Opinion ID: 890336
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Placement of the Excess

Text: ¶37 The City next argues that the District Court did not properly consider and apply surveying principles related to blunders and the placement of an excess or deficiency. 22 The general rule is that an error should be placed where the error occurs, if it can be ascertained. Robillard & Wilson, Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles § 11.27, 340, § 12.26, 385. Thus, where the measured distance between found original monuments differs from the recorded distance between those monuments, the excess or deficiency should be placed where the mistake occurred. Robillard & Wilson, Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles § 12.27, 385-86, § 12.39, 400. For example, assume that Block 1 and Block 2 are separated by B Street, and the record widths of Blocks 1 and 2 are 300 feet each. Original stakes have been found at the four corners of Block 1 and at the four corners of Block 2. Measurements reveal that Block 1 is actually 299 feet and Block 2 is actually 301 feet. There is thus a one-foot shortage in Block 1 and a one-foot surplus in Block 2. In these circumstances, B Street cannot be moved one foot over to give Blocks 1 and 2 each exactly the record 300-foot measurement. Rather, the errors are placed where they occurred: the one-foot shortage remains in Block 1 and is prorated among the lots in that block, and the one-foot surplus remains in Block 2 and is prorated among the lots in that block. Robillard & Wilson, Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles § 12.29, 386-87. ¶38 Citing these principles, the City contends that the District Court was required to place the excess land in South Avenue, rather than in the lots that abut South Avenue. The difficulty with the City’s argument is that, unlike the above example where the original stakes found in the corners of Blocks 1 and 2 revealed the location of the original surveyor’s error, in the present case no original Bonner monuments have been found in South Avenue establishing whether Bonner’s mistake was in the dimensions he ascribed 23 to South Avenue or in the dimensions he ascribed to the abutting lots. To ascertain the location of Bonner’s mistake, therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the other available evidence. McCarthy and Shelton did just that, but arrived at different conclusions as to which dimensions shown on the plats are in error. ¶39 In this regard, the location of a boundary line on the ground is a question of fact. Robertson v. Lees, 189 S.W.3d 463, 469 (Ark. App. 2004); Snyder v. Haagen, 679 A.2d 510, 513 (Me. 1996); Gulas v. Tirone, 919 N.E.2d 833, 837-38 (Ohio App. 7th Dist. 2009). “[W]hen two competent surveyors disagree as to where a boundary line should be, the trial court’s determination as to which surveyor is correct depends mainly on each surveyor’s credibility and will not be reversed if there is reasonable support in the evidence for such a determination.” Wojahn v. Johnson, 297 N.W.2d 298, 303 (Minn. 1980); see also e.g. Funk v. Robbin, 212 Mont. 437, 442-43, 689 P.2d 1215, 1218-19 (1984) (applying this rule in reviewing a jury verdict). Here, the application of relevant surveying principles to the evidence presented at trial provides reasonable support for the District Court’s decision to accept Shelton’s placement of the excess. ¶40 One of the surveying principles cited by Shelton is directly on point. It states: “In the absence of monuments, streets are given the width called for on the plat, regardless of excess or deficiency that may exist within a subdivision. . . . [D]eficiency or excess cannot exist within a street except where the original monuments set by the original surveyor indicate otherwise.” Robillard & Wilson, Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles § 12.23, 381-82. Brown’s explains that the “weight of reason” is against placing an excess or deficiency within a public way because 24 [b]efore the establishment of any subdivision, street widths that are acceptable to the public are determined by the governing agency, and the subdivision is accepted by the public agency on the condition that the streets are of a certain definite width. The size of lots is determined by the whims of the subdivider, the desires of the purchasers, and the minimum area requirements of the planning agency. The tendency of all subdividers is to make the streets of minimum width so as to have a maximum amount of land for lots. The streets are definite and fixed, whereas the lots are variable. Robillard & Wilson, Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles § 12.23, 382-83. ¶41 Consistent with this principle, the Car Line plats, together with their certificates of dedication, show that the grantors contemplated South Avenue to be 60 feet wide and centered on the section line. South Avenue is plainly labeled 60 feet wide in two places on the 1909 plat, and the 1910 plats together describe and depict South Avenue as 60 feet wide and centered on the section line. There is no evidence that the grantors knew about the non-depicted excess land; but even assuming, for the sake of argument, that they were aware of the excess and that they intended to dedicate it as part of South Avenue, there is no convincing evidence that the Missoula County Commissioners intended to accept a right-of-way wider than 60 feet. See Eugene McQuillin, The Law of Municipal Corporations vol. 11A, § 33:61, 680-81 (3d ed., Thomson Reuters 2009) (“acceptance of a part [of the property dedicated] is not necessarily an acceptance of all”). ¶42 In discussing this point, the District Court cited the statutory requirement that “[t]he width of all public highways, except bridges, alleys and lanes, must be sixty feet unless a greater or less width is ordered by the Board of County Commissioners on petition of the persons interested.” Section 1339, RCM (1907), now codified at § 7-14-2112(1), MCA (2011). The City asserts, and we agree, that this statute does not 25 control the width of South Avenue. This Court has recognized that this statute was intended to apply only to public roads that were formally laid out by the official act of the proper public authorities and is not applicable to highways, roads, or lanes created by dedication or prescription. See State v. Portmann, 149 Mont. 91, 95-96, 423 P.2d 56, 58 (1967) (citing Mulch v. Nagle, 197 P. 421, 425 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 1921) (interpreting a similar California statute)); see also Donovan v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 177 N.W. 159, 160 (Neb. 1920). Nevertheless, § 1339, RCM (1907), does support the District Court’s inference that, absent any credible evidence to the contrary, the Missoula County Commissioners intended to accept a right-of-way having a uniform 60-foot width. ¶43 In sum, the depictions on the Car Line plats, the descriptions in the certificates of dedication, the surveying principles discussed above, and the statutory preference for public roadways of uniform 60-foot width all support the District Court’s determination that South Avenue is 60 feet wide and centered on the section line.