Burdess v. United States

• Decision Date: 03 December 1982
• Docket Number: No. PB-C-80-92.,PB-C-80-92.
• Citation: 553 F. Supp. 646
• Parties: Clarence B. BURDESS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America and Colonel Dale K. Randels, as Commander of the Little Rock District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas

553 F. Supp. 646

Clarence B. BURDESS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America and Colonel Dale K. Randels, as Commander of the Little Rock District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Defendants.

No. PB-C-80-92.

United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Pine Bluff Division.

December 3, 1982.

E.W. Brockman, Jr., C. Mac Norton, Pine Bluff, Ark., for plaintiff.

George W. Proctor, U.S. Atty., Walter G. Riddick, Asst. U.S. Atty., Little Rock, Ark., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

EISELE, Chief Judge.

This matter was tried to the Court on September 13, 1982. At the conclusion of trial, the Court reached the tentative conclusion that the weight of the evidence appeared to be in favor of the plaintiff. Nevertheless, the parties were asked to submit supplemental briefs to further augment the record, particularly with respect to the legal issues presented in this case. Having reviewed those supplemental materials, the Court now finds for the plaintiff. The Court reaffirms and adopts the findings of fact and conclusions of law made from the bench, and to the extent they may conflict with the findings made herein, this Memorandum will control.

This case concerns a landowner's right of access to his remaining land over lands which he once owned but which are now owned by the United States as a result of a condemnation procedure. The plaintiff, Mr. Burdess, owned a tract of land, approximately 150 acres in area and bordering the Arkansas River. For simplicity's sake, it is easiest to visualize the original Burdess land as being L-shaped.

In 1966, the Army Corps of Engineers acquired by condemnation approximately nine acres of the plaintiff's land for use in the construction of Lock and Dam No. 5 on the Arkansas River. That tract of land, known as Parcel No. 103, was taken from the "heel" portion of the L-shaped property. In April of 1974, the corps condemned a second tract of land of approximately 18 acres, known as Parcel No. 135, in order to further develop the dam site into a recreational area. That tract was adjacent to Parcel No. 103, and together the parcels constituted the lower horizontal half of the "foot" of the original L-shaped property.

The plaintiff contested the condemnation of Parcel No. 135 for a number of reasons, including the amount of compensation offered by the Corps. The parties negotiated over the disputed matters until September 8, 1976, at which time the Corps mailed to the plaintiff its standard stipulation form, believing that an agreement between the parties had been reached. About one week later the plaintiff sent to the Corps a signed stipulation that was substantially similar to the form the Corps had sent, but which included a paragraph expressly reserving to the plaintiff a right-of-way to the remainder of his property through Parcel No. 135. The Corps refused to accept the plaintiff's stipulation for settlement. The plaintiff then sought and received from the district court judge an order permitting him to file an amended answer and counterclaim in the condemnation suit in order to receive a judicial determination on the matter of access to his remainder.

Further negotiations followed between the parties, and on October 4, 1976, the plaintiff tendered to the Corps a signed stipulation of agreement, which did not contain any express reference to reserving a right of access for the plaintiff. Judgment was had on the stipulation on December 13, 1976, and a check for $20,032.89 was issued to the plaintiff.

On January 3, 1977, the plaintiff notified the Corps that he was refusing to cash the check. Apparently the Corps had allowed the plaintiff to travel over Parcel No. 135 to reach his remainder up to that point, at which time the Corps barricaded the roadway running through Parcel No. 135. Again the plaintiff and the Corps entered into negotiations regarding an access route, but to no avail. Consequently, Mr. Burdess filed a motion to have the December 1976 judgment set aside. He claimed that the Corps had made an oral promise to him that he would be able to travel over Parcel No. 135 to reach his remaining land as long as no heavy traffic was involved (such as logging trucks). He also claimed that the stipulation he signed was not a contract and could not be enforced as such.

The Corps argued that the stipulation was a contract and therefore binding on the plaintiff. It also argued that the plaintiff had access to his land by way of alternate routes. The Corps further contended that the plaintiff relinquished his right of access with respect to Parcel No. 135 in return for the monetary consideration he received for the parcel.

On June 12, 1980, Judge Harris, of the federal district court, denied the motion to set aside the judgment. Judge Harris recognized that the plaintiff and the Corps had been involved in many negotiations over the right-of-way issue for a substantial period of time. The judge also took notice that the plaintiff had filed the instant suit against the Corps for a right-of-way and expressly ruled that the resolution of the right-of-access issue could best be determined in this suit. He concluded that to set aside the condemnation would be an improper procedural method to resolve the right-of-way issue because the Corps had already substantially improved Parcel No. 135. The suit for a right-of-way is now before this Court.

Before addressing the merits of the present case, there are some preliminary matters which this Court must address. The first is the question of jurisdiction.

The case is essentially one to quiet title to land with respect to an easement of access. Subject matter jurisdiction is therefore properly had pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1346(f), which encompasses actions brought against the United States to quiet title to land pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. Although the latter statute strictly forbids any claim of adverse possession from being brought against the government (28 U.S.C. § 2409a(g)), the case law and legislative history clearly support the proposition that a claim for "a right-of-way, easement, implied easement of necessity or other `estate less than a fee simple' may properly be the subject of quiet title action against the United States." City of Denver v. Bergland, 517 F.Supp. 155 (D.Col.1981) (although the court there found insufficient evidence for an easement by necessity). See also Montana Wilderness Association v. United States, 496 F.Supp. 880 (D.Mont.1980), aff'd in part, remanded on other grounds, 655 F.2d 951 (9th Cir.1981), cert. den., 455 U.S. 989, 102 S.Ct. 1612, 71 L.Ed.2d 848 (1982).

Other courts have reached the same conclusion by way of analyzing the legislative history of the statutes.

The legislative history of 28 U.S.C. § 2409a indicates that Congress intended easements to be included in the real property rights adjudicated in a quiet title action. The House Report states: "The quieting of title where the plaintiff claims an estate less than a fee simple — an easement or the title to minerals — is likewise included in the terms of the proposed statute." H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. reprinted in 1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 4552.

Kinscherff v. United States, 586 F.2d 159, 160 (10th Cir.1978).

While the grant of subject matter jurisdiction found in section 1346(f) refers to actions under section 2409a as "quiet title" actions, we do not think Congress meant to restrict the jurisdiction of the district courts to actions which conform strictly with the common law action to quiet title, with all its trappings. Section 2109a, which was enacted contemporaneously with section 1346(f), waives sovereign immunity in all suits to "adjudicate a disputed title to real property." The legislative history of section 2409a also indicates that Congress meant to permit actions which may not have been properly labeled as actions to quiet title at common law. The statutory language and legislative history of section 2409a convinces us that the lower court had jurisdiction to adjudicate this claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1346(f) (1976).

Prater v. United States, 612 F.2d 157, 159 (5th Cir.1980) (footnote omitted).

The Attorney General explained that actions to quiet title contemplated by the draft of section 2409a were broader than those allowed under English bills quia timet. The draft was intended to authorize suits even when the United States held possession.

Fulcher v. United States, 632 F.2d 278, 283 (4th Cir.1980) (footnote omitted).

Although the plaintiff's original pleadings in this case for a right-of-way were couched in terms of "adverse possession" against the government, it is clear, and was made clearer at trial, that the plaintiff's theory is one of easement by necessity or implication. That being the claim, the Court finds that it has jurisdiction over the matter.

The government also claims that the twelve-year statute of limitations period on quiet title disputes bars any action from being taken in this case. Apparently, the government misinterprets the plaintiff's claim, believing that the parcel over which the plaintiff wishes to obtain an easement is Parcel No. 103, which was acquired in 1965. The record is clear, however, that plaintiff wants a right-of-way over Parcel No. 135 which was acquired in 1976. The suit, therefore, has been brought well within the applicable period.

The final procedural claim made by the government is that this suit is barred under the doctrine of res judicata because the matter was previously litigated in the condemnation suit before Judge Harris. The government is in error on this point because the record is clear that Judge Harris expressly refused to make any findings of fact or conclusions of law on this issue because he believed the issue could better be resolved in the present suit.

Having disposed of the procedural matters at issue in this case, the Court is brought to the merits. The case is one that turns on its facts, for the law is clear that...