Opinion ID: 2679956
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Paper Streets Act

Text: [¶9] The purpose of the Paper Streets Act, 23 M.R.S. §§ 3027, 3031-3035; 33 M.R.S. §§ 460, 469-A, enacted in 1987, was to “clarify title to old, proposed, unaccepted streets shown on subdivision plans, and to eliminate the possibility of ancient claims.” Brooks v. Carson, 2012 ME 97, ¶ 24, 48 A.3d 224 (quotation marks and citations omitted). In particular, 33 M.R.S. § 469-A “was created to resolve ownership disputes regarding roads and streets laid out on subdivision plans where the original owner did not reserve title in the roads and where the roads have never been accepted by a town.” Lamson v. Cote, 2001 ME 109, ¶ 14, 775 A.2d 1134. Section 469-A provides, in part: 1. Reservation of title. Any conveyance made before September 29, 1987 that conveyed land abutting upon a proposed, unaccepted way laid out on a subdivision plan recorded in the registry of deeds is deemed to have conveyed all of the grantor’s interest in the portion of the way that abuts the land conveyed, unless the grantor expressly reserved the grantor’s title to the way by a specific reference to this reservation in the conveyance of the land. 2. Intent to reserve. Any grantor who, before September 29, 1987, conveyed land abutting a proposed, unaccepted 4 The court also concluded that there was no prescriptive easement over the right-of-way. That conclusion is not challenged on appeal. 6 way laid out on a subdivision plan recorded in the registry of deeds with the intent to reserve title to the way, but who did not expressly reserve title to the way as required in subsection 1, or any person who claims title to the way by, through or under the grantor, may preserve the grantor’s claim by recording the notice set forth in subsection 3, in the registry of deeds where the pertinent subdivision plan is recorded, within 2 years after September 29, 1987. 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1)-(2). If the grantor or his successors fail to reserve title as set forth in the statute, the abutting landowner is deemed to own to the center line of the portion of the way abutting his or her property. Id. § 469-A(6). [¶10] Although the statute does not define “proposed, unaccepted way[s],” we have defined the term, for purposes of other provisions, as meaning “roads, constructed or unconstructed, that are depicted on a subdivision plan recorded in the registry of deeds and that are proposed to a municipality for acceptance but not yet accepted by the municipality.” Fournier v. Elliott, 2009 ME 25, ¶¶ 14, 20, 966 A.2d 410. Tisdale concedes on appeal that the right-of-way is a “proposed, unaccepted way” within the meaning of the statute. There was no reservation of title to the right-of-way in Mr. and Mrs. Buch’s chain of title tracing back to the Gregorys. Therefore, Thelma Buch owns to the center line of the right-of-way abutting each of her lots. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6). Because the right-of-way runs between her two lots, she owns the entire way. See id. [¶11] Tisdale argues that 33 M.R.S. § 469-A does not apply because the right-of-way is not a “paper street” as we defined that term in Driscoll v. Mains, 7 2005 ME 52, ¶ 1 n.2, 870 A.2d 124. Section 469-A does not apply to “paper streets,” however—it applies to “proposed, unaccepted way[s].” 33 M.R.S. § 469-A. We have defined the term “proposed, unaccepted way,” and have made clear that it is not equivalent to a “paper street.” See Fournier, 2009 ME 25, ¶¶ 16, 20, 966 A.2d 410. [¶12] Tisdale further argues that he acquired private rights in the right-of-way that have not terminated pursuant to 23 M.R.S. § 3031(2). Tisdale has no such rights, however, because his lots are not shown on the 1969 plan that depicts the right-of-way, and his deeds do not reference the 1969 plan. See id. (“A person acquiring title to land shown on a subdivision plan . . . acquires a private right-of-way over the ways laid out in the plan.” (emphasis added)); see also Callahan v. Ganneston Park Dev. Corp., 245 A.2d 274, 278 (Me. 1968) (stating that the sale of lots “by reference to a plan” creates a right-of-way in proposed streets shown on the plan). The Court did not err in its application of the Paper Streets Act.