Donnelly v. Cowsill

• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Before WEISBERGER; GOLDBERG
• Citation: Donnelly v. Cowsill, 716 A.2d 742 (R.I. 1998)
• Decision Date: 31 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-584-A,96-584-A
• Parties: Kathleen L. DONNELLY et al. v. William J. COWSILL et al. ppeal.

Page 742

716 A.2d 742

Kathleen L. DONNELLY et al. v. William J. COWSILL et al.

No. 96-584-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

July 31, 1998.

Joseph M. Hall, Gregory S. Schultz, Newport, for plaintiff.

William J. Cowsill, Kathleen Managhan, Newport, for defendant.

Before WEISBERGER, C.J., and LEDERBERG, BOURCIER, FLANDERS and GOLDBERG, JJ.

OPINION

GOLDBERG, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered by a justice of the Superior Court sitting without a jury in an action to quiet title to a strip of land known as Cowsill Lane (lane or way) located in the city of Newport. The plaintiffs, Kathleen L. Donnelly (Donnelly) and Robert and Elaine Baeza (Baezas) (collectively plaintiffs), are the owners of adjacent lots that abut the lane. Together the plaintiffs brought suit against numerous persons whose properties also surround the lane including the defendants Donald and Solveig Anderson (Andersons), and sought declaratory and injunctive relief with respect to ownership rights in the lane. The trial justice granted the requested relief and permanently restrained the Andersons from using or trespassing upon the lane. For the following reasons we affirm the judgment of the trial justice and deny the Andersons' appeal.

I Facts and Travel

Donnelly is the owner of lot No. 345 on Newport County Tax Assessors Plat No. 41. ¹ The Baezas are the owners of lot No. 308, which is situated directly south of Donelly's lot. Both the Donnelly and the Baeza lots are located to the east of the northern portion of the lane. The Andersons own the parcel of land directly across from plaintiffs' properties and to the west of the lane. The lane has been described in various deeds and plat plans as a "way," a "private way," and finally as "Cowsill Lane." It is the proposed sale of the Andersons' lot and their claim of access to the lane that provided the genesis of this litigation. Before we address the merits of the case, however, a brief history of the chain of title of the subject parcels is necessary.

Donnelly/Baeza Lots

In 1928 Edith Keller (Keller) conveyed a parcel of land located in Newport County to Oscar Schultz (Schultz). This parcel was created by carving out a small portion of land from the larger estate owned by Keller. The Schultz parcel bordered on Harrison Avenue and extended northward for approximately 500 feet. Because Keller retained the remainder of the lot, she reserved title to a forty-foot-wide strip of land on the western side of Schultz's parcel, extending north from Harrison Avenue. This strip of land, which would later be designated Cowsill Lane, provided access from Harrison Avenue to Keller's remaining property.

In 1949 Schultz divided his parcel in half. Schultz retained the northern half of the property for himself and proposed a subdivision of the lower portion. The subdivision would be bordered on the south by Harrison Avenue and would extend north to the proposed Eastnor Road Extension. The lane, which forms the western boundary of the proposed subdivision, is depicted on the Schultz plat and described as a "private way." Schultz obtained approval for his plan and subsequently sold the subdivided lots.

Thereafter, Schultz conveyed the remainder of his property on the north side of the Eastnor Road Extension to Benjamin B. McCormick. (McCormick), who also owned the land originally retained by Keller for which the right-of-way had been reserved. The deed from Schultz to McCormick is of particular significance to this case because Schultz conveyed to McCormick his entire "right, title and interest in and to that certain forty-foot way as shown on the aforesaid plat ."

In 1956 McCormick filed and received approval for a subdivision plan for half of the land he had received from Schultz in which he proposed the creation of five lots on the north side of Eastnor Road Extension. The forty-foot way is delineated on this plan and labeled "way." McCormick conveyed only three of these lots, however, and retained the two western-most lots for himself.

In 1965 McCormick conveyed the remainder of the property he obtained from Schultz, including the two unsold lots, as well as the land formerly owned by Keller, to Curry Associates, Inc. (Curry). This conveyance included his entire right, title, and interest in the forty-foot way.

On August 17, 1966, Curry conveyed the Keller property to William and Barbara Cowsill (Cowsills) and specifically included as a separate parcel of land the forty-foot strip. Curry retained the rest of the land it had acquired from McCormick and reserved a right-of-way over the lane "for the benefit of Lots to be platted on that property." On April 24, 1967, Curry conveyed the remaining Schultz property to Joseph D. Mancini (Mancini). It is significant that the deed from Curry to Mancini includes a right-of-way over the lane.

Thereafter, Mancini proposed yet another subdivision plan for the property. His first plat, approved by the Newport planning board in 1967, created three lots. Lot No. 1, a large tract located directly behind lot Nos. 2 and 3, had no frontage on Eastnor Road Extension and thus necessitated the creation of another forty-foot right-of-way directly to the east of lot No. 3 that is presently known as Eastnor Court. Therefore, as of 1967 lot No. 1 had forty feet of road frontage on Eastnor Court and a deeded right-of-way over the lane. ²

In 1975, after having erected a dwelling on a portion of lot No. 1, Mancini returned to the planning board with a second subdivision plan in which he proposed to divide lot No. 1 into two lots, one, upon which his home was built, would have frontage on the lane and the other would have forty feet of frontage on Eastnor Court. Because the former lot had no frontage on a public street and only included frontage on the lane, Mancini was required to apply to the Zoning Board of Review of Newport (zoning board) for a variance from the applicable frontage requirements.

The minutes of the meetings before the planning board relative to this resubdivision plan demonstrate the confusion that existed with respect to the status of the lane and the question of whether it was ever intended by anyone to be dedicated to the public. The minutes of the first public meeting, conducted on August 18, 1975, reflect the following:

"The question as to whether or not Cowsill Lane was a public right-of-way was raised. Mr. Jernigan [City Planner] noted that it was shown on the tax assessor's maps and was thus assumed to be a public way. There was some disagreement among the neighbors regarding this matter. If Cowsill Lane is not a public way, then it could have serious implications on the lot that now uses that lane for access because [i]f that lot, which is the subject of this application, is subdivided as requested by Mr. Mancini--then access could be obtained only through Cowsill Lane; and if it has the possibility of being cut off, that thus leaves the lot in question without access. The Chairman thought that this matter should be looked into."

Accordingly the planning board deferred further action on Mancini's application until a decision was issued by the zoning board with respect to the requested frontage variance, which variance was ultimately granted. On September 15, 1975, the planning board reconvened to consider the Mancini resubdivision application. The minutes of that meeting include the following:

"Mr. Jernigan advised the Board that the subdivision lot located on Cowsill Lane has full rights to use the so-called Cowsill Lane. This he said was noted in the deed. This was later confirmed by the City Solicitor.

"It was noted that the name 'Cowsill Lane' does not appear anywhere in official city records. It was felt that until such time as this street receives official status it shall not appear on any subdivision. The Board members were in complete agreement."

The planning board then voted to approve the subdivision plan. This action was the final division of this property and resulted in the configuration of lots as they presently appear on Tax Assessor's Plat No. 41.

On September 25, 1975, Mancini conveyed lot No. 345 to Larry and Ingrid Richardson (Richardsons). This deed included a conveyance of his entire "right, title and interest in and to that right of way *** designated as Cowsill Lane." On March 29, 1985, the Richardsons conveyed lot No. 345 to Donnelly along with their entire "right, title, and interest in and to that right of way *** designated as Cowsill Lane," which remains the only access to this lot.

The adjacent lot, lot No. 308, is presently owned by the Baezas and has access on Eastnor Road Extension. Although this lot borders the lane on its westerly side, the deed to the Baezas nor the deeds to any of their predecessors in the chain of title do not contain a grant of any right in and to the lane.

Anderson Lot

At the time Keller conveyed the parcel of land to Schultz, the property located directly to the west of Keller's estate was owned by Margaret T. Ludlow (Ludlow). This property was conveyed subsequently to Gustave J.S. White, Inc., which company in turn conveyed it to Oscar and Alve Lagerberg (Lagerberg) by two deeds dated May 7, 1942, and October 24, 1943. In 1950 a subdivision plan of this property was approved by the city's planning board. It is significant that the eastern boundary of this plat plan depicted the way as a "private way" and that there is no record of a conveyance in any deed or the depiction on any subdivision plan that could be construed as granting any right of access in and to the lane.

In 1978 the Andersons acquired title to a portion of the Lagerberg parcel by deed from Compart Associates. The deed to the Andersons describes a private road, Cowsill Lane, as forming a portion of the easterly boundary of their property but contains no grant of any rights in the way. This lot, which is known as "Ocean Manor," includes several condominium units as well as a smaller parcel...