Redden v. State

• Decision Date: 25 May 2001
• Parties: Kyle REDDEN and Ann Redden v. The STATE of Alabama et al. First Baptist Church of Bay Minette v. State of Alabama, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

804 So.2d 196

Kyle REDDEN and Ann Redden v. The STATE of Alabama et al.

First Baptist Church of Bay Minette v. State of Alabama, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

1939.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

May 25, 2001.

Daniel G. Blackburn and Rebecca A. Gaines of Daniel G. Blackburn, P.C., Bay Minette, for appellants Kyle Redden and Ann Redden.

Robert A. Wills of Wills & Simon, Bay Minette, for appellant First Baptist Church of Bay Minette.

William A. Gunter, counsel, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, for appellee.

HARWOOD, Justice.

The First Baptist Church of Bay Minette ("the Church") and Margaret Ann Boone Redden and Kyle Redden, by two complaints, sued the State of Alabama, naming as defendants the Alabama Department of Conservation; James E. Martin, commissioner of the Department of Conservation; and Governor Fob James (referred to as "the State"). The plaintiffs sought to quiet title to two noncontiguous parcels of land in Baldwin County and sought a judgment declaring that title to those parcels had reverted to them as successors in interest. The case was tried without a jury, on the issue whether the State had used the parcels in a way that would trigger the reversionary clause contained in the deeds granting the lands to the State. The court entered a judgment holding that the title had not reverted, but remained in the State. Both the Church and the Reddens appealed. We affirm.

The Church and the Reddens filed separate complaints against the State on September 24, 1998. Each complaint contained two counts; the counts in one complaint were identical to those in the other complaint. The Church's count one sought a judgment declaring that the title to the real property that was the subject of the Church's complaint had reverted to the Church's successor in interest, and the Reddens' count one sought a judgment declaring that the title to the parcel that was the subject of the Reddens' complaint had reverted to the Reddens. Count one of each complaint further "requested" that the State be directed to execute an appropriate document and to record it in the records in the probate court, acknowledging the reversion and quitclaiming or disclaiming any further interest in the property. Count two of the Church's complaint sought to quiet title to the one parcel in the Church, and count two of the Reddens' complaint sought to quiet title to the other parcel in the Reddens.

The State answered each complaint on November 16, 1998, denying the material allegations of the complaint and asserting the affirmative defenses of laches, unclean hands, and the statute of limitations. The court directed that the two cases be tried together, and it scheduled a nonjury trial for July 30, 1999. The parties submitted a joint stipulation of material facts, with attached exhibits. The following facts were included in the joint stipulation:

"1. The First Baptist Church of Bay Minette (`the Church') derives its claim of title to its property situated in Section 5, Township 9 South, Range 5 East in Baldwin County, Alabama, by virtue of an instrument dated October 23, 1996 and recorded in Real Property Book 717, page 1154, in the Probate Records of Baldwin County, Alabama. A true and correct copy of the instrument whereby the Church derives its claim of title is attached hereto, incorporated by reference and marked as Exhibit "1".

". . . .

"3. The property claimed by the Church was previously owned by D.R. Peteet and Dorothy High Peteet, husband and wife, who conveyed said land to the Alabama State Commission of Forestry, a previous division of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, by instrument dated April 15, 1941, and recorded in Deed Book 75, page 251, in the Probate Records of Baldwin County, Alabama. Said deed from Peteet to the Alabama State Commission of Forestry contained the following reversionary language:

"The above-described land is conveyed to the Grantee for the purpose of a State park or State parkway and said land is to be used exclusively for such purposes. In the event said land is not used for said purpose at any time for a period of five (5) consecutive years, all right, title and interest herein conveyed shall revert to the grantor.

"A copy of the deed from Peteet to the Alabama State Commission of Forestry is attached hereto, incorporated by reference and marked as Exhibit "3". Said property appears as Parcel "K" on the attached exhibit.

". . . .

"5. Both [the] parcel of land claimed by the Church and [the parcel claimed] by the Reddens lie immediately west of and adjacent to Alabama highway No. 161 in the municipal limits of the City of Orange Beach, Alabama. Neither the Church property nor the Redden property have ever consisted of any improvements of any nature, said parcels having remained unimproved at all times since the conveyance of said properties pursuant to Exhibits "3" and "4" attached hereto. At all times since 1996, the Church has assessed [the] property for taxes in the name of the First Baptist Church of Bay Minette, Alabama. No taxes have been paid by the Church due to its exemption from ad valorem taxation as a religious institution.

". . . .

"7. The property lying immediately north of the Redden property, and situated in the Northeast Quarter of section 5, Township 9 South, Range 5 East, has been occupied, for a period of approximately five (5) years by a Tom Thumb Convenience Store and other associated office and retail space.

"8. The property lying immediately south of the Church property and adjacent to the west right-of-way line of Alabama Highway No. 161 was previously adjudicated by the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, to be privately owned by the individual owners of said property, free and clear of any claim held by the State of Alabama or any of its various departments and agencies by virtue of the conveyance from Joseph Minthorn and Allie Minthorn to the Department of Conservation of the State of Alabama dated May 3, 1941, and recorded at Deed Book 75, page 252, in the Probate Records of Baldwin County, Alabama. Said parcel appears as Parcel `A' on the attached exhibit. Said claim was resolved in favor of the individual property owners in Bachar v. Guy Hunt, CV-88-671-G in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, by virtue of a final decree entered by Circuit Judge William Gordon on or about July 12, 1990. The instrument at issue in the prior Montgomery County litigation was the same instrument which described the property now claimed by the Reddens and lying in the East Half of the Northeast Quarter of Section 5, Township 9 South, Range 5 East in Baldwin County, Alabama.

"9. Alabama Highway No. 161 was built in 1945 and has been in continuous use as a public road since that time.

"10. Since 1945, the Alabama Highway Department has maintained the roadway and right-of-way by making repairs to the roadway and by mowing the adjacent right-of-way."

During the bench trial on July 30, 1999, the trial court heard the testimony of two witnesses. Thomas E. Mitchell, a representative of the Church, testified that he was 52 years old, had lived in Gulf Shores his whole life, and had never seen or had knowledge of anyone using the two parcels in question. Hugh Branyon, the park superintendent at Gulf State Park, testified that the Park decided to leave the two parcels of land in their natural state for aesthetic value and that the State had merely kept the grass cut and kept signs off the land. The Church and the Reddens submitted a posttrial brief with exhibits, on September 20, 1999. At some point not specified in the briefs or in the record, the trial judge and the lawyers for the parties visited the property and viewed it. The trial court entered a judgment on August 9, 2000, denying the plaintiffs' claims and concluding that the State was the "owner in fee simple" of the disputed properties.¹ In pertinent part, the judgment states:

"3. The plaintiffs, who are successors in interest to the original grantors, claim that the subject property has reverted to the original grantors because of the failure of [the Department of] Conservation to use the subject property as a State Park or Parkway. It is undisputed that no structures, facilities, or parklike features have been built by Conservation or anyone else on the disputed property. In fact, no improvements of any kind (other than expansions of Highway 161) have been made to the property and it has been left in its natural state.

"4. The parties stipulated that in Bachar v. Guy Hunt, CV-88-671-G, the Circuit Court of Montgomery County held that property immediately south of the First Baptist Church's claim had reverted to the original grantor. The plaintiffs failed, however, to show that the facts and issues in that case have application to the present case. In fact, Hugh Branyon, who has been superintendent of Gulf State Park for twenty-four years, testified and the court observed that the property involved in the Bachar case had buildings or other structures located on [it] which is clearly not the case with the property involved in this lawsuit.

"5. The testimony of Hugh Branyon revealed that it was the deliberate decision of Conservation to leave the subject property in its natural state and to provide the public with an aesthetic view.

"6. Several parcels of Gulf State Park land are not contiguous to each other.

"7. A portion of the disputed property has been condemned by the Alabama Department of Transportation for expansion of the right-of-way and in widening of Highway 161 and the proceeds of that condemnation are presently being held in the probate court of Baldwin County, Alabama pending the outcome of the present case.

"8. The construction of Highway 161 in the 1940s was for the benefit of the public."

The trial court then considered the law as set out by this Court in Griggs v. Driftwood Landing, Inc., 620 So.2d 582 (Ala. 1993), and Taylor v....