Park Dist. of City of Devils Lake v. Garcia, 10313
| Decision Date | 26 May 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 10313,10313 |
| Citation | 334 N.W.2d 824 |
| Parties | PARK DISTRICT OF the CITY OF DEVILS LAKE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. David GARCIA and Estelle Garcia, and all other persons unknown claiming any estate or interest in, or lien or encumbrance upon, the property described in the complaint, Defendants and Appellees. Civil |
| Court | North Dakota Supreme Court |
Lewis C. Jorgenson, Devils Lake, for plaintiff and appellant Park Dist. of the City of Devils Lake.
David Garcia, of Garcia & Garcia, Devils Lake, for defendants and appellees Garcia; on brief.
Murray G. Sagsveen, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Bismarck, for amici curiae State of N.D. and Garrison Diversion Conservancy Dist.
Carol E. Dinkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Dirk D. Snel and Kathleen P. Dewey, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae The U.S.; on brief.
The Park District of the City of Devils Lake (hereinafter "Park District") appealed from a judgment quieting title in David and Estelle Garcia. We reverse the judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
This appeal reaches us in a strange posture. James G. Schroeder brought a quiet-title action against the Garcias and all other persons unknown claiming any estate or interest in, or lien or encumbrance upon, a portion of property described as "All that part of Lot Three (3) of Section Nineteen (19), Township One Hundred Fifty-three (153), Range Sixty-four (64), which lies West of the plat of Elmwood Addition to Chautauqua as of record in the office of the Register of Deeds, Ramsey County, North Dakota, including all Riparian Rights accruing to the aforesaid property, ..." The complaint excluded certain property which Schroeder's complaint conceded was owned by the Garcias. The land in question is on the shore of Devils Lake and the abstract of title, admitted as an exhibit, indicates Schroeder's title began with a patent from the United States in 1884. The Garcias answered the complaint and counterclaimed, alleging a claim of title to a portion of the property through adverse possession for more than 20 years; that the property lies below the meander line of Devils Lake; and that the adverse possession was prior to the time the property was deeded to the United States by the public. Neither the State nor the United States was named as a party in either the complaint of the Park District or the counterclaim of the Garcias. Prior to trial, Schroeder conveyed the property by special warranty deed to the Park District. The trial court, upon motion of the Park District, substituted the Park District for Schroeder in the action.
After a trial to the court, the trial court found that the Garcias came into actual possession of certain property on July 18, 1956, under a contract for deed and that since that time they have claimed the disputed property "adjacent or contiguous to their property ... exclusively, openly, and notoriously in their own right adversely to the world and especially to the plaintiff Park District of the City of Devils Lake, ..." The trial court further found that the Garcias have claimed the property "exclusively, openly and notoriously in their own right adversely to the world and especially to plaintiff Park District of the City of Devils Lake, in the following manner: that defendants have constructed fences around a portion of premises described aforesaid, which constitute a substantial inclosure protecting the area, and, as to the premises not inclosed, the defendants have made improvements to said area." The trial court dismissed the Park District's claim and quieted title in the disputed property in the Garcias.
After the trial court issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order for judgment, but before the entry of judgment, there was an exchange of correspondence between counsel for the parties, counsel for the State of North Dakota (Murray Sagsveen, Special Assistant Attorney General), and the trial court indicating that the State had become aware of the proceedings and claimed title to the property because: the land was between the meander line and the shore line; the State claimed that the meander line is the ordinary high-water mark for Devils Lake; the State claimed to hold the bed of Devils Lake as trust lands; and a suit was pending in the United States District Court in which the question of whether or not the State acquired the bed of Devils Lake at the time of Statehood was at issue as well as the relationship of the meander line and the ordinary high-water mark. The State urged that because it was not served nor made a party to this proceeding that the judgment should not affect the rights of the State or the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District to subsequently claim title to the same land. After discussing several options the State suggested that the judgment be drafted to clearly indicate that it resolved only the dispute between the named parties but would not prejudice any claims of the State or the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District to any of the land below the meander line described in the judgment. After a considerable amount of additional correspondence between the trial court and counsel for the parties and the State, in which all parties appeared to agree that the judgment would not be determinative of the interests of the State or the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, but apparently could not agree on a specific amendment to the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order for judgment, the trial court directed that judgment be entered in accordance with its original order. The Park District appealed from the judgment and raised three issues:
1. Whether or not riparian land may be acquired through adverse possession.
2. Whether or not the Garcias have proved adverse possession.
3. Whether or not the judgment includes more riparian land than was claimed in the original action. 1
Pursuant to Rule 29, N.D.R.App.P., the State of North Dakota and the United States of America requested, and received, leave of this court to file amicus curiae briefs. In its brief the State of North Dakota, although acknowledging the issues raised by the Park District, urged the following issue: Is the land in question owned in fee simple by the Park District or the Garcias, or is it sovereign trust land of the State of North Dakota? 2 A summary of the argument, as stated in the brief of the State, is:
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Ownership of Bed of Devils Lake, Matter of
...action concerning ownership of the bed of Devils Lake below the meander line. We affirm. After remand in Park District of the City of Devils Lake v. Garcia, 334 N.W.2d 824 (N.D.1983), several quiet title actions were consolidated and the case was certified as a class action to quiet title t......
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Szarkowski v. Reliance Ins. Co., 11347
...will not resolve issues which have not been properly raised in the first instance before the trial court. Park District of City of Devils Lake v. Garcia, 334 N.W.2d 824 (N.D.1983); Caldis v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 279 N.W.2d 665 (N.D.1979). Szarkowski conceded the applicability of the one-y......