Opinion ID: 2610751
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Historical Summary

Text: A short historical survey is necessary to an understanding of the issue in this case. The following represents a summary of material contained in the agreed statement of facts.
Rancho Los Alamitos, which included the whole area here in question, was created by grant of the Spanish governor in 1784 which was confirmed by decree of the Mexican government in 1833. A claim to the rancho filed with the United States Board of Land Commissioners was confirmed by that body and by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in 1857. Following the 1857 confirmation a government survey of the claim was made and the description emanating therefrom attempted, by reference to natural objects, to accurately delineate the bay and ocean boundaries along the then existing high tide line. However, the United States Surveyor General considered that this detailed description involved too many courses; the survey as finally approved in 1861 and 1874 reduced the number of courses and operated to exclude from the claim certain portions above the then high water mark. Prior to the turn of the century the rancho lands bordering the bay were conveyed to members of the Bixby family and split up into various parcels which were held by members of the family and by family-owned companies. When one of these companies began to dispose of its lands it became apparent that the boundaries between private lands and public tidelands and submerged lands were by no means clear. An action to perpetuate testimony was commenced in 1903 and evidence there taken showed (1) that five portions of upland which were a part of the original rancho had been omitted from the government survey because of the reduction of the number of courses; and (2) that, as a result of gradual alluvial action the mouth of the bay had moved southward during the years since the original grant. Although the proceedings to perpetuate testimony did not result in a decree quieting title, a few months after their conclusion a tract map was filed and approved covering the long peninsula north of the mouth of the bay. That map contemplated improvements on the whole of the peninsula, although apparently a portion of the peninsula was not within the rancho grant as reflected in the government survey, and another portion of the peninsula was that allegedly added by alluvial change. The peninsula was privately improved in accordance with the map. As a result of the reduction of the number of courses in the final survey and plat of Rancho Los Alamitos, the migration southward of the mouth of Alamitos Bay and uncertainty as to the causes of such migration, [4] and other changes in the configuration of the bay which have occurred over the years, there is no agreement today among interested parties as to the original or present boundaries of the rancho and, therefore, as to the present boundaries of parcels of land whose title derives from the rancho grant.
In 1886 two members of the Bixby family received state patents to 900 acres of tidelands within the bay. Although there is no question as to the validity of the patents, [5] their original and present boundaries are uncertain for several reasons. First, the exact locations of the two monuments used in the original 1886 patent survey are in doubt. Second, it is not now known whether the 1886 survey contemplated fast (fixed) boundary lines or meander boundary lines (i.e., lines following the ordinary high and low water marks.) Third, if meander lines were intended  and the boundaries were therefore subject to alteration by accretion  it is not known whether and to what extent changes in the channels which govern low water marks have resulted from accretion rather than avulsion or the works of man. (See fn. 4, ante. ) Substantial private and public development has taken place on filled areas purporting to lie within the 1886 tideland patents. However, the present uncertainty as to the true boundaries of those patents renders all titles in the general area of the patents subject to doubt. [6]
Of the many natural factors which over the years have brought about changes in the configuration of Alamitos Bay, the most significant is the San Gabriel River. Enormous quantities of sand, silt, and debris have been deposited in the bay by the river and these materials have been responsible for massive natural alterations in the configuration of the upland and channel. Some of the changes wrought by the river have been gradual and accretive; others have been sudden and avulsive due to flooding in particular years. Perhaps the most dramatic change of the latter variety occurred in 1867-1868. Prior to that time the river had emptied into the ocean, along with the Rio Hondo and Los Angeles Rivers, at the present location of Los Angeles Harbor. But in the winter of 1867-1868, in the course of a tremendous flood, the river cut a new channel and emptied through Alamitos Bay. It has remained in that general channel ever since, with periodic overflows into the former channel, but other floods have resulted in less significant avulsive alterations in the channel. As will appear below, the vast quantities of sand, silt, and debris deposited by the river in the bay have been utilized through dredging and filling for the creation of presently developed areas. However, even this process was insufficient to deal with constantly increasing deposits and it was not until 1954, when the Los Angeles County Flood Control District constructed jetties separating the river channel from the bay, that the problem of continued deposits was solved. At the present time it is practically impossible to determine which of the physical changes in Alamitos Bay due to the action of the river have resulted from accretive deposits in time of normal rainfall and which have resulted from avulsive deposits made during flood periods. Moreover, it is not possible with respect to certain filled areas to determine the extent to which natural as opposed to artificial means are responsible for the fill. The parties have concluded that the resulting title and boundary problems are insoluble.
No attempt will be made here to offer a comprehensive discussion of the many and varied physical changes which the works of man, private and public, have wrought in the Alamitos Bay area. As to private development, it suffices to say that very considerable dredging and filling activities over the years have operated to reclaim great areas of former tidelands, and a highly developed residential and recreational area has resulted. With one important exception, to be discussed in the next paragraph, substantially all of this activity was based upon titles purporting to derive from the 1886 Bixby tideland patents and took place within the approximate record boundaries of those patents. The exception to which we have referred is an area known as Steamshovel Channel. In its natural state this channel was a narrow slough extending in a general northerly direction from the main part of Alamitos Bay, and it was specifically excluded from the 1886 Bixby tideland patents. However, in the early part of this century the upland and tidelands on the north side of the bay began to be developed, and in 1923-1924 a private developer  with all necessary government approval  filled Steamshovel Channel and the tidelands surrounding it. Nevertheless, when in 1924 the public tidelands in the area were conveyed to the city as a part of the state tidelands trust grant, [7] Steamshovel Channel was included in that grant. However, no conflict was apparently perceived; the developer proceeded to sell lots on the filled area including Steamshovel Channel and residential development ensued. Neither the city nor the state has at any time protested against the present residential use and occupation of the 8.7 acres of land filled over what was once Steamshovel Channel. The present residents of the area acquired their lands in good faith and have paid taxes on them for many years. The precise location of Steamshovel Channel before filling is now unknown and, according to the agreed statements of facts, any claims that might be made by the State or City to parcels in the Steamshovel Channel area on the ground that they are City Trust Grant lands would be stoutly resisted and would encounter conflicting factual contentions resulting in protracted and expensive litigation involving thousands of property owners. As in the case of private development, public improvements were constructed over the years without any resolution of title and boundary problems  despite an awareness on the part of some officials that such problems might well exist. Although most of the private filling of what are today the settled and subdivided portions of the area was completed at the time of annexation to the city (1923), the completion and continuance of such development was encouraged by the city after annexation while the city concurrently continued its plans for development of the bay. In 1925 work commenced on Marine Stadium, an area on the eastern side of the bay designed for various aquatic competitions, and that facility was completed in time for the 1932 Olympic Games. The construction of Marine Stadium and other related facilities involved substantial dredging and filling operations. In the late 1920's oil was discovered in an area north of Marine Stadium, and the question of ownership claims in that area arose. The city council requested the city attorney to investigate the status of titles in this area, but the matter was dropped when the city attorney rendered a report which represented that the investigation had given rise to considerable uneasiness among property owners in the subject area and sales of property had been affected; that a quiet title action to determine the boundaries of the Bixby patents in the area would call into question many titles within and without the area under investigation; and that the city had little to gain from such a proceeding. Since the date of annexation the city has engaged in dredging to maintain existing channels in the bay. Dredged materials have been used by the city to create and maintain public beaches as well as to construct and maintain various bulkheads around the bay. Beginning in 1954 the city commenced an extensive program of improvement which has resulted in vast marina and boating facilities and has involved the expenditure of more than ten million dollars in tideland oil funds.