Opinion ID: 2179137
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Property at Issue is a City Street Established by the 1858 Plat.

Text: A. Location of the platted street. The Gaedes argue that the city has not established that it owns the property at issue. They urge that North Street as platted did not extend to the west bank of the Mississippi River. That claim is dispelled by the plat itself, which clearly shows the location of North Street as extending to the riverbank. We have recognized that the recording of a plat, followed by the subsequent incorporation of the platted area as a city, is the equivalent of a deed in fee simple to the city of the land set apart in the plat for streets or other public uses. Fencl, 620 N.W.2d at 812; Kelroy v. City of Clear Lake, 232 Iowa 161, 164, 5 N.W.2d 12, 16 (1942); Inc. Town of Ackley v. Cent. States Elec. Co., 206 Iowa 533, 536, 220 N.W. 315, 316 (1928). Because plats are prepared by private landowners, the dedication of streets is subject to the city's formal acceptance in order that the city may not be forced to accept a burden it does not wish to assume. Burlington, C.R. & N.R. Co. v. City of Columbus Junction, 104 Iowa 110, 112-13, 73 N.W. 501, 502 (1897). Because this requirement is for the city's protection, lack of a formal acceptance will not defeat a city's claim to a platted street that has been used as a public way. Id. Such use need only be that which the public wants and necessities demand. Henry Walker Park Ass'n v. Mathews, 249 Iowa 1246, 1253, 91 N.W.2d 703, 708 (1958). Moreover, the legislature has provided that a showing of formal acceptance of city streets is not necessary in the case of plats filed before 1897. Iowa Code § 592.2 (2001). In the present case, a dedication of all of the streets shown on the 1858 plat was acknowledged by Alexander MacGregor and Ann G. MacGregor, the owners of the land. At the time of the incorporation of the city, thirty-five electors attested to the acceptance of the designations shown on the 1858 plat as the city (town) of North McGregor. The Gaedes contend the language in the 1858 plat describing the location of the northeast corner of the city demonstrates that North Street did not extend all the way to the river. The language to which they refer provides: The North East corner of the plat commences one hundred eighty feet due West of the North East corner of the Bazil Giard Claim No. 1 Clayton County, Iowa. The point so described lies west of the river more than 100 feet. The Gaedes would establish the east boundary of the city by extending this point due south. As a surveyor who testified for the city declared, the location of the northeast corner only establishes one point on the boundary of the city. No further description of the city's boundaries is contained in the plat. To establish the eastern boundary in the manner that the Gaedes suggest would eliminate not only a portion of North Street as shown on the plat but other portions of the city as well. We find that North Street did extend to the west bank of the river as shown on the plat and has, in its entirety, been a duly constituted city street ever since the incorporation of the town in 1874. B. Abandonment. Although the Gaedes urge that there have been long periods of nonuser of North Street as a public way and that a tree has obstructed the unimpeded use of a portion thereof, these circumstances do not sustain their claim that the platted street has been abandoned by the city. There is a presumption that, once a highway or street is shown to exist, it continues to exist. Allamakee County v. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d 448, 451 (Iowa 1999). To establish abandonment, an intent to abandon must be proven by clear and satisfactory evidence. Id.; Sterlane v. Fleming, 236 Iowa 480, 483, 18 N.W.2d 159, 161 (1945). Actual acts of relinquishment accompanied by an intention to abandon must be shown. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 451; Town of Marne v. Goeken, 259 Iowa 1375, 1382, 147 N.W.2d 218, 224 (1966). Obstructions, encroachments, or the failure to keep a road in repair do not necessarily result in abandonment. Sterlane, 236 Iowa at 484, 18 N.W.2d at 162. C. Absence of a deed for the railway line. At the time of the 1858 plat, there was no railway line in existence. The railway line we have earlier described was built at a later time. That line crossed over the location of North Street as shown on the plat. The Gaedes argue that because there is no deed of record conveying a portion of North Street to a railway company it must be assumed that the railway already owned the disputed property as a result of the unrecorded Lawler deed. In response to this argument, we believe that we may only fairly assume from these facts that the entity that constructed the railway line acquired some type of ownership interest in a strip of land crossing over North Street. But, there is no reason to assume that this strip of land was any wider than 100 feet, which is the dimension of the railway right-of-way. The property in dispute lies east of the eastern boundary of the railway right-of-way. The Gaedes' argument concerning the lack of a deed to a railway company provides no basis for negating the city's ownership of North Street from the railway line east to the west bank of the river. D. The effect of the Halverson settlement. The Gaedes argue that, because the plat provides that streets be sixty-six feet in width and the city's settlement with the Halversons has precluded its use of the north thirty-three feet of North Street as a street, it may not maintain the remaining thirty-three feet as a public way. They have cited no authority for this proposition and, consequently, have waived any argument concerning the city's right to use the remaining portion of the street. See Iowa R.App. P. 6.14(1)( c ) (providing that failure to cite authority in support of proposition may be deemed to be waiver of the issue).