordering on the navigable waters of the state," and that the state retains the proprietary right to the soil below high water mark. State v. Sturtevant, 76 Wash. 158, 163; Brace & Hergert Mill Co. v. State, 49 Wash. 326, 331. The language of some earlier cases apparently in conflict with these views, was explained in Hulet v. Wishkah Boom Co., 54 Wash. 510, 517. The cases referred to go no further than to hold that the owner of uplands has a right in common with the public to use the stream for navigation as it flows past his land, and that others conducting operations upon the river may not willfully or negligently destroy his upland. Dawson v. McMillan, 34 Wash. 269; Monroe Mill Co. v. Menzel, 35 Wash. 487; Burrows v. Grays Harbor Boom Co., 44 Wash. 630. See also Judson v. Tidewater Lumber Co., 51 Wash. 164.

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