SPOTTSWOOD v. REIMER
| Decision Date | 04 December 2009 |
| Docket Number | 2071180. |
| Citation | 41 So.3d 787 |
| Parties | George G. SPOTTSWOOD and Amy H. Spottswood v. Henry E. REIMER, Sr., et al. Henry E. Reimer, Sr., et al. v. George G. Spottswood and Amy H. Spottswood. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
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Daniel G. Blackburn and Rebecca A. Gaines of Blackburn & Conner, P.C., Bay Minette; and W. Alexander Gray, Jr., of Silver, Voit & Thompson, P.C., Mobile, for appellants/cross-appellees George G. Spottswood and Amy H. Spottswood.
Allan R. Chason of Chason & Chason, P.C., Bay Minette, for appellees/cross-appellants Henry E. Reimer, Sr., et al.
William A. Gunter, gen. counsel, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, for amicus curiae Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in support of the appellants/cross-appellees.
The defendants below, George G. Spottswood and Amy H. Spottswood, appeal a judgment insofar as it (1) determined the location of the boundary line separating the Spottswoods' riparian rights in Mobile Bay from those of the plaintiffs below, Henry E. Reimer, Sr.; Daniel E. Reimer, Sr.; Regina R. Ehlert; and Melanie R. Moore (collectively referred to as "the Reimers"); and (2) determined the location where the Spottswoods could build a pier. The Reimers cross-appeal the judgment insofar as it (1) determined the location of a disputed segment of the upland boundary line separating the coterminous parcels of land owned by the Reimers and the Spottswoods and (2) determined the ownership of a triangular gore of land claimed by both the Reimers and the Spottswoods. We affirm in part and reverse in part legal descriptions describing the Reimer lot and the Spottswood lot were originally written and the rule governing the apportionment of land that naturally accretes in front of the land of coterminous landowners mandates that the Spottswoods should be awarded the entire triangle in order to maintain the proportionate share of the bay frontage their lot had before the accretion occurred. Second, they argue that they own the triangle because, they say, their predecessors in title acquired it by adverse possession.
The Reimers and the Spottswoods also dispute the location of the boundary line separating their riparian rights in Mobile Bay ("the riparian boundary line"). The Spottswoods contend that the riparian boundary line runs perpendicular to the shoreline of Mobile Bay from the western terminus of the upland boundary line separating the Reimer lot from the Spottswood lot while the Reimers contend that it runs on the same bearing as that upland boundary line. The Reimers contend that establishing the riparian boundary line perpendicular to the shoreline would be inequitable because it would establish the riparian boundary line south of a substantial portion of the wooden pier extending from the Reimers' lot into Mobile Bay ("the Reimer pier"), a pier that the Reimers built in the 1950s and have maintained in the same location ever since.
Finally, the parties dispute whether the location where the Spottswoods can build a pier within the boundaries of their riparian rights should be restricted. The Reimers contend that, if the Spottswood line is determined to be the correct location of the disputed segment of the upland boundary line, then the Spottswoods should be restricted to building a pier in the "footprint" of the pier that existed on the Spottswood lot when they bought it in 2005 ("the Demouy pier"). The Spottswoods, on the other hand, contend that, subject to harbor and pier lines established by the United States or the State of Alabama, they are entitled to build a pier anywhere within their riparian boundaries so long as it does not unreasonably obstruct navigation.
The Reimers have owned their lot since the 1940s. The legal description contained in their deed was originally written in 1899. That legal description describes the upland boundary line between the Reimer lot and the Spottswood lot as a straight line beginning at Scenic Highway 98 and from thence running a distance of 11.5 chains, which is 759 feet, to Mobile Bay. The distance from Scenic Highway 98 to Mobile Bay at the location of the boundary line described in the legal description of the Reimer deed is now substantially more than 759 feet. The legal description contained in the Reimers' deed indicates that their lot had a frontage on Mobile Bay of 61.5 feet in 1899. The Reimer pier, which extends over 100 feet into Mobile Bay, and the shoreline of Mobile Bay located north of it form an acute angle.
The Spottswoods bought their lot in March 2005 from the Demouy family. The Demouy family bought the lot in 1967. The deed conveying the lot to the Demouy family in 1967 and the deed conveying the lot to the Spottswoods in March 2005 contain legal descriptions describing the frontage of the lot on Mobile Bay as being 56.53 feet and the upland boundary line separating the lot now owned by the Spottswoods from the Reimer lot as being a straight line running from the approximate high-tide line of Mobile Bay on a bearing of North 89 degrees, 48 minutes East an unspecified distance to the "Northwest corner of the Reimer fence, thence continuing North 89 degrees 48 minutes East along the fence dividing the property herein described from the property of Reimer ... a distance of 653.73 feet, more or less, to a point on the Westerly line of [Scenic Highway 98]."
In 1967, when the Demouy family bought the lot now owned by the Spottswoods, the Demouy pier was already in existence. It began in the yard of the house located on the lot and extended over 100 feet into Mobile Bay. A portion of the Demouy pier passed through the triangle, and the Demouy family cleaned and maintained the portions of the triangle situated south and north of the Demouy pier and stored boats and other items on the portion of the triangle situated south of the Demouy pier. Although the Demouys made repairs to the Demouy pier over the years, they never changed its location.
In 1998, the Reimers applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to enlarge the boathouse on the Reimer pier. They attached a drawing drawn by Henry E. Reimer, Sr., to their application. Although it is not drawn to scale, the drawing states that the Reimer lot has a frontage on Mobile Bay of 61.5 feet and depicts the Demouy pier as being located well north of the upland boundary line between the Reimer lot and the lot the Demouys later sold to the Spottswoods. It also indicates that the existing boathouse on the Reimer pier was located 15 feet south of the pavilion on the Demouy pier and that the proposed enlargement of the boathouse would reduce the distance between the boathouse on the Reimer pier and the pavilion on the Demouy pier to 12 feet.
Both the Reimer pier and the Demouy pier were damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. After the Spottswoods bought their lot from the Demouys in March 2005, they removed the remaining structure of the Demouy pier (although its "footprint" is still visible in aerial photographs) and began making preparations to build a new pier ("the proposed Spottswood pier") to the south of the location of the Demouy pier. The Reimers objected to the proposed Spottswood pier because, they said, it would block their view of the sunset and the Grand Hotel at certain times. The Reimers' concerns about the proposed Spottswood pier prompted the Reimers to have a survey performed, which, in turn, led to the parties' disputes regarding the location of the disputed segment of the upland boundary line and the ownership of the triangle.
In June 2005, the Reimers sued the Spottswoods, seeking a determination that the Reimer line constituted the correct location of the disputed segment of the upland boundary line. The Spottswoods answered the Reimers' complaint and asserted a counterclaim in which they sought a determination that the Spottswood line constituted the location of the disputed segment of the upland boundary line, a determination that the Spottswoods owned the triangle by virtue of adverse possession, a determination that they owned the triangle by virtue of the rule governing the apportionment of land that has accreted naturally in front of land owned by coterminous landowners, a determination regarding the location of the boundary line separating their riparian rights in Mobile Bay from those of the Reimers, and a determination regarding the location where they could build the proposed Spottswood pier.
Following a bench trial at which it received evidence ore tenus, the trial court entered a judgment in which it (1) determined that natural accretion had occurred since the legal descriptions of the Reimer lot and the Spottswood lot were originally written, which had created the triangle and shifted the high-tide line of Mobile Bay to the west; (2) determined that, under the rule governing the apportionment of naturally accreted land between coterminous landowners, the entire triangle should be awarded to the Spottswoods; (3) determined that, even if the Spottswoods were not entitled to ownership of the triangle by virtue of the rule governing the apportionment of naturally accreted land between coterminous landowners, they had established that their predecessors in title had acquired ownership of the triangle by adverse possession; (4) determined that, because the Spottswoods owned the triangle, the Spottswood line was the correct location of the disputed segment of the upland boundary line between the Spottswood lot and the Reimer lot; (5) determined that, in order to do equity, the riparian boundary line should extend from the shoreline on the same bearing as the Spottswood line rather than on a bearing that was perpendicular to the shoreline; and (6...
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In re
...in its determination of the upland boundary line between their lot and the Spottswood lot. On July 24, 2009, in Spottswood v. Reimer, 41 So.3d 787, 796–98 (Ala.Civ.App.2009), the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment insofar as it established both the upland and riparia......
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In re Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Case No. 09-12616-MAM
...the riparian line which, in turn, is necessary to determine HM/HP's damage claim according to applicable law. See Spottswood v. Reimer, 41 So. 3d 787 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009). Bender argues that determining the riparian line would potentially cause it damage because it could stand to lose prop......