Smith v. Lawrence Reid, Royce Reid, Jennifer Heath & THL GP Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 December 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-13-00550-CV,04-13-00550-CV |
| Parties | Randy K. SMITH, Appellant v. Lawrence REID, Royce Reid, Jennifer Heath and THL GP Inc., Appellees |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
From the 63rd Judicial District Court, Edwards County, Texas
Honorable M. Rex Emerson, Judge Presiding
Opinion by: Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
Sitting: Catherine Stone, Chief Justice Karen Angelini, Justice Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED
Randy K. Smith appeals the trial court's judgment enjoining him from using a road located on property owned by Lawrence Reid, Royce H. Reid, Jennifer Heath, and THL GP, Inc. (collectively, the Reids). In four issues, Smith argues that the trial court erred in: (1) declaring that the road is not a public road; (2) determining that Smith did not have an easement by estoppel; (3) determining that Smith is liable for breach of covenant; and (4) awarding attorney's fees. We modify the trial court's judgment to condition the award of appellate attorney's fees on an unsuccessful appeal by Smith. In all other respects, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
BACKGROUND
The Reids are the owners of approximately 1,231.6-acres of real property located in Edwards County known as the Reid Ranch. The Reid Ranch consists of nine tracts of land. The Reids trace their ownership of the ranch to Royce I. Reid, who acquired the ranch by General Warranty Deed dated May 14, 1953. The May 14, 1953 Warranty Deed does not contain any exception for any easement benefiting adjoining property.
Smith owns 720.222 acres of land adjoining the Reid Ranch ("Smith Ranch"). The Smith Ranch includes two tracts: a 639.192-acre tract and an 81.03-acre tract (hereinafter referred to as the 640-acre tract and the 81-acre tract). Smith acquired the 640-acre tract from Denman L. Cloudt by General Warranty Deed dated May 8, 2003 ("Cloudt Deed"). The 81-acre tract was acquired by General Warranty Deed dated February 19, 2010. Neither Warranty Deed contains reference to conveyance of an easement or other appurtenant right over and across any portion of the Reid Ranch.
Edwards County Road 330 originates at a point of intersection with State Highway 55 on the southeastern boundary of Reid Ranch. County Road 330 traverses Reid Ranch. There is a road known as "the spur road" which departs from Edwards County Road 330 in a generally westerly direction crossing from east to west across portions of the Reid Ranch. Specifically, the spur road crosses the sixth tract and the third tract of the Reid Ranch. The spur road then enters into the Smith Ranch at a point such that it intersects the boundary line between the Reid Ranch and the Smith Ranch. For a number of years, the Reids permitted Smith and his predecessors in title to use the spur road to conveniently access his 640-acre tract. The following map was admitted at trial:
Image materials not available for display.
(The thick black line is the spur road; the yellow line is County Road 330; and the blue line is Pulliam Creek).
Bay-Houston Towing Co. owned property south of the Smith Ranch. In 2007, Bay-Houston sued Smith in an attempt to establish the right to use the spur road to travel across Smith's property. Because Bay-Houston also had to use a portion of the Reid Ranch to reach its property, Smith asked for leave of court to join the Reids in the litigation, and pointed out that both the Reids and "Edwards County officials . . . contest and dispute that this roadway over the Reid Ranch is a public highway." In their answer to Smith's Third Party Petition, the Reids denied "that all or any portion of the roadway in question is a public road." To avoid litigation, the Reids entered into aRule 11 agreement with Bay-Houston providing that they would give Bay-Houston permission to use the spur road across Reid Ranch if Bay-Houston won its suit against Smith. Smith then nonsuited his third party claim against the Reids. Bay-Houston lost at trial and was not allowed to use the spur road across Smith's property, thus rendering the Rule 11 agreement moot.
In February 2010, Smith purchased an additional 81-acre tract bordering his 640-acre tract and the Reid Ranch to the east. The 81-acre tract gave Smith direct access from State Highway 55 to his 640-acre tract. Smith installed a gate to access his property from the state highway.
Upon noticing the new gate and learning that Smith no longer needed to cross Reid Ranch to access his property, Lawrence Reid wrote a letter to Smith dated March 11, 2010. The letter congratulates Reid on his recent purchase of land and further states:
Since your new acquisition provides direct access to State of Texas Highway 55, I request we speak soon to discuss your current ingress through our property. We have acted neighborly in the past and wish to continue in such manner, however any necessity of yours to cross our property has now ceased. It is my belief and desire that an acceptable time frame for you to complete your new entrance be reached to accommodate everyone's needs and wishes.
The letter was posted on Smith's gate.1 Smith did not respond to the letter; at trial, he claimed he never received the letter. Having never heard from Smith, in late May 2010, the Reids blocked the spur road with a tractor to prevent Smith from using it. Royce was at the house when Smith attempted to access the road. Royce informed Smith that he no longer needed to use the road. Smith responded that "he thought he had some type of right to traverse that property." Smith could not explain what right he thought he had, so Royce then moved the tractor and told Smith he had two months to find his proof of access. The Reids left the road unblocked all summer, but Smith never contacted the Reids, so the Reids blocked the road again on Labor Day weekend. This time they blocked the road with rocks and a gooseneck trailer. Smith still did not contact the Reids.
On November 18, 2010, the Reids filed suit against Smith, asking for a temporary injunction and for a declaration that Smith has no right to use the spur road. The Reids were granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting Smith from using the spur road across the Reid Ranch. Smith then began exclusively using his property to access the 640-acre tract from State Highway 55.
A few months later, Smith approached the Edwards County Commissioners' Court and asked the court to declare that the spur road is a county road. On February 8, 2011, the commissioners' court adopted a resolution titled "Smith Road Spur to County Road 330." The resolution provides that:
[T]here is evidence that [the spur road] has been and remains a County Road, to-wit: (1) Resolution of the Edwards County Commissioners' Court dated June 11, 1998 and recorded in Vol. 12, Pg[.] 543 of the Minutes of the Commissioners' Court of Edwards County, Texas, (2) Written statement of Marshall Craig, former Precinct #2 Commission of Edwards County, Texas, recorded April 12, 1978 in Vol[.] 6 at [P]g[.] 29 of the Deed Records of Edwards County, Texas, and (3) verbal statement of Lee Sweeten, current Precinct #2 Commissioner of Edwards County, Texas, that he performed road maintenance work on said spur while employed by the Edwards County Road Department in the mid-1970s[.]
Based on this evidence, the commissioners' court found and ordered that the spur road "has been and continues to be a county road for all purposes," and that the "spur shall hereinafter be included as part of the county road inventory[.]" However, the resolution concludes that the spur road "shall not be added to the official County Road map until such future time as [Transportation Code] proceedings are completed . . . and adding said spur road to the map is expressly ordered by this Court." The June 11, 1998 minutes reflect that the commissioners passed a motion providing that "the spur off of road #2042 that goes to the Moore Ranch has been considered part of the County road system . . . and has been historically worked as a county road, therefore, be it resolved that itis hereby confirmed that it be part of the County Road system and shall remain as such for all purposes." There is no evidence that the spur road was subsequently added to the official County road map.
Smith did not inform the Reids or the trial court that he was seeking action from the County in 2011. He also failed to inform the commissioners that a lawsuit was pending and a temporary restraining order had been issued preventing him from using the spur road across the Reid Ranch. At trial, County Judge Souli Shanklin testified that the commissioners had no knowledge that the spur road was the subject of pending litigation, and that had they known, they would not have adopted the resolution. Shanklin testified that the commissioners' court learned about the lawsuit and temporary restraining order immediately after the February 8, 2011 meeting recessed, when the sheriff asked Smith "to go out with him to show him what needed to be done, and Smith told him that he could not because there was a restraining order against him on that deal."
When the Reids learned about the 2011 resolution, they joined Edwards County as a third-party defendant in the underlying lawsuit and challenged the validity of the resolution. On May 19, 2012, Edwards County entered into an agreed judgment with the Reids wherein the County agreed that the February 8, 2011 resolution "was not intended to acquire any public rights in any road spur off of County Road 330 as described in the resolution; and to the extent the resolution is alleged to be an act acquiring or attempting to acquire public rights in the spur under Chapters [sic] 281 or Chapter 258 of the Texas Transportation Code," the resolution is invalid, unenforceable, and void. Further, the County agreed that "the Resolution specifically withheld the addition of the spur as a county road on the County's Texas Transportation Code Chapter 258 County Road Map."...
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