Opinion ID: 1794109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Apostile v. Department of Commerce

Text: Plaintiffs Apostile, Grenell, Fritz, Fryfogle, Rimarcik, Rusak, Semack, and Lumbert initiated suit in 1989 to vacate a portion of Don M. Boulevard in the Almeda Beach subdivision. A bench trial was held in 1991. The Almeda Beach plat was recorded in 1907. Don M. Boulevard runs in a basically north-south direction along Higgins Lake. The plaintiffs own lots 12 to 15, block 2, and lots 10 to 13, block 3, which are platted in an east-west direction and are separated from Higgins Lake by Don M. Boulevard. Blocks 2 and 3 are separated by Third Street, which has been improved and extends across Don M. Boulevard. Second Street, bordering the north side of block 2, and Fourth Street, bordering the south side of block 3, have also been improved and extend across Don M. Boulevard. The plaintiffs each own a dock that extends from Don M. Boulevard into Higgins Lake. The defendants produced copies of affidavits by the Roscommon County Road Commission Clerk that were recorded in 1959 with respect to each plaintiff's lot. All contained similar language, typified by the following recorded affidavit with respect to lot 13, block 3, Almeda Beach: Grading, landscaping, and/or improvements as lawn of dedicated street area, insofar as exclusive private use of street so developed is claimed or intended; use of land between westerly line of Lot 13, Block 3, Almeda Beach and Higgins Lake, dedicated as Don M. Boulevard, must be shared with the public. Deponent further says that he makes this affidavit for the purpose of placing on record some evidence of the fact of notice being given by the Roscommon County Board of County Road Commissioners to the owners of said lots as to the fact of said encroachments and as to the right of the Roscommon County Road Commissioners to order the same removed whenever in its opinion removal may be necessary or desirable in the public interest. Plaintiff Joseph Rimarcik testified that he had owned lot 13, block 3, since October 1988. He testified that the condition of the portion of Don M. Boulevard fronting lot 13 at the time of trial included a fire pit, a split-rail fence, a flagpole, trees and shrubbery, and a sprinkler system. However, he admitted that at the time he purchased the property, he was aware of a 1959 recorded affidavit by the clerk of the Roscommon County Road Commission. Plaintiff Peter Apostile testified that he and his wife had purchased lot 12, block 3, sometime in the 1950s. He testified that at the time of trial there was a concrete walkway and patio in front of his lot, and a storage shed that extended partially into Don M. Boulevard. He also admitted that if the road commission had asked him to remove the concrete walkway he guessed he would have. Plaintiff Robert Grenell testified that he and his wife had owned lot 11, block 3, for fifteen years. He further testified that he had built a shed in front of his lot on Don M. Boulevard four years before trial, a deck ten years before, and a cement sidewalk six or seven years before. He also testified that he did not believe that he had any rights to exclude people from Don M. Boulevard. Plaintiff Gregory Semack testified that he had purchased lot 10, block 3, in 1982. He indicated that there were wooden steps in front of his lot, starting about halfway across Don M. Boulevard, which had been there when he purchased the property. Plaintiff Helene Fritz testified that she and her husband, now deceased, had purchased lot 14, block 2, in 1966. She also testified that wooden steps existed in front of her property at the time she purchased her lot. Plaintiff Clifford Lumbert testified that he and his wife had purchased lot 12, block 2, in 1972. He indicated that there were no man-made improvements in the portion of Don M. Boulevard in front of his lot. The trial court granted the plaintiffs relief and vacated the relevant portion of Don M. Boulevard, expressly finding that there was insufficient evidence that the defendant road commission had accepted the offer of dedication. The Court of Appeals reversed, relying on the 1937 McNitt resolution. We disagree with both lower courts. We find that the plaintiffs have not proven that any of their predecessors possessed any portion of Don M. Boulevard in a way inconsistent with public ownership before 1959. We further find that the affidavits recorded in 1959 acted as sufficient acceptance of Don M. Boulevard by the defendant road commission. Although the 1959 affidavits indicated that the road commission would temporarily acquiesce in any improvements, they expressly stated that Don M. Boulevard was to be shared with the public and expressly reserved the road commission's authority to remove any encroachment at any time. In light of the property owners' thirty-year delay in challenging the road commission's assertions in the 1959 recorded affidavits, we need not decide whether a 1959 acceptance of a 1907 dedicated plat was timely.