by Rachel Greifenkamp
Runkle, et al. v. Town of Albany
(Wisconsin Court of Appeals, June 19, 2014)
In the Town of Albany, Wisconsin several individuals purchased land and built homes along a street called Proverbs Pass. The developer of the subdivision entered into a development agreement with the town to build Proverbs Pass; however, neither the developer nor the town has completed construction or maintained the street. The people who built homes on the road filed a complaint asking the court to direct the town to complete the road and accept it as a town road, meaning the town would be responsible for it’s maintenance. The town admitted that the plat for the road had been approved and recorded with the register of deed but denied that it had any obligation to complete or maintain it as the town had not accepted the street as a town road. The circuit court ruled in favor of the town because certain conditions that were set forth in the development agreement were not met by the developer and the court concluded that that meant the town had not accepted the plat. The homeowners appealed the decision.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that the only issue was whether the town accepted Proverbs Pass as a town road when the town approved and recorded the plat. If the approval does not equal acceptance, then the Town would be correct in assuming no responsibility for the road. If the approval does equal acceptance, the the Town would be required to assume the same responsibility it does for all other town roads. The town argued that acceptance of Proverbs Pass as a town road hinged on the developer meeting conditions in the development agreement, and that those conditions were not met. Based on Wisconsin court precedent, a town accepts a plat when it is approved and recorded in the register of deed, therefore the Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court’s ruling and found that the the Town of Albany did in fact accept Proverbs Pass as a town road. This, however, did not determine whether the town had an obligation to construct and maintain the street. “The acceptance of a plat by the city does not require that it shall open all the streets and alleys for immediate use.” This issue was handed back to the circuit court to determine whether any other events or agreements obligated the town to complete construction of Proverbs Pass.
