Opinion ID: 1794109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Luck v. Lyon Township

Text: Plaintiffs Randolph and Cynthia Luck own lots 1 through 4, block 143, of Michigan Central Park Third Addition, platted and recorded in 1901. They initiated suit in 1992 to vacate the portion of Michigan Central Park Boulevard that fronted their lots. Trial commenced in October 1992. Lots 1 through 4 are platted in an east-west direction. Lot 1 is adjacent to Haines Avenue to the north. Michigan Central Park Boulevard runs in a basically north-south direction along the east side of lots 1 through 4 and along the westerly shore of Higgins Lake. In the front of lots 1 through 4, the boulevard varies in width from ninety feet to more than one hundred fifty feet. The Lucks purchased their lots on June 6, 1986, by quitclaim deed from Allen and Leslie Methven. The deed also conveyed any rights that the sellers may have had in Michigan Central Park Boulevard. Pictures introduced at trial, and confirmed by a situation survey, revealed that the only encroachment into the boulevard was a part of a concrete slab attached to the plaintiffs' dwelling house on lots 3 and 4, and a concrete step walkway extending from the slab across most of the boulevard. As in Apostile, the Roscommon County Road Commission recorded an affidavit in 1959, using substantially similar language as reproduced above. Moreover, a title insurance commitment issued to the Lucks in 1986 clearly revealed the recorded affidavit. The circuit court denied the plaintiffs relief because they had purchased the property with notice that the road commission had exercised jurisdiction over the boulevard in the 1959 recorded affidavits. The court also noted that there was some proof of public use of the boulevard, as evidenced by testimony about bonfires. The Court of Appeals affirmed, on the basis of the 1937 McNitt resolution. We affirm for the reasons stated by the trial court. The plaintiffs failed to prove any use of Michigan Central Park Boulevard by their predecessors before 1959 that would have been inconsistent with an offer of dedication. We further find that the road commission accepted the offer of dedication no later than 1959.
In conclusion, we reject the reasoning of the Court of Appeals that a general McNitt act resolution was manifest acceptance of a particular platted road. We affirm the panel's result in Apostile and Luck. We modify the result in Kraus and Ziola. Walnut Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, and the forty-five easterly feet of Oak Avenue, shall be vacated. Don M. Boulevard and Michigan Central Park Boulevard shall not be vacated. We remand Kraus and Ziola for proceedings consistent with this opinion. On remand, the trial court will make further findings of fact with respect to Newman Avenue. We do not retain jurisdiction. BRICKLEY, C.J., and LEVIN, BOYLE, RILEY, MALLETT and WEAVER, JJ., concur.