Carrier v. Lindquist

• Decision Date: 14 December 2001
• Docket Number: No. 990836.,990836.
• Citation: 2001 UT 105,37 P.3d 1112
• Parties: Scott C. CARRIER, Hilary Carrier, Barbara S. Carrier, and Sherman W. Clow, Plaintiffs and Appellees, v. A. Kent LINDQUIST and Trina Clayton, Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

37 P.3d 1112

2001 UT 105

Scott C. CARRIER, Hilary Carrier, Barbara S. Carrier, and Sherman W. Clow, Plaintiffs and Appellees, v. A. Kent LINDQUIST and Trina Clayton, Defendants and Appellants.

No. 990836.

Supreme Court of Utah.

December 14, 2001.

David J. Bird, Salt Lake City, for plaintiffs.

Craig G. Adamson, Craig A. Hoggan, Cameron S. Denning, Salt Lake City, for defendants.

DURHAM, Justice:

¶ 1 This case arises from a dispute between homeowners about whether a private easement exists in an alley between the homeowners' respective properties. Plaintiffs Scott, Hilary, and Barbara Carrier jointly own property abutting the south side of the alley, and plaintiff Sherman W. Clow owns property next to the Carriers' property, also abutting the south side of the alley. Defendants A. Kent Lindquist and Trina Clayton jointly own a lot abutting the north side of the alley. Claiming ownership over the northern half of the alley, defendants extended their landscaping to that point, completely obstructing 7½ feet of the 15-foot-wide alley. Plaintiffs protested defendants' obstruction of the alley because it inhibited plaintiffs' only access to their properties from the rear. After defendants refused to remove the obstructions, plaintiffs brought suit, claiming a private easement over the entire width of the alley. Both parties moved for summary judgment. The district court granted judgment in favor of plaintiffs and ordered defendants to remove the obstructions and restore the alley to its prior condition. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 The facts in this case are not in dispute. The alley at issue runs east and west, between and parallel to Eleventh Avenue on the south and Twelfth Avenue on the north, in Salt Lake City. It originally extended a distance of 330 feet, ending at K Street on the west and L Street on the east. The alley was platted and recorded with the city in 1890 as part of the Dunford's Subdivision, and was dedicated to the city for public use. In 1989, the northern portion of the original Dunford's Subdivision was replatted as the Twelfth Avenue Subdivision. The new plat shows the alley just south of the southern boundary of the new Twelfth Avenue Subdivision. A public easement over the entire alley existed from 1890 to 1990.

¶ 3 On August 14, 1990, before any of the parties purchased their respective lots, Salt Lake City passed Ordinance 72, which vacated the eastern 58 feet of the alley. This portion of the alley was subsequently blocked by a shed, preventing access to the eastern portion of the alley. Ordinance 72 also vacated the western 272 feet subject to all existing rights of way and easements. The vacation of the western 272 feet was conditional, however, upon all abutting property owners reaching an agreement for joint use and access within one year. The ordinance provided that if an agreement was not reached within the time limit, the vacation of the western 272 feet would be void. Ordinance 72 was recorded, but the abutting landowners did not reach a joint use and access agreement, so the portion of Ordinance 72 that vacated the western 272 feet of the alley was void. Thus, although subsequent plat maps showed the entire alley as vacated on August 14, 1990, the western 272 feet of the alley remained city property.

¶ 4 In May 1992, the Carriers purchased their home on Eleventh Avenue after determining that the alley, as it appeared on the plat map abutting the back of their lot, was still dedicated public property from east of their property all the way west to K Street. In June 1993, Clow purchased his home next to the Carriers on Eleventh Avenue. Clow also purchased with reference to the plat map and understood that he acquired the right to use the alley to access the back of his lot. According to plaintiffs, they relied on having access through the alley because a retaining wall and garage built across the front of the Carriers' property on Eleventh Avenue, and a 38-foot vertical rise from the front to the back of both properties, made land delivery of heavy goods and vehicle access to both backyards impossible from the fronts of the homes. Both the Carriers' deed and Clow's deed refer to the plat map to describe the properties. Clow's deed further states that his property includes "one-half the vacated alley abutting on the north." After purchasing their lots, the Carriers and Clow openly and regularly used the alley to deliver goods and equipment, as well as for vehicular access to their backyards.

¶ 5 In May 1993, defendants Lindquist and Clayton purchased their lot on K Street. Defendants' side yard abuts the northern side of the alley and extends from K Street for 165 feet. Defendants' deed also referred to the plat map and stated that the property included "half the vacated alley abutting on the south."

¶ 6 In October 1993, defendants obstructed the alley with large mounds of debris from their lot. Plaintiff Clow protested the obstructions and consulted the Salt Lake City Attorney's Office about the alley's status. Assistant City Attorney Bruce R. Baird determined that the conditions of Ordinance 72 had not been met and that the alley was still dedicated city property. Baird informed Clow of his findings in a November 1993 letter. Clow placed a copy of Baird's letter and a copy of Ordinance 72 in defendants' mailbox along with a request to defendants to remove the obstructions. Defendants admit that in November 1993 they received these items. According to defendants, the trash was removed after two weeks.

¶ 7 Eight months later, in July 1994, defendants commenced work on a large rock wall that extended the 165-foot length of their property. The wall was placed down the center line of the alley, 7½ feet from defendants' property line as it appeared on the plat map. Defendants covered the asphalt running down the alley with two to eight inches of soil and filled the northern half of the alley with large boulders, using the alley as a staging area for the wall.¹ Plaintiffs again demanded that defendants remove the obstructions.

¶ 8 After plaintiffs protested the obstruction of the alley, both plaintiffs and defendants had numerous conversations with various Salt Lake City officials during July and August 1994. During these exchanges, both plaintiffs and defendants were given notice that the alley had not been vacated by Ordinance 72. Defendants therefore petitioned the city to vacate the western portion of the alley. Also during this period, plaintiffs asked the city to require removal of the obstructions, but city officials refused and advised plaintiffs not to file suit against the city until the matter of vacation was resolved. City Attorney Roger Cutler notified Scott Carrier by letter that if the alley was vacated, abutting owners would be free to enclose or use the alley as they pleased. City officials advised defendants that they need not remove the improvements from the alley until the city council had taken action on the petition to vacate the alley. Defendants were further informed that the alley would likely be vacated and that the only easement across the alley was in favor of a utility company. Defendants therefore continued construction of the rock wall, which was completed in August 1994. The rock wall entirely obstructed the northern half of the alley's width, thereby preventing plaintiffs from using the alley as they had previously. The rock wall's completion, therefore, occurred well before the city council took any action to vacate the alley.

¶ 9 Six months later, in February 1995, the city council passed Salt Lake City Ordinance 15, which vacated the western 272 feet of the alley. The vacation, however, remained subject to existing rights of way and easements of third parties. Plaintiffs filed suit in January 1996, claiming a private easement over the entire alley. The district court entered a summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs, granting plaintiffs an injunction requiring defendants to remove the obstructions from the alley and restore the alley to its prior condition. Defendants appeal.

¶ 10 Defendants set forth nine issues on appeal. Because their statement of the issues is duplicative, we address all of defendants' arguments in connection with the following three issues: (1) whether the district court erred in finding that plaintiffs have a private easement over the alley, (2) whether the district court abused its discretion in granting an injunction against defendants to remove the wall and restore the alley, and (3) whether the district court abused its discretion in not applying a balancing of equities analysis and ruling in favor of defendants under that analysis.

ANALYSIS

I. EXISTENCE OF PRIVATE EASEMENT

¶ 11 Defendants claim that the district court erred in finding plaintiffs are entitled to a private easement over the alley. The ultimate determination of whether an easement exists is a conclusion of law, which we review for correctness. Valcarce v. Fitzgerald, 961 P.2d 305, 311 (Utah 1998). However, the existence of an easement is also a highly fact-dependent question; therefore, we accord the trial judge a measure of discretion when applying the correct legal standard to the facts, and overturn a ruling concerning the existence of an easement only if the judge exceeded the discretion granted. Id.

A. Private Easement Based on Plat Map

¶ 12 Under Utah law, landowners whose property abuts public streets, alleys, and public ways that appear on a plat map are entitled to a private easement over those public ways. In Tuttle v. Sowadzki, this court stated:

No doubt the law is to the effect that purchasers buying lots with reference to a map or plat which is authorized by the owner of the ground, and such map or plat shows that such lots abut upon a street or alley which also is shown on such map or plat to be a street or alley, then, and in such event, the purchasers acquire a right to have such street or alley maintained as such, and

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