Britton v. Department of Conservation

• Decision Date: 18 June 2009
• Docket Number: Docket: Yor-08-602.
• Citation: 974 A.2d 303,2009 ME 60
• Parties: Robert W. BRITTON et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION et al.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

974 A.2d 303

2009 ME 60

Robert W. BRITTON et al. v. DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION et al.

Docket: Yor-08-602.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: May 21, 2009.

Decided: June 18, 2009.

Revised: July 9, 2009.

Gerald F. Petruccelli, Esq. (orally), Bruce A. McGlauflin, Esq., Petruccelli, Martin & Haddow, LLP, Portland, ME, for Robert W. Britton, et al.

Mark G. Furey, Esq. (orally), Thompson, Bull, Furey, Bass & MacColl, Portland, ME, for Daniel P. Donnell, et al.

Janet T. Mills, Atty. Gen., Amy B. Mills, Asst. Atty. Gen., Gerald D. Reid, Asst. Atty. Gen. (orally), Augusta, ME, for the Maine Department of Conservation.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., CLIFFORD, LEVY, SILVER, MEAD, and GORMAN, JJ.

GORMAN, J.

[¶ 1] Robert W. Britton and Eleanor F. Britton appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court (York County, Brennan, J.) denying their request for equitable relief and damages for what they allege to be an infringement of their riparian rights by their neighbors, Daniel P. Donnell and the Trustees of the Donnell Realty Trust (Donnells), who own and operate two wharves, one of which extends forty-eight feet in front of the Brittons' property. The Donnells cross-appeal arguing that the Brittons should have been collaterally estopped from claiming any infringement of their rights because, they allege, the Bureau of Parks & Lands (Bureau), a division of the Maine Department of Conservation, already had decided that the wharves do not unreasonably interfere with the Brittons' riparian rights when issuing both Donnell and the Trust leases to operate the wharves on submerged lands.¹ The Donnells also argue that they had acquired the submerged lands in front of the Brittons' property by adverse possession, prescription, or abandonment.

[¶ 2] In deciding this case, the court applied the Submerged and Intertidal Lands Act (SILA), 12 M.R.S. § 1862 (2008), and concluded that the Brittons were not entitled to injunctive or declaratory relief or damages because Varrell Wharf, which extends in front of the Brittons' property, did not unreasonably interfere with their riparian rights. SILA governs an administrative program that authorizes the State to lease its submerged lands for compensation after determining that the proposed lease will not unreasonably interfere with such things as navigation, fishing, existing marine uses, and the ingress and egress of riparian owners in the area. 12 M.R.S. § 1862(2)(A)(6).

[¶ 3] Because SILA and its unreasonable interference standard are not relevant to the private property dispute between the Brittons and the Donnells, we vacate and remand for a determination on the Brittons' claims that Varrell Wharf constitutes a nuisance and violates the Wharves and Weirs Act, 38 M.R.S. § 1026 (2008).²

I. FACTUAL HISTORY

[¶ 4] In 1975, the Brittons bought waterfront property in York Harbor located between two parcels owned by the Donnells. Daniel Donnell owns the property abutting the southeastern portion of the Brittons' property, and the Donnell Realty Trust owns a lot abutting the northwestern portion.

[¶ 5] The Donnells have owned and operated Simpsons Wharf and Varrell Wharf for several decades; both wharves have boating slips that the Donnells rent to commercial fishermen and recreational boaters. Simpsons Wharf is located to the south of the Brittons' property. Varrell Wharf is located to the north. At issue in this case is a forty-eight-foot section of Varrell Wharf that extends directly across the Brittons' frontage, parallel to their property line. This section was built between 1950 and 1955; the predecessor in title to the Brittons' property neither objected nor expressly consented to its installation.

[¶ 6] In order to reach the navigable waters in front of their property, the Brittons would have to maneuver a boat through a forty-one-foot gap between Simpsons Wharf and the Varrell Wharf extension; when boats are docked at the wharves, this gap is even narrower. Since 1987, the Brittons have objected to the forty-eight-foot extension in front of their property asserting that it interferes with their riparian rights of ingress and egress.³

[¶ 7] This litigation began in 2005 after the Trust entered into a submerged land lease with the Bureau pursuant to SILA; the lease entitled the Trust to continue occupying the submerged lands under Varrell Wharf.⁴ The Brittons participated in the lease negotiations, arguing that Varrell Wharf unreasonably interfered with the potential uses of their intertidal lands including their ability to access the York River or to construct a pier from their property. The Bureau disagreed and approved the lease on January 31, 2005, finding specifically that Varrell Wharf did not unreasonably interfere with the Brittons' riparian rights.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

[¶ 8] The Brittons filed the present complaint against the Maine Department of Conservation and the Donnells, pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C, requesting a review of the Bureau's issuance of the submerged land lease to the Trust. The Brittons also alleged independent claims for nuisance and violation of the Wharves and Weirs Act and they sought declaratory and injunctive relief. The Donnells and the Department of Conservation argued that the Brittons should be precluded from bringing their complaint because the Bureau already had decided that Varrell Wharf did not unreasonably interfere with the Brittons' riparian rights.

[¶ 9] The court dismissed the Rule 80C appeal because it was not filed within thirty days after the Brittons' attorney received notice of the final leasing decision, as required by M.R. Civ. P. 80C and 5 M.R.S. § 11002(3) (2008). Subsequently, the Donnells filed a motion for summary judgment arguing, among other things, that the Brittons' complaint is a veiled collateral attack on the Bureau's decision to issue a lease to the Donnells, and that the Wharves and Weirs Act claim is barred by the statute of limitations.

[¶ 10] Denying summary judgment to the Donnells, the court determined that the common law of riparian rights—and not the public trust doctrine⁵ —governs this matter. Thus, the court concluded that the Brittons were not precluded from seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Donnells because the Trust's lease with the State does not protect it from complaints alleging infringement of private property rights. The court also found that the statute of limitations did not bar the Wharves and Weirs Act claim or any other claim flowing from the continued use of the area in front of the Brittons' property.

[¶ 11] The case proceeded to a bench trial. In ruling against the Brittons, the court applied SILA's unreasonable interference standard and found that because the allotted forty-one feet of space between the wharves was sufficient to permit the Brittons to land a small boat, the interference with the Brittons' riparian rights was not unreasonable. Although the court found that the Donnells never obtained express consent from the Brittons that authorized them to operate Varrell Wharf in front of the Brittons' property, the court concluded that the Brittons had failed to prove a violation of the Wharves and Weirs Act because Varrell Wharf did not unreasonably interfere with the Brittons' riparian rights. The court did not rule on the Donnells' affirmative defenses, including their claim that the Brittons' riparian rights were extinguished by adverse possession, prescription, or abandonment, laches, or coming to the nuisance.⁶

II. DISCUSSION

A. Rule 80C Appeal

[¶ 12] The Brittons argue that the court should not have dismissed their Rule 80C appeal as time-barred. A petition requesting a review of a final agency action must be filed within thirty days after receipt of notice. See M.R. Civ. P. 80(C); 5 M.R.S. § 11002(3). The appeal of the Bureau's decision in this case was untimely because it was not filed within thirty days after the Brittons' attorney's office received the decision. See City of Lewiston v. Me. State Employees Ass'n, 638 A.2d 739, 741 (Me.1994) (stating that statutory periods of appeal are not subject to court-ordered enlargement of time). Therefore, the court correctly dismissed the appeal as untimely.

B. Summary Judgment

1. Collateral Estoppel

[¶ 13] In denying the Donnells' summary judgment motion, the court concluded that the Bureau's lease with the Trust was issued pursuant to the public trust doctrine, and therefore, did not collaterally estop the Brittons from bringing a complaint alleging an infringement of their private rights against the Donnells.

[¶ 14] The effect of a prior judgment, including final decisions of administrative bodies, on a present court action is a question of law that we review de novo. State v. Thompson, 2008 ME 166, ¶ 8, 958 A.2d 887, 890-91; see also Cline v. Me. Coast Nordic, 1999 ME 72, ¶ 9, 728 A.2d 686, 688 ("Final adjudication in an administrative proceeding before a quasijudicial municipal body has the same preclusion effect as a final adjudication in a former court proceeding." (quotation marks omitted)).

[¶ 15] The administrative decision involved here—the issuance of the lease to the Trust—was made pursuant to SILA. Enacted in 1975, SILA gives the director of the Bureau authority to "lease, for a term of years not exceeding 30 and with conditions the director considers reasonable, the right to dredge, fill or erect permanent ... wharves, docks, pilings, moorings or other permanent structures on submerged and intertidal land owned by the State." 12 M.R.S. § 1862(2). SILA is an extension of the State's long-standing authority, pursuant to the public trust doctrine, to reasonably interfere with a coastal property owner's riparian rights in order to protect the public's rights to fishing, fowling, and navigation. Conservation Law Found., Inc. v. Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 2003 ME 62, ¶ 36, 823 A.2d 551, 563; see also Great Cove Boat Club v. Bureau of Pub. Lands, 672 A.2d 91, 95 (Me.1996) (concluding that the...