Court Opinion

ID: 9788970
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:23:37.494458+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:17.834464
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice TROUT,
dissenting.
Because I believe the provisions for triggering the reversionary interest in the quitclaim deed have been met, I respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion in this case.
According to the plain language of the deed, the property was granted to Highway District No. 4, subject to the following limitations:
(1) This property shall be used only as a site for highway district office, storage, garage and similar highway district purposes; and
(2) On the dissolution of said highway district or upon cessation of the district in the use of said strip of land, it shall revert back to the grantors.
The rights and obligations hereunder shall extend to the heirs, representatives, successors, and/or assigns of the respective parties, except as herein limited.
Thus, the reversionary interest could be triggered in one of three ways: (1) if the property was no longer used for highway district purposes; (2) if the highway district dissolved; or (3) if the highway district stopped using the strip of land.
The Court’s opinion phrases the issue as “whether the consolidation of a highway district constitutes a dissolution of the district.” However, I believe the issue is not whether the consolidation of a highway district constitutes a dissolution of the district as a general matter of law, but rather whether, under the plain language of the deed, the parties intended that the consolidation of Highway Dist. No. 4 into another highway district would violate the specific limitations in the deed, so as to trigger the reversionary provisions. Under the specific facts of this case, I believe the consolidation of Highway Dist. No. 4 did “dissolve” the district and, therefore, the provisions of the deed have been met and the property should have reverted to the holders of the reversionary interest.
According to the deed, the strip of land was granted to Highway Dist. No. 4 as long as none of the limitations in the deed were violated. In this ease, it is undisputed the land is still being used for highway district purposes, thus the condition in Paragraph 1 has not occurred. The second paragraph stated the property would revert upon dissolution of the “said highway district or upon the cessation of the district in the use of said strip of land.” In the proceedings below, the district judge found Highway Dist. No. 4 had dissolved, but ruled that because the statute*737ry provision in effect at the time of consolidation required that a successor district must be formed prior to the dissolution of a highway district, the property passed to the successor district and the reversionary provision had- not been triggered. Under the district judge’s decision, as well as the Court’s opinion, the conditions of Paragraph 2 could never be met because there will always be a successor district any time a highway district is dissolved. This Court has previously held that, when interpreting an agreement, “the Court should construe the various provisions of the agreement, if possible, so as to give force and effect to every part of the agreement.” Palomo v. J.R. Simplot Co., 131 Idaho 314, 317, 955 P.2d 1093, 1096 (1998). Applying this rule of construction, I believe the plain language of the deed means that if, at any time, Highway Dist. No. 4 dissolves, the property reverts. In this ease, the district judge specifically found Highway Dist. No. 4 had dissolved, and this finding was not challenged by the parties. Additionally, it is undisputed that Highway Dist. No. 4 is no longer using the strip of land. Therefore, for both of these reasons, I would hold that the reversionary provisions of the deed have been met, and the property has reverted to the holders of the reversionary interests.
For similar reasons, I also disagree with the Court’s opinion regarding whether the Post Falls Highway District is a successor to Highway Dist. No. 4. According to the plain language of the deed “[t]he rights and obligations hereunder shall extend to the heirs, representatives, successors and/or assigns of the respective parties, except as herein limited.” Thus, the property rights conveyed by the deed would extend to a successor of Highway Dist. No. 4, unless limited by the language of the deed. Here, there is such a limitation. Paragraph 2 requires the property to revert upon the dissolution of “said highway district or upon the cessation of the district in the use” of the strip of land. Clearly, “said highway district” refers to Highway Dist. No. 4, not to just any general highway district; otherwise, Paragraph 2 of the deed is unnecessary. That is, if the intent of the deed was simply to make sure the property was used for highway district purposes by either Highway Dist. No. 4 or some other successor district, that purpose would have been accomplished by the limitation in Paragraph 1 regarding how the property could be used. Because the parties included a specific provision regarding the dissolution of Highway Dist. No. 4, they must have intended that the property revert if some other district, besides Highway Dist. No. 4, began using the property. Thus, the language is a limitation on the ability of Highway Dist. No. 4 to transfer its interest in the property, and I would hold the district judge also erred in ruling that the Post Falls Highway District is the successor to Highway Dist. No. 4 with regard to the property transferred by the quitclaim deed.