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

Heading: Timely Acceptance

Text: The Miller Court stated: If the plat is only an offer to dedicate, the offer must be accepted or it may be withdrawn, and after any considerable lapse of time must be regarded as no longer open for acceptance, unless the circumstances are such as to make the offer continuous. [Id. at 449-450.] The Court further opined what would be a considerable lapse of time: After what length of time such an offer must be regarded as withdrawn, circumstances may perhaps determine, but unless there were facts equivalent to a continuous renewal of the offer, it cannot be considered open after the lapse of a period of time sufficient to bar all actions for the recovery of lands under the statute of limitations. After such a lapse of time, the dedication to public uses must be regarded as confined to the bounds within which the action of the public with the presumed acquiescence of the donor has practically limited it. [Id. at 450-451.] The plaintiffs contend that the offer to dedicate lapsed automatically after fifteen years (the statutory period of limitation for adverse possession), absent actions by either the granting proprietor or the donee public authority. We disagree, because such a rule would harshly deprive the public of land that was originally intended for its use merely because the public authority did not act in situations in which public necessity had not yet required that the offered property be placed into public service or in which the funds available for such development were insufficient. [2] We note that the Higgins Lake area was sparsely populated at the time that these plats were recorded. Under the plaintiffs' proposed rule, the public authorities would have needed to accept the 1901 platted roads by 1916, the 1903 platted roads by 1918, and the 1907 platted roads by 1922. However, there was no need then to develop all the dedicated roads, nor were funds available to do so even if desired. Additionally, it would be arbitrary for this Court to apply a fifteen-year timeline retroactively. With these points in mind, we continue to adhere to the course expressed in White v. Smith, 37 Mich. 291, 295-296 (1877): As long as the plat proprietor or his successor took no steps to withdraw the offer to dedicate, the offer will be treated as continuing. See Vivian, 433 Mich. at 519-520, 446 N.W.2d 161. Therefore, whether an offer to dedicate lapsed or continued depends on the circumstances of each case. While the outer limit for acceptance within a reasonable time has not been set, we note that this Court has held that a 1961 acceptance of an 1874 grant (eighty-seven years later) was unreasonably late. Shewchuck v. City of Cheboygan, 372 Mich. 110, 114, 125 N.W.2d 273 (1963).