Nelson v. Garber
| Decision Date | 19 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | #29304 |
| Citation | 960 N.W.2d 340 |
| Parties | Howard N. NELSON, Bonita C. Nelson, Philip L. Nelson, and Evelyn M. Nelson, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. Bennie L. GARBER, and Dakotaraptor, LLC, Defendants and Appellees, and Nancy Pfeifer Teachout, James E. Findley and Sarah E. Findley, as Co-Trustees of the James E. and Sarah Findley Revocable Trust, Gary G. Mohs and Norine A. Mohs, Arlo J. Hurley and Kathleen A. Hurley, Steven T. Ahles and Margaret E. Ahles, and Trevor J. Stallman, Roberts County, a political subdivision of the State of South Dakota, Lockwood Township, a political subdivision of the State of South Dakota, and any personal representatives, heirs at law, devisees, legatees, or creditors of any such person or persons who may be deceased, whether known or unknown, and all persons unknown who have a claim to have any interests or estate in or lien or encumbrance upon the premises described in the complaint, Defendants. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
DAVID A. GEYER of Delaney, Nielsen, & Sannes, P.C., Sisseton, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiffs and appellants.
GEORGE B. BOOS of Boos Jennen Law Firm, LLC, Milbank, South Dakota, Attorneys for defendants and appellees.
[¶1.] Nelsons, Garber, and Dakotaraptor dispute their ownership interest in a section of roadway in the Bayview East Addition, referred to as Caster's Road. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Garber and Dakotaraptor. It held that Caster's Road is a public road that the county or township does not maintain, and the Nelsons hold no right to control who uses the road. The Nelsons appeal the circuit court's order. We affirm.
[¶2.] In September 2017, Howard and Bonita Nelson and Philip1 and Evelyn Nelson (referred to jointly as "the Nelsons") filed an action to quiet title to a section of roadway and to obtain a judgment declaring that they possess fee title to the road. They filed this action against Bennie Garber (Garber), Dakotaraptor, LLC (Dakotaraptor), Roberts County, Lockwood Township, and other named and unnamed persons who might claim an interest in the roadway.
[¶3.] The disputed road is an alleged private road called Caster's Road located in the Bayview East Addition (Bayview). The road's history begins in 1966 when the Roberts County Board of County Commissioners (Commission)2 approved the plat for Caster's Subdivision on Big Stone Lake. Caster's Subdivision established Caster's Road. Its plat map identified Caster's Road as "ROAD," but the proprietor's certificate for Caster's Subdivision stated that "all Road Rights of Way shown are hereby dedicated to Private Use. " (Emphasis added.) The document originally said, "to Public Use," but the Commission struck the word "public" and typed in "private."
[¶4.] In 1982, the Commission approved the Bayview subdivision, which replatted lots five through eight of Caster's Subdivision and included additional lots to the east. Bayview East Partnership (Bayview Partnership) developed the subdivision. The Bayview plat redrew and extended Caster's Road and included the disputed section of roadway. The plat map for Bayview identified the road as a "Private Roadway."
[¶5.] Philip and Evelyn Nelson purchased lot ten in Bayview in April 1983. In June 1988, Howard and Bonita Nelson acquired lot eight and the east half of lot nine. That same day, Philip and Evelyn Nelson acquired the west half of lot nine. The Nelsons’ deeds do not mention an ownership interest in Caster's Road. Instead, their deeds refer to their properties by their Bayview lot numbers.
[¶6.] Located on the other side of Caster's Road from the Nelsons’ lots is the Bay Ridge Subdivision (Bay Ridge), owned by Garber. Garber's residence is located at the east end of Bay Ridge, found at the end of Caster's Road. At one point in time, Bayview Partnership owned the land on which both Bayview and Bay Ridge sit. Garber purchased the Bay Ridge land in 2002, and the Commission approved the plat of Bay Ridge in 2004. Bay Ridge's plat map classified Caster's Road as a "ROAD." Caster's Road was the only road included in the Bay Ridge plat map and was the only access road to the Bay Ridge lots.
[¶7.] Dr. Ronald and Donna Wyatt purchased their property outside the Bayview subdivision in 1993. Their property's circle driveway connects to the east end of Caster's Road. Since 1994, Caster's Road has been the only access to their land. Dakotaraptor purchased the property from Dr. Wyatt's estate in 2017. In August 2017, Garber executed and recorded an easement granting Dakotaraptor ingress and egress over Caster's Road.
[¶8.] In November 2019, the Nelsons filed a motion for summary judgment. They argued that the section of Caster's Road adjacent to their properties is, as the Bayview plat map indicates, a "Private Roadway." They contended that the plat map is clear on its face, and consequently the parties could not present parol evidence to interpret the plat map. They claimed, because Garber never acquired title to Caster's Road, he cannot convey an easement to Dakotaraptor.
[¶9.] Garber and Dakotaraptor responded and renewed a prior motion for summary judgment. They asserted that the Nelsons hold no interest in the road. They argued that, because their properties are also adjacent to the road, the Nelsons’ interests are no greater than their own. Garber and Dakotaraptor further contended that the use of the word "private" on Bayview's plat map does not signify that Caster's Road is owned by the adjacent lots’ landowners. Instead, they argued the Commission used the word "private" to notify the public that the county and township were not responsible for the road's maintenance. They alleged that the Commission only approved Bay Ridge Subdivision because Caster's Road provided access to its lots. Garber and Dakotaraptor concluded that Caster's Road is a privately maintained public road, or alternatively, a public road not maintained by the county or township until either accepts the road.
[¶10.] Garber and Dakotaraptor supported their summary judgment motion with an affidavit from Arden Moen (Moen), Roberts County's Director of Equalization from 1991 to 2007. He stated that a big concern for the Roberts County Planning and Zoning Committee was to ensure that the county or township would not be responsible for maintaining roads located in Big Stone Lake's developments. He commented that the committee labeled roads "private" to put the public and subdivision lot purchasers on notice that adjacent lot owners, not the county or township, were responsible for the road's maintenance. He asserted that the roads marked private are "public roads that are privately maintained, or ... public roads that are NOT maintained by the county or township." According to him, the committee did not intend the use of the word "private" to prohibit the public from using the road. He noted that all platted lots must have access to a road for the committee to approve the subdivision. Moen served on the committee when they approved the Bay Ridge plat, and the only platted access to Bay Ridge was Caster's Road. He claimed, "adjoining land owner[s] may use [Caster's] [R]oad to access their adjoining propert[ies]."
[¶11.] Also attached was an affidavit from Larry J. Holton (Holton), who served on the Roberts County Planning and Zoning Committee from roughly 1988 to 2008. He signed the approval for Bayview's plat map, and he claimed that evidence supported that adjacent landowners may use Caster's Road. He also stated that the committee's policies required striking the word "public" and inserting the word "private." He noted that, when the committee approved the 1966 plat of Caster's Subdivision, the process required the committee to mark all roads as "private" to notify the public that the county and township were not responsible for road maintenance. However, he claimed this designation did not prohibit adjacent landowners from using the roads and individuals from extending the roads. Holton further explained that the committee would not have approved the Bayview plat map if the lot owners could not use the alleged "private" portion of Caster's Road within Caster's Subdivision. Because the committee approved Bayview, he claimed this provided proof that roadways marked "private" were meant for public use. He also categorized the lake developments’ roads as "public roads that are privately maintained, or ... public roads that are NOT maintained by the county or township."3
[¶12.] In his affidavit, Garber averred that Caster's Road is the only access to his property located outside Bayview, and he has used Caster's Road since 1996. He claimed his address is "48155 Caster's Road. " (Emphasis added.) Garber added that he has not asked permission to use the road, and no one has ever blocked his access. He claimed that he maintained the road from the west side of the Nelsons’ properties to Dakotaraptor's driveway from 1995 to the present, and he has no knowledge of the Nelsons maintaining Caster's Road. Garber and Dakotaraptor also attached to their motion a letter from Roberts County's Director of Equalization stating that the county's records indicated that the Bayview lot owners do not own Caster's Road.
[¶13.] The circuit court heard the summary judgment motions in March 2020. At the hearing, Garber and Dakotaraptor noted that Caster's Road contains electric and water utilities, emergency vehicles traverse the road, and guests use the road, yet the Nelsons are seeking only to exclude Garber and Dakotaraptor. They also noted that the Bayview Partnership previously owned both the Nelsons’ and Garber's properties. They argued that, if Caster's Road was private, the Bayview Partnership's sale of the Bayview lots to the Nelsons would have limited the Partnership's right to use Caster's Road and, as a result, limited the Partnership's access to its adjacent lot, now owned by Garber.
[¶14.] The...
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