Tag: Montana Supreme Court

Montana landowners successfully claim reverse adverse possession of county road created by public prescriptive easement

hdankbar 1 Comment

by Hannah Dankbar and Gary Taylor

Letica Land Company, LLC v Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
Montana Supreme Court, November 17, 2015

Letica Land Company (Letica) and Don McGee appeal a lower court’s ruling that two stretches of a road crossing their properties in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County are public roads.

Modesty Creek Road was established as a county road by the County Commission in 1889. The land across which the road traverses has been owned by the federal government, Anaconda Company, various private interests and most recently Letica and McGee who purchased the land in 1989 and 1997 respectively. Prior to Letica and McGee purchasing the land locked gates were placed on various places in the road that blocked public access, even though the public continued to access the road on a permissive basis. Because of these gates Letica and McGee claim that they were unaware of any public right of access of Modesty Creek Road.

In 2012 county residents asked the County Commission to reaffirm the road as a county road and reopen it to the public. The County Commission voted in approval and Letica filed a complaint. The complaint was denied and McGee joined as a plaintiff to amend the complaint.

The trial court concluded that Modesty Creek Road’s lower branch was a statutorily created road, and that Modesty Creek Road’s upper branch was established as a public road via public prescriptive easement, and that the prescriptive easement had not been terminated by “reverse adverse possession.” The court also found the takings question was not ripe until after an appeal. Letica and McGee appealed, challenging both the declaration of a statutorily created road and the declaration of a public prescriptive easement.

Letica and McGee first claimed that the record does not sufficiently demonstrate that the road was created by petition. They claim that Modesty Creek Road is on some county road maps, but not on others. The court found that this does not qualify as “affirmative steps to indicate intention to abandon” county roads once they are established, further these maps do nothing to provide evidence of the process of how these roads were approved. Letica and McGee also claimed that the lower branch must terminate at the eastern portion of Section 23, Township 6 North, Range 11 West. There is no definitive description in the record of where the road ends, but evidence when taken as a whole, such as testimony and other historical records are consistent enough for the court to conclude that the Dry Gulch is located along Section 22, Township 6 North, Range 11 West and that the lower court correctly took the record as a whole. The lower court’s decision regarding the statutorily created lower branch of the road were affirmed.

Letica and McGee argued that the actions of landowners to block public access throughout the years created in the landowners ownership by adverse possession.  The court emphasized that in Montana a “private individual may not obtain title to a public statutorily created road by a adverse possession.” Since it was established that the lower branch is a statutorily created road and therefore could not be claimed by adverse possession.  This still left open the question of whether reverse adverse possession extinguished the public prescriptive easement on the upper branch.

Locked gates blocked public access to the upper branch from 1980 to 2012. The public who used to use the upper branch found alternate routes and County staff said they would have cut the locks if they were made aware of the issue as they did this in other instances. The record shows that the public “cooperated and adhered” to the permissive use policy. Those who leased land or had water rights along the road had keys to the gates.

After declaring the upper branch a county road in 2012 the County found that the landowners asserted hostile rights for thirty years. However, the court found that the public abandoned this road and the County was aware of the gates and did not remedy the situation.  Montana statute provides that a prescriptive easement may be terminated “by disuse of the servitude by the owner of the servitude for the period prescribed for acquiring title by enjoyment.” The Court reversed the lower court’s ruling that the public prescriptive easement was not terminated by reverse adverse possession.

One justice dissented. Chief Justice McGrath concurred with the resolution of the first issue, and dissents the conclusion of the second issue. He would uphold the lower court’s decision and conclude that “this case would not exist but for the unlawful closure of the lower branch road….[A] person may not illegally block a road created by action of a public government entity, and then use that blockage as evidence to support a claim of reverse adverse possession that extinguishes the public’s prescriptive right to any other property or interest in property.”

Montana courts, Property law, public roads and highways , , ,
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Concrete wall 9 feet high, 800 feet long just may be a spite fence

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by Hannah Dankbar and Gary Taylor

Bennett, et al,  v Hill
Montana Supreme Court, February 3, 2015

Lot owners of the Lake Hills Subdivision complained about a wall constructed by Lake Hills Golf Course, LLC. The wall is located within the subdivision and adjacent to the lot owners’ properties.

The “Declaration of Restrictions” for the subdivision was created and approved in 1958. Any lot owner has power to enforce the restrictions. Lake Hills Golf, LLC got their land in the subdivision through a warranty deed in 2009. Part of the deed specified that the golf course be subject to the restrictions and any amendments.

In early 2011 Hill, the owner of the Golf Course applied for a zoning change to multiple lots he owned in Lake Hills Subdivision. Other lot owners in the subdivision opposed the change in zoning, resulting in Hill withdrawing his application. The lot owners said their relationship with Hill was damaged.

Late in 2012, Hill applied for a building permit from the City of Billings. He wanted to build the wall that is the subject of this case. He received the permit and built a $40,000 wall of concrete and rebar. The wall is nine feet tall and is set approximately ten feet from the border between the Golf Course property and the opposed lot owners’ property. The wall runs parallel to the properties and is approximately 800 feet long, with a 2-foot jog perpendicular to its length at 40-foot intervals. The lot owners claimed that the wall violated the Restrictions, the wall constituted a nuisance, and also constituted a spite fence.  The lot owners sued Hill in district court, but lost on all issues on summary judgment.  The property owners appealed the court ruling.

On appeal the Montana Supreme Court considered multiple issues:

1.Did the District Court err by granting summary judgment in favor of Hill on the issue of whether the wall constituted a spite fence?

A “spite fence” is one that provides no benefit to the person erecting the fence (erected solely for spite).   The district court found that the wall benefited the golf course by discouraging trespassers and preventing trash from blowing onto the course. The Supreme Court noted, however, that the lot owners presented affidavits that they had never observed trespassers or trash cross the golf course property from their properties, and they never received complaints of this happening. One of the Plaintiffs also stated that Hill had told him that the wall was built because the Plaintiffs’ properties were unattractive. Viewed in a light most favorable to the property owners, the district court should have allowed the spite fence claim to proceed to trial.

2. Did the District Court err by granting summary judgment in favor of Hill on the issue of whether the wall constituted a nuisance?

The district court found that since there was no issue of the wall serving a “reasonable purpose”(stopping trash and trespassers) there is no legal argument that it constitutes a nuisance. The Supreme Court found this to be an incorrect interpretation of the law. The Court stated:

A beneficial or reasonable purpose will not immunize something that would otherwise constitute a nuisance from being ruled a nuisance. Montana statute states that “[a]nything that is injurious to health, indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property . . . is a nuisance.” Section 27-30-101(1), MCA (emphasis added). Although there are exceptions for farming operations, activities authorized by statute, and noises from shooting activities at shooting ranges, Montana statute does not otherwise limit this broad definition of what may or may not constitute a nuisance.

The Supreme Court was unwilling to rule that anything that has a beneficial or reasonable use cannot also be a nuisance (at the same time noting that the question of the fence being a reasonable use was still unresolved), and reversed the district court on its grant of summary judgment on the nuisance claim.

3. Did construction of the wall violate the Subdivision Restrictions?

Paragraph 6 of the Restrictions states:

6. No fence or wall shall be erected or maintained on any lot, nor any hedge planted or maintained on any lot until written authority therefore has been secured from the Architectural Control Committee (ACC), which shall have authority to prescribe the location, height, design and materials used.

Hill claimed that the provisions of paragraph 6 of the Restrictions have been waived and are therefore unenforceable against them. To prove waiver of a covenant, it must be demonstrated that the other party knew of and acted inconsistently with the covenant, and that prejudice resulted to the party asserting waiver.  It may be either express or demonstrated by a course of conduct. If demonstrated by a course of conduct, waiver will “depend upon the circumstances of each case and the character and materiality of the permitted breach.”  Despite that fact that the ACC had never met or approved a construction project of any kind, and “the vast majority of the residences and structures within the subdivision were built without approval from the ACC,” such facts do not establish that breaches occurred of the character and materiality necessary to establish waiver.  Indeed, there was no indication that any fences, walls or hedges had ever been constructed (or even exist) in the subdivision.

Finally Hill argued that paragraph 16 is an exception to paragraph 6 and allows them to build the wall. Paragraph 16 reads:

16. If used as a public or private golf course, country club, or park, any structure incidental to such use, including but not limited to clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis courts and other recreational facilities, storage shops, and repair and maintenance facilities and shops, may be maintained and erected on any of the said tracts.

The Supreme Court found that it was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the wall was “incidental” to the use of the property as a golf course, noting again the lack of evidence that trash or trespassers had ever crossed the property.

The Supreme Court reversed all of the district court’s rulings favoring Hill, and remanded for trial.

Covenants and deed restrictions, Montana courts, Nuisance , , ,
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In Montana, prohibiting specific building materials is matter for building codes, not zoning ordinance

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by Hannah Dankbar

City of Helena v Svee
(Montana Supreme Court, November 25, 2014)

In January 2009 the Helena, Montana City Commission amended its zoning ordinance to create a wildland-urban interface district (WUI district). The district overlays the City’s other zoning districts.  The WUI district, in part, provides:

A. Structures located within the wildland-urban interface district may not have exposed, wooden roofing materials, whether treated or untreated, and must have noncombustible or fire resistant roofing materials that are rated Class C or higher in accordance with ANSI/UL 790 or ASTM E 108 or any equivalent test.

B. Existing roofs that undergo renovation, alteration, or repairs that involve more than ten percent (10%) of the square footage of the affected roof plane must meet the requirements of this chapter. If the renovation, alteration, or repair involves more than fifty percent (50%) of the square footage of the area of the entire roof, then the entire roof must comply with the requirements of this chapter.

The Svees received notice that their homeowners insurance would be canceled because of the condition of their roof. Due to personal financial limits, the Svees repaired the part of the roof in most need of improvement. The project of replacing old wooden shingles with new ones began on August 12, 2011. On August 15, 2011 a city building official issued a stop work notice for the project, but the project was completed by the time the Svees received the notice. On September 8, 2011 the City filed criminal complaints against the Svees for re-roofing without a permit, these charges were later dismissed. On November 7, 2011 the City initiated a civil suit against the Svees in addition to the criminal charges. On December 6, 2011 the City filed a six-count complaint for failure to obtain a building permit; violation of the International Residential Code by failing to obtain a building permit; violation of the International Residential Code by installing new roof covering over an existing roof covering; violation of the International Residential code by using excess applications of roof covering; violation of Helena City Code by using illegal roofing materials; and creating a public nuisance. The Svees challenged the limitations the WUI district places on roofing materials, but not the creation of the WUI district itself.

Both parties moved for a summary judgement, and the City dropped all of the complaints except for the complaint citing a violation of the WUI Ordinance. The Svees claimed that the Ordinance was invalid on statutory and constitutional grounds. The District Court did not address the constitutional claim, but declared, “the Svees’ claims seeking a declaration that the City had no legal authority to adopt or enforce Helena City Code § 11-41-2 . . . are GRANTED.”  The City filed an appeal and the Svees filed a cross-appeal challenging the dismissal of their constitutional argument and the denial of attorney fees.

The first issue discussed was whether the District Court was wrong to judge § 11-41-2 as an impermissible building code, rather than a zoning ordinance. The Montana Legislature authorized cities and counties to adopt only building codes that had been created by the Department of Labor and Industry . Zoning ordinances are left to cities and counties. The District Court ruled that, “the creation of the WUI zoning district was nothing more than the adoption of  a building regulation under the guise of a zoning ordinance.” However, the Svees did not challenge the zoning district as a whole; they only challenged one section. District Court only overturned one section (§ 11-42-2). This Court found that this section of the WUI ordinance oversteps the bounds of zoning ordinances by defining which building materials can be used.

The third issue is whether the District Court erred in denying and dismissing the Svees’ constitutional arguments. The District Court ignored these claims because, the summary judgment,  “resolve[d] the case in the Svees’ favor on non-constitutional grounds.” Montana Supreme Court “has repeatedly recognized that courts should avoid constitutional issues whenever possible.” The Court agreed with the District Court on this issue.

 

**Didn’t include concurring opinion.

Building codes, Montana courts, Zoning ordinance interpretation , ,
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