Opinion ID: 3132350
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dedication and Acceptance

Text: ¶ 35. We next consider whether the common-law doctrine of dedication and acceptance, which is “the setting apart of land for public use,” Okemo Mountain, 164 Vt. at 454, 671 A.2d at 1269, supports the trial court’s conclusion. A valid common-law dedication and acceptance requires proof of intent to dedicate on behalf of the landowner and proof of acceptance on behalf of the town. Town of South Hero v. Wood, 2006 VT 28, ¶ 10, 179 Vt. 417, 898 A.2d 756. An intent to dedicate and accept may be express or implied, Newton, 115 Vt. at 43, 50 A.2d at 608, but such intent must be unequivocal, Gore, 96 Vt. at 239, 118 A. at 890. Dedication may be shown by “the owner’s writings, affirmative acts, acquiescence in public use, or some combination thereof, so long as the owner’s intent to dedicate clearly appears.” Town of Newfane v. Walker, 161 Vt. 222, 225, 637 A.2d 1074, 1076 (1993) (quotation omitted). While intent to accept may be similarly demonstrated, this intent must also be coupled with some affirmative act of acceptance on behalf of the town. Smith v. Town of Derby, 170 Vt. 553, 554, 742 A.2d 757, 759 (1999) (mem.); Folsom v. Town of Underhill, 36 Vt. 580, 587, 1864 WL 1494, at  (“The clearest or most unequivocal act of dedication would be wholly ineffectual without an acceptance of the dedication by the town, acting through its proper officers.”). No lapse of time or evidence of long use by the public is required if the acts of dedication and statute is “an evidentiary method of providing boundaries of a public highway otherwise incapable of ascertainment from public records.” Id. at 440, 571 A.2d at 69 (quotation omitted). 16 acceptance are unequivocal. Newton, 115 Vt. at 44, 50 A.2d at 609; Bennington Cnty. v. Town of Manchester, 87 Vt. 555, 557, 90 A. 502, 503 (1914). ¶ 36. With this background in mind, we turn to the trial court’s conclusion with respect to dedication and acceptance. As noted above, it is unclear precisely what common-law doctrine the court applied: dedication and acceptance or prescription. In its ruling on the parties’ crossmotions for summary judgment, the court stated that long continuous use by the public would support a finding that a public highway exists through “dedication and acquiescence.” In its conclusions of law, the court emphasized “the necessity of acknowledging a continuing right to use a way over which the public use had regularly occurred without objection,” and cited two cases, Morse v. Ranno, 32 Vt. 600, 1860 WL 3117, and Higgins v. Ringwig, 128 Vt. 534, 267 A.2d 654 (1970), to support its conclusion that Petty Road “remains a public way by long acquiescence.”11 While there is at least a strong inference that the court was applying the law of dedication and acceptance, it failed to clearly articulate the law or supply any reasoning for reaching its conclusion. Rather, it summarily concluded that the highway has been established through long acquiescence to public use. Additionally, the court’s findings, as far as they go, do not support its conclusion. ¶ 37. On this point, we repeatedly have emphasized that public use alone, no matter how long, is insufficient to create a valid dedication and acceptance. See, e.g., Gardner v. Ludlow, 135 Vt. 87, 90, 369 A.2d 1382, 1384 (1977) (stating that “public usage and repair” are 11 Neither case the trial court cited supports its conclusion, although one of the two cases presents a vague picture of the distinction between dedication and acceptance and prescriptive easements. In Morse, finding no intent on the part of the landowner to dedicate, we concluded that “there is nothing but use by the public as a highway for travel and mere silent acquiescence, or rather, mere omission to resist such use by the [landowner]. . . . The right of the public, therefore stands upon . . . adverse possession.” 32 Vt. at 607, 1860 WL 3117, at . As a consequence, it appears that the court conflated the two doctrines in drawing its conclusion. Higgins appears to be a dispute between two landowners over the use of a private road; nothing in it addresses the actions necessary to establish a public highway or continue its use as a public highway. 17 insufficient to establish public highway); Demers, 120 Vt. at 385, 141 A.2d at 680-81 (“[N]either the dedication of the property nor the use by members of the public, generally, will transfer private property rights and liabilities into the public domain.”); Hyde, 27 Vt. at 454-55, 1855 WL 2490, at  (citing cases for proposition that public use alone is insufficient to establish public highway). ¶ 38. As we stressed in Bacon v. Boston & Maine Railroad, “[t]he adoption of a dedicated way as a highway must be evidenced by acts of the proper town authorities, and mere use by the public is not enough.” 83 Vt. at 439, 76 A. at 136. We further explained that a town “cannot have forced upon it as highways whatever ways and paths individuals may open and lay out,” id., and that “[i]t is for the towns to determine what shall be highways,” id. at 440, 76 A. at 136. As such, our case law consistently has required some evidence that the town has assumed the responsibility of maintenance and repair of the highway or otherwise has exercised control over the highway. See Smith, 170 Vt. at 554-55, 742 A.2d at 759 (“The intent to accept ‘may be inferred from evidence of assuming the burden of maintaining the road.’ ” (quoting Okemo Mountain, 164 Vt. at 455, 671 A.2d at 1269)); Town of Woodstock v. Cleveland, 125 Vt. 510, 512, 218 A.2d 691, 693 (1966) (concluding that because town “voluntarily assumed the burden of maintaining the road and keeping it in repair, summer and winter, over many consecutive years,” the town has recognized and accepted “the public character of the road”); Way v. Fellows, 91 Vt. 326, 329, 100 A. 682, 684 (1917) (recognizing that “under our system there cannot be a public highway without obligation to repair; and as the town has, in general, the burden of repair, it is for the town to determine what shall be highways therein”). ¶ 39. Plaintiffs’ case fails the acceptance requirement. Plaintiffs contend that the deed references that demonstrate long recognition of public use by the predecessors-in-interest support an intent to dedicate and accept Petty Road. While such long acquiescence to public use may adequately support an intent on the part of the landowners to dedicate Petty Road to public use, 18 the above-cited cases demonstrate that it is insufficient to prove acceptance by the town. Plaintiffs further argue that the stone walls and other evidence on the ground indicate maintenance and repair of the road. The evidence was sparse on these points and consistent with use as a private road as well as use as a public highway. There was no evidence that the town, as opposed to private landowners abutting the road, provided any improvements, maintenance, or repair. The evidence does not prove unequivocal intent to accept. We therefore conclude as a matter of law that the western segment of Petty Road was not established as a public highway through common-law dedication and acceptance.