Court Opinion

ID: 9553335
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:28:06.622689+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:30:50.238398
License: Public Domain

Ott, J.
(dissenting) — This is an eminent domain proceeding instituted by King County to condemn real property for *695roadway purposes. The petition alleged that the United States, through its agencies, has conveyed or is about to convey to the county its interest in the proposed right of way; that the Northern Pacific Railway Company and the cities of Seattle and Tacoma claim to own some interest in a portion of the proposed roadway, and that the real estate for a roadway is necessary for public use.
The majority hold that the controverted factual issues raised by the pleadings, affidavits, and exhibits can be resolved by summary judgment. I do not agree.
The record before us establishes that the roadway sought to be condemned by King County is approximately 30 miles long and has been used as such continuously since 1938. It is the only means of access to Lester, a small community in King County. It was constructed in 1938 by the United States Forest Service on land which it owned or acquired. Small segments of the road were constructed by the United States Forest Service where no right-of-way deeds had been acquired, but the use by the forest service and the public over such lands has been open, adverse, notorious, and continuous for a period of time sufficient to acquire a prescriptive use right thereto.
The deeds to the city of Tacoma from its predecessors were subject to the United States Forest Service easement or prescriptive rights acquired by the public use before Tacoma’s acquisition thereof.
The city of Tacoma’s claim to any interest in the right of way is disputed.
The city of Seattle asserts that the right of way sought to be condemned traverses its city watershed.
It is disputed (1) whether the proposed roadway is in the city of Seattle’s watershed, and (2) whether the drainage from the roadway is toward the city’s water supply.
The majority hold:
The record discloses . . . that if the interests sought to be condemned, to which Tacoma claims an interest, are not owned by Tacoma, then they are owned by the United States government or by King County in trust for the public.
*696The majority conclude that the United States government’s interest cannot be acquired by King County by condemnation.
King County is not attempting to condemn lands belonging to the United States. It is contended by King County that the United States' government has conveyed or is about to convey voluntarily its interest in the proposed right of way to King County. The disputed issue of fact is whether either the city of Tacoma or the city of Seattle has any right, title or interest in the proposed roadway. The material facts of ownership of the roadway in question or the right to the use of it are vigorously contested.
In order to sustain the summary judgment, the majority assume that ownership of the roadway or the right to control the use of it is vested in the cities of Tacoma and Seattle. The ownership of the roadway here in question and the right to the public use of it are genuine issues of material fact which cannot be assumed or resolved by summary judgment. Guy Stickney, Inc. v. Underwood, 67 Wn.2d 824, 410 P.2d 7 (1966); Reed v. Streib, 65 Wn.2d 700, 399 P.2d 338 (1965); Slemmons v. Shotwell, 64 Wn.2d 595, 392 P.2d 1007 (1964); Foote v. Hayes, 64 Wn.2d 277, 391 P.2d 551 (1964).
In my opinion, the judgment should be reversed, and the factual issues determined by a trial on the merits.