City of Los Angeles v. Venice Peninsula Properties
| Decision Date | 22 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. B034790,B034790 |
| Citation | 205 Cal.App.3d 1522,253 Cal.Rptr. 331 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a Municipal Corporation, Cross-defendant and Respondent, v. VENICE PENINSULA PROPERTIES, Defendant and Appellant. The STATE OF CALIFORNIA, EX REL STATE LANDS COMMISSION, Defendant, Cross-Complainant and Respondent, v. SUMMA CORPORATION; Pacific Enterprises, Cross-Defendants and Appellants. |
Sherman L. Stacey, Santa Monica, for defendant and appellant Venice Peninsula Properties.
O'Melveny & Myers and Jack B. Hicks, III, Los Angeles, for cross-defendant and appellant Summa Corp.
Todd Littleworth, Los Angeles, for cross-defendant and appellant Pacific Enterprises.
John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., N. Gregory Taylor, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Nancy Alvarado Saggese, Deputy Atty. Gen., for cross-complainant and respondent State of Cal.
James K. Hahn, City Atty. for the City of Los Angeles, and Edward C. Dygert, Asst. City Atty., for plaintiff, cross-defendant and respondent City of Los Angeles.
On March 25, 1981, we filed an opinion in this case which directed reversal of a judgment of the trial court which had been entered in favor of the State of California (State) and its successor in interest, City of Los Angeles (City).
The thrust of the claim of the State and City and the judgment entered on that claim by the trial court was that a public trust easement existed on certain privately held property in what is known as the Ballona Lagoon.
Subsequently, the California Supreme Court granted hearing and rendered an opinion upholding the judgment of the trial court. That decision was ultimately overturned by the United States Supreme Court in an opinion filed April 17, 1984, (Summa Corp. v. California, 466 U.S. 198, 104 S.Ct. 1751, 80 L.Ed.2d 237). The matter was remanded to the Supreme Court of California "for further proceedings not inconsistent with [the opinion of the United States Supreme Court]."
On May 19, 1988, the California Supreme Court transferred the cause to this court "with directions to decide the appeal in the light of the decision of the United States Supreme Court."
Thereafter, we were advised that the City and State had negotiated a settlement with one of the property owners, Summa Corporation, and we were requested to dismiss the appeal.
Since the easement claim by the City and State affected property owners other than Summa Corporation, and since the dismissal of the appeal would have the effect of permitting the erroneous judgment entered by the trial court to stand, we denied the request and calendared the matter for oral argument.
Having heard the argument and reviewed our former opinion, the briefs previously filed, as well as the opinion of the United States Supreme Court, we conclude that the proper course of procedure is to adopt the language of our former opinion and remand the matter to the trial court and direct entry of judgment against the City and the State. The parties will then be free to effectuate any settlement agreement they care to make unfettered by the former judgment of the trial court.
At issue on this appeal is whether, by virtue of the so-called California Tidelands Trust Doctrine, the State and its successor in interest, the City, can assert an easement for commerce, navigation and fishery over land which was part of a Mexican land grant and patented by the United States government pursuant to the Act of 1851. 1 We hold that neither the State nor the City possess such an easement over the property in question here.
The instant case involves two lots which are depicted on a subdivision map as Lot C of the Del Rey subdivision, and Lot R of the Silver Strand subdivision. These lots underlie what is now popularly referred to as the Ballona Lagoon (Lagoon) located in the Marina Del Rey area of the City.
The Lagoon in its present configuration is a narrow elongated area covered by very shallow water and is separated from the ocean by a strand or bar of beach sand. Its entire length lies within 1,000 yards of the ocean. It connects to the Venice Canals 2 to the northwest and to the ocean channel entrance to Marina Del Rey on the southeast.
Historically, the name Ballona Lagoon referred to a much larger area than that covered by the property here involved and was part of what was once Rancho Ballona. That additional area is now dry land as a result of filling, development and natural conditions.
Rancho Ballona was granted to Augustin and Ignacio Machado and Philipe and Tomas Talamantes in 1839 by the then Governor of the Californias, which area was part of Mexico. Following the cession of California to the United States by Mexico, the United States in 1873 patented the title of the Machados and Talamantes to Rancho Ballona pursuant to the Act of 1851.
The Summa Corporation, Venice Peninsula Properties, and other individuals (hereafter the property owners) are the present fee owners of Lots C and R and derive their title from the original Mexican grantees. The Southern California Gas Company 3 owns a recorded easement for two pipelines which traverse the property.
The first attempt to establish a public easement over the property did not occur until 1965, when the City filed the instant action for declaratory relief and to quiet title. By virtue of said easement, the City asserts the right to dredge, construct sea walls, and to make improvements in the Lagoon without the necessity of exercising the power of eminent domain. These proposed improvements would require relocation of the Southern California Gas Company pipelines.
According to the City's complaint, it is entitled to a public trust easement for commerce, navigation and fishery for the reason that the Lagoon is part of the tidelands and is navigable ocean water. As a fallback position, the City also claimed an easement based on express or implied dedication.
The State of California was named as a defendant pursuant to Public Resources Code section 6308 which requires that the state be joined as a necessary party defendant whenever a City brings an action involving tidelands that have been granted to it in trust by the Legislature.
The State filed a cross-complaint for declaratory relief and to quiet title in itself. In reality, however, the interests of the City and the State of California are compatible with each other and are not adverse. We will, for the sake of convenience, therefore, refer to these governmental entities as the State.
The trial court rendered a judgment for the State declaring (1) the existence of the public trust easement for navigation, commerce and fisheries in, over and upon the waters of the Lagoon up to the line of the Mean High Tide; (2) an easement for passage of fresh sea water through the Lagoon to the Venice Canals; (3) an easement for water recreation; (4) a right in the State and its successors and assigns to open, dredge, construct sea walls, etc., without requirement of the exercise of eminent domain or payment of compensation; (5) a paramount right in the State over the pipeline easement of the Southern California Gas Company; and (6) an easement in the City for public streets and waterways. In summary, however, it can be said that all of the enumerated rights and easements granted to the State by the trial court are simply incidental to and are subsumed by the public trust easement.
Since we conclude that there is no evidence in the record to support any theory of express or implied dedication, the resolution of this appeal turns on whether the State can assert the public trust easement for commerce, navigation and fishery.
In 1852, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 1851, the Machados and the Talamantes petitioned the Board of Land Commissioners for confirmation of their title. The Board, after hearing, confirmed title in the petitioners in 1854. The Board's decision was affirmed by the United States District Court, and the decision became final in 1856.
The confirmation and patent process next called for a survey of the boundaries of the Rancho. By the time this survey was conducted, certain landmarks referred to in the original grant had disappeared.
Objections by adjoining Rancho owners to the results of the survey resulted in some 17 years of litigation. The litigation mainly concerned the northwestern borders of the grant which had been marked in the original grant by gullies or barrancas, and the southern boundary, which had as one of its landmarks, a low marshy area or creek (estero) which was described as opening into an inner bay.
During the litigation in the patent proceedings this inner bay was described by the Commissioner of the Land Office as not being an arm of the sea. Several witnesses, who testified concerning the boundaries of Rancho Ballona, described the inner bay as pasture land which was periodically flooded by fresh water overflow.
There is no question that the patent which was ultimately issued embraced within its boundaries the entire Lagoon. The westerly boundary of the Rancho was fixed at the high water mark on the westerly side of the sand bar or ridge which separates the present Lagoon from the ocean.
The State concedes that the property owners have valid fee title to Lots C and R, but that such title is subject to the public trust easement because they were tidelands or submerged lands prior to the original grant. 4
Although only Lots C and R are involved in the instant litigation, the State asserts that the entire Lagoon, as it existed at the time of the grant, was and still is subject to the public trust easement. Thus, according to the State, even those areas which are now dry land and developed would be so burdened.
For this reason, the California Land Title Association has appeared on appeal as amicus curiae in support of the property...
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