Opinion ID: 829412
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: common-law dedication

Text: A valid common-law dedication of land requires (a) intent by the property owner to offer the land for public use, (b) an acceptance by, and maintenance of the road by, public officials, and (c) use by the public generally. Bain v Fry, 352 Mich 299, 305; 89 NW2d 485 (1958). If these are present, the dedication is sufficient regardless of form. Badeaux v Ryerson, 213 Mich 642, 647; 182 NW 22 (1921). With regard to an intention to dedicate, all facts and circumstances bearing on the question are considered. See Lee, 14 Mich at 18. Acceptance is similarly fact-specific. It “may be either formal, by resolution or ordinance, or informal ‘through user or expenditures of public money for the repair, improvement and control of the highway.’” Rice v Clare Co Rd Comm, 346 Mich 658, 665; 78 NW2d 651 (1956) (citation omitted). 11 “A dedication must be accepted within a reasonable time or the offer will be considered as withdrawn.” Cass Co Bd of Supervisors v Banks, 44 Mich 467, 476; 7 NW 49 (1880). Offers to dedicate are considered withdrawn when the owners of property use it in a way that is inconsistent with public ownership. Lee, 14 Mich at 18. What qualifies as an inconsistent use depends on the circumstances of each case. See Field v Village of Manchester, 32 Mich 279, 280 (1875), in which the Court considered the fact that the landowner had erected buildings, fenced in an enclosure, and planted fruit trees in a portion of a disputed street as evidence of use inconsistent with dedication and public ownership. “Common-law dedications do not ordinarily convey the fee. In fact, under the strict rule they never do.” Patrick, 120 Mich at 211. “‘By the common law, the fee in the soil remains in the original owner, where a public road is established over it; but the use of the road is in the public. The owner parts with this use only.’” People, ex rel Dep’t of Conservation Dir v LaDuc, 329 Mich 716, 719; 46 NW2d 442 (1951), quoting Barclay v Howell’s Lessee, 31 US (6 Pet) 498, 513; 8 L Ed 477 (1832). Accordingly, as this Court stated in Loud v Brooks, 241 Mich 452,456; 217 NW 34 (1928): We hold the correct rule to be that a conveyance of land bounded on a highway, street, or alley carries with it the fee to the center thereof, subject to the easement of public way, provided the grantor at the time of conveyance owned to the center and there are no words in the deed showing a contrary intent . . . .