Anderson v. Great Bay Solar I, LLC
| Decision Date | 18 December 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 2387,2387 |
| Parties | WILLIAM H. ANDERSON and H. KEVIN ANDERSON v. GREAT BAY SOLAR I, LLC and BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF SOMERSET COUNTY |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
WILLIAM H. ANDERSON and H. KEVIN ANDERSON
v.
GREAT BAY SOLAR I, LLC
and BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF SOMERSET COUNTY
No. 2387
COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND
September Term, 2018
December 18, 2019
PROPERTY — OWNERSHIP — PUBLIC HIGHWAYS
In the case of an ordinary highway, the general rule is that, absent evidence to the contrary, the public acquires only an easement of passage, and the adjacent landowner, subject to this easement, owns the land below the surface of the road. When a municipality acquires an easement of passage on a public street, however, it acquires the right to improve and maintain the road. Additionally, when land abutting a road is transferred, there is a presumption that title to the center of a binding street passes to the grantee under both common law and Md. Code (2015 Repl. Vol.) § 2-114(a) of the Real Property Article ("RP"). Absent evidence to the contrary, the Andersons' evidence of their ownership of the farms established they own the land under the roads in fee simple, and the circuit court should issue a declaratory judgment in that regard.
PROPERTY — EASEMENT
An easement holder generally cannot use the land for any purpose other than that contemplated by the grant, although the scope of the easement may account for evolving uses consistent with the easement's original purpose. Because the circuit court did not state the basis for its finding that the County had a "sufficient interest" to grant GBS the right to install the collections systems in the roads, and because factual findings are required to resolve this issue, the case must be remanded to the circuit court for clarification regarding this issue.
EQUITY — LACHES
Laches precludes equitable relief when there is an unreasonable delay in the assertion of rights, and that delay results in prejudice to the opposing party. A relatively short period of time may be found to constitute an unreasonable delay under the circumstances of the case. When a party knows that construction is scheduled to occur, they must diligently protest their rights, and waiting until the defendant incurs significant costs before filing suit may result in the claim being barred by laches. In this case, the court properly denied the Andersons' request that the court order GBS to remove the cables and restore the roads to their previous condition.
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Circuit Court for Somerset County
Case No. C-19-CV-17-000128
REPORTED
Graeff, Nazarian, Arthur, JJ.
Opinion by Graeff, J.
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Appellant, William Anderson, is the owner of two agricultural properties in Somerset County. He is the sole owner of the Ira Barnes Farm, and he co-owns the Ben Barnes Farm with his son, Kevin Anderson, also an appellant. The farms abut, or are bisected by, Dublin Road and Old Princess Anne Road. On June 29, 2015, Somerset County entered into an Easement Agreement with Great Bay Solar I, LLC ("GBS"), appellee, to allow GBS to install collection systems along or below certain county roads, including Dublin Road and Old Princess Anne Road, to transport the power from their solar panels to the general electric grid.1
In April 2017, GBS began laying cable under these roads in accordance with the Easement Agreement. The Andersons objected to the project, and on July 5, 2017, they filed in the Circuit Court for Somerset County a complaint against GBS, seeking a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and a permanent injunction to halt the project. The Andersons alleged that they had fee simple ownership of the roadbeds where GBS was burying the collection systems, and therefore, GBS was trespassing.
On September 8, 2017, the Andersons filed an amended complaint. They added as a defendant the Board of County Commissioners of Somerset County (the "County"), appellee, and added a request for a declaratory judgment that they owned in fee simple the
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land beneath Old Princess Anne Road and Dublin Road where the roads abutted or bisected their property and that GBS's installation of high voltage electric cable constituted an unlawful trespass on their property. They also sought an order directing GBS to remove all electric cable from beneath the roadbeds.
On October 27, 2017, GBS filed a Counterclaim for Declaratory Judgment. It requested a declaratory judgment that: (1) the County owned the roadbeds under the roads at issue; (2) alternatively, that the County possessed a sufficient interest in the roads to support the grant to GBS of rights to install the collection systems; or (3) alternatively, that the Andersons were precluded from equitable relief based on the doctrines of waiver, estoppel, and laches.
On August 30, 2018, after a three-day bench trial, the circuit court issued a written "Opinion and Declaratory Judgment." It ruled that neither the Andersons nor the County met their burden of proof that they had a fee simple interest in the roads, that the County possessed sufficient interest in the roads to grant GBS the right to install the collection systems, that GBS had the legal right to install them, and that the Andersons were barred "from any equitable relief they seek based on the doctrines of waiver, estoppel, and laches."
On appeal, the Andersons present the following questions for this Court's review, which we have consolidated and rephrased slightly, as follows:
1. Did the circuit court err in finding that the Andersons did not present sufficient evidence to support their claim that they have a fee simple interest in the land lying beneath the portion of Dublin Road running through and bisecting the Ira Barnes Farm and beneath the portions of Dublin Road and Old Princess Anne Road bisecting and abutting the Ben Barnes Farm?
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2. Did the circuit court err in concluding that, even though Somerset County does not have a fee simple interest in the roads, it nonetheless possesses a "sufficient interest" to permit it to grant GBS the right to utilize the land beneath the roadbeds for the installation of its industrial-scale, electrical cables?
3. Did the circuit court err in concluding that the doctrines of waiver, estoppel and laches barred the Andersons' claims for equitable relief, and if not, are their claims for a legal remedy also barred?
On cross-appeal, GBS and the County raised the following additional question:
Did the circuit court err in holding that the County failed to prove that it owned Dublin Road and Old Princess Anne Road in fee simple?
For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm, in part, and reverse, in part, the judgment of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.
Appellants, William Anderson and Kevin Anderson, have lived and worked as farmers in Somerset County all their lives. William Anderson owns both the Ira Barnes Farm and the Ben Barnes Farm, the latter of which he co-owns with his son, Kevin Anderson. The Andersons use these farms to grow barley, wheat, corn, and soybeans. The farms are located approximately two miles south of the town of Princess Anne, outside the reach of municipal utilities such as water, sewer, or cable lines.
This appeal relates to the roads that bisect and border these two farms. Dublin Road runs east-west and bisects both farms across their northern portions. Old Princess Anne Road is perpendicular to Dublin Road, running north-south, and it establishes the western
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border of the Ben Barnes Farm. Dublin Road terminates at Old Princess Anne Road at the northwest border of the Ben Barnes Farm.2
In 2014, before obtaining an easement from the County to install the collection system under the roads, representatives from Pioneer Green, the former parent corporation of GBS, approached the Andersons about leasing or buying a portion of their farmland as a site for a wind project.3 The Andersons refused to sell or lease their farms. The company subsequently proposed leasing a right-of-way to place a collection system through the property, and they reached a verbal agreement to a "40 foot right-of-way adjoining Dublin Road." When the company drew up the paperwork, however, the terms of the agreement had been changed, without notice, to a 50-foot right-of-way for no additional compensation. The Andersons advised that they were not interested "in doing business with dishonest people." That ended GBS's attempt to lease land from the Andersons.
Kevin Anderson testified that, in June or July 2015, during a meeting on another issue, GBS informed him that it did not need the right-of-way from him anymore because the County had granted them permission to "run their cables down [the County's] right-of-way." Kevin Anderson replied: "I don't believe the [C]ounty can give you the authority to do what you're trying to do, I think you need the landowner's permission." Although Kevin Anderson testified that GBS did not say specifically what the plans were, he testified
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that, in February or March of 2015, he saw GBS surveying roads in the area, particularly Dublin Road and Arden Station Road. He testified that this was the first time that he became "aware that they were contemplating burying cables in these roads."
In February 2015, Kevin Anderson met with Woody Barnes, head of the County Roads Department, regarding the surveying. Kevin Anderson stated his belief that he owned the section of Dublin Road that bisected his property, and the County merely had a right-of-way to maintain a public road. Mr. Barnes said that he understood Mr. Anderson's concern, but he worked for the County, and his "job was to facilitate this venture, not obstruct it."4
On June 29, 2015, GBS entered into an agreement (the "Easement Agreement") with the County that allowed GBS to lay collection systems under various county roads, including Dublin Road and Old Princess Anne Road. The Easement Agreement authorized GBS to
access and utilize County roadways, install facilities in, through, along, over or under, and make necessary improvements to, County right-of-way and other...
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