Leslie S. Fissmer v. David D. Smith , 2019 ME 130 ( 2019 )

MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2019 ME 130Docket: Cum-18-447
Argued: May 16, 2019
Decided: August 8, 2019
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, MEAD, GORMAN, JABAR, HJELM, and HUMPHREY, JJ.
LESLIE S. FISSMER et al.
v.
DAVID D. SMITH et al.
GORMAN, J.
[¶1] David D. Smith, Cunner Lane, LLC, (collectively, Smith) and Cunner
Lane II, LLC, (Cunner Lane II) appeal from a judgment entered by the Superior
Court (Cumberland County, L. Walker, J.) after a jury-waived trial on a variety
of claims and counterclaims concerning the use and ownership of certain
property in Cape Elizabeth. Leslie S. Fissmer,1 Karen A.B. Burke, William A.
Burke, Patricia M. Gramse, Richard R. Gramse (collectively, the Cunner Lane
Owners), and Robert E. Siegel cross-appeal from the same judgment with
regard to the court’s determination declaring Cunner Lane II the owner of
certain property as shown on a 1929 subdivision plan. We affirm the
1 Individually and as trustee of the Leslie S. Fissmer Revocable Trust. Although the Trust owns
the property at issue in this appeal, and although both Fissmer and the Trust are parties to the
appeal, we will refer to these parties collectively as “Fissmer.”
2
judgment in part and vacate in part. In addition, because a judgment declaring
ownership by adverse possession must clearly describe the boundary lines of
the adversely possessed property so as to sufficiently establish those lines on
the face of the earth, we remand for further proceedings.
I. BACKGROUND
[¶2] The parties to this appeal are neighbors in Cape Elizabeth with
land abutting Cunner Lane,2 a paved private road that provides access to the
neighborhood. An earlier dispute between Smith and Fissmer arose in 2015
when Smith attempted to build a house on his property. See generally Fissmer
v. Town of Cape Elizabeth, 2017 ME 195, 170 A.3d 797. That dispute was
resolved in 2017 but, in August of 2016, while it was still pending, Fissmer
initiated an action against Smith in the Superior Court, seeking, inter alia, a
declaratory judgment that Fissmer holds title by adverse possession to
portions of Smith’s property.3 In November of 2016, Fissmer’s neighbors—
the Gramses, the Burkes, and Siegel—joined her complaint as plaintiffs. Smith
2 Siegel’s property does not directly abut Cunner Lane, but it can be accessed only by way of
Cunner Lane. Siegel, in the end, gains nothing from this litigation, see infra ¶ 33, and thus, although
he is a party to the appeal, we do not consider him to be one of the Cunner Lane Owners.
The disputed property concerns parts of two parcels: one owned by Smith and the other by
3
Cunner Lane, LLC. Smith is the managing member of Cunner Lane, LLC, a Maine limited liability
company.
3
counterclaimed, seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment as to the location
of Cunner Lane.
[¶3] In September of 2017, Cunner Lane II, a Maine limited liability
company wholly owned by Smith, filed a separate complaint against the
Cunner Lane Owners and Siegel, seeking a declaratory judgment that it owned
private roads in the neighborhood—Cunner Lane, Brook Road, and Sunrise
Drive—as well as certain five-foot-wide strips of land that run alongside
segments of those roads. The Cunner Lane Owners and Siegel then filed a
complaint against Cunner Lane II, seeking a declaratory judgment that they
hold title by adverse possession to certain property allegedly owned by
Cunner Lane II. In November of 2017, the court consolidated the three
actions.
[¶4] After a jury-waived trial, the court considered the parties’ claims,
including their assertions of title acquired through the Paper Streets Act
(PSA), 23 M.R.S. §§ 3027, 3031-3035 (2018); 33 M.R.S. §§ 460, 469-A (2018),
and adverse possession. In its judgment dated October 11, 2018, the trial
court made the factual findings referred to in this opinion, all of which are
supported by competent record evidence. See Dupuis v. Ellingwood, 2017 ME
132, ¶ 3, 166 A.3d 112. As we explain in the discussion section below, the
4
court, however, made some errors in its application of the PSA to these facts,
and because of this, additional litigation may be required. See infra ¶¶ 22-38.
In addition, the judgment contains no legal descriptions of the boundaries it
established.
A. Facts Relevant to the Paper Streets Act
[¶5] Cunner Lane, as it now exists, is located between Smith’s lot and
the Cunner Lane Owners’ lots. A 1929 subdivision plan (the 1929 Plan),
created for and showing the property of the Harry E. Baker Company (HEB),
designated a twenty-foot-wide corridor as “Cunner Lane.” Provided here for
illustrative purposes only, Figure 1 below depicts the relevant features of the
1929 Plan.
5
Figure 1. Brook Road and Sunrise Drive appear but are unnamed on the original 1929 Plan. The names are added here
for ease of reference. Brook Road and Sunrise Drive run generally east to west.
6
The Cunner Lane Owners’ original lots are all located within the boundaries of
the subdivision contemplated by the 1929 Plan.4 Smith’s property, although
shown on the 1929 Plan, is not a part of the contemplated subdivision.
[¶6] Additionally, the 1929 Plan depicted, but did not name, portions of
two proposed roads—also twenty feet wide—turning off of Cunner Lane. The
proposed road between Lot 1 and Lily Pond Lot on the 1929 Plan
encompasses what is now a private road known as Brook Road. The proposed
road abutting Lot 14 to the south is now brush and a grass foot path, but the
parties refer to it as Sunrise Drive, as do we.
1. The Fissmer Lot
[¶7] Fissmer’s lot is the southernmost of the Cunner Lane Owners’ lots
and is designated as Lot 14 on the 1929 Plan. Fissmer’s source deed granted
title to the lot from HEB to Carroll Chaplin on July 18, 1929. Although the
deed also granted “the right of way as now travelled along the easterly side of
[the] lot . . . and over [the] proposed roads on the easterly and southerly side
[Cunner Lane and Sunrise Drive, respectively] of [the] lot,” this conveyance
4These “original lots” are only those lots depicted on the 1929 Plan and do not include any
additional lots to the southwest that the Cunner Lane Owners may now own.
The 1929 Plan was recorded in the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds on August 31, 1929,
at Book 19, Page 5.
7
occurred before the recording of the 1929 Plan.5 In 1942, Chaplin conveyed
back to HEB a “strip of land five feet in width” at the edge of the property
abutting Cunner Lane and Sunrise Drive as delineated on the 1929 Plan, “[t]he
purpose of this conveyance being that said strip of land may be included in
and made a part of said Cunner Lane and of said proposed road [Sunrise
Drive], thereby increasing the width thereof to twenty-five feet.” Despite this
deed reference, the five-foot-wide strip was not included on the recorded
1929 Plan as part of the proposed ways, and no amended plan was ever
recorded. Chaplin did reserve a right-of-way over the five-foot-wide strip.
[¶8] A 1985 deed conveyed this lot and the rights-of-way to Robert and
Leslie Fissmer. In 2008, Leslie Fissmer deeded the lot and the rights-of-way
as conveyed in the original source deed to herself as trustee of the Leslie S.
Fissmer Revocable Trust.
2. The Burke Lot
[¶9] The Burkes’ lot is located between the Fissmer lot and Brook Road
and is designated as Lot 1 on the 1929 Plan. Their source deed conveyed their
lot from HEB to Thomas Smiley in 1931. This deed also granted rights-of-way
5 Given the date of Fissmer’s source deed, there is an argument to be made that, even without
the five-foot-wide-strip “issue,” see infra ¶¶ 23-24, 29-31, Fissmer’s lot would not benefit from the
PSA. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1) (2018). For purposes of this opinion, however, we will treat
Fissmer’s lot in precisely the same way that we treat the Burkes’ lot.
8
“over said road as now travelled along the easterly side of said lot [Cunner
Lane] . . . and over said proposed road on the northerly side of said lot [Brook
Road].” In 1932, Smiley deeded back to HEB a “strip of land five feet in width”
at the edge of the property abutting “Cunner Lane as delineated” on the 1929
Plan, “the purpose of this conveyance being that said strip of land may be
included in and made a part of said Cunner Lane.” This five-foot-wide strip
was not included as part of Cunner Lane on the recorded 1929 Plan, and no
amended plan depicting Cunner Lane as a twenty-five-foot-wide way was ever
recorded. Smiley did reserve a right-of-way over the five-foot-wide strip. In
2005, the lot and all rights-of-way were deeded to William Burke. On April 11,
2009, William Burke conveyed the lot and the rights-of-way to Karen Burke.
3. The Gramse Lot
[¶10] The Gramses live on what was designated as the “Lily Pond Lot”
on the 1929 Plan, to the north of Brook Road and the Burkes. Their source
deed conveyed the lot from HEB to Marcia Quimby in 1933; the deed excepted
and reserved title to a five-foot-wide strip abutting Cunner Lane as depicted
on the 1929 Plan but did include rights-of-way over Cunner Lane and the
five-foot-wide strip. A 1988 deed conveyed the lot, again excepting the
9
five-foot-wide strip, to the Gramses, along with rights-of-way to the
twenty-foot-wide corridor and the five-foot-wide strip.
4. The Siegel Lot
[¶11] The trial court made limited factual findings as to Siegel’s lot;
Siegel purchased the property in 1972, has lived there full-time ever since,
and has walked along Cunner Lane almost daily while living there.6
5. Smith’s Property
[¶12] With Cunner Lane to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east,
Smith’s original lot—as deeded to him in 1998—is now two lots. In February
of 2010, Smith conveyed a portion of his original lot to Cunner Lane, LLC;
Smith retained the remaining portion of his parcel. The original lot’s source
deed conveyed the property from Albert F. Hannaford to “The Venerable
Cunner Association and Propeller Club” in 1920 and granted a right-of-way
“over the private road as now located . . . adjoining said land hereby conveyed
on the westerly and northwesterly lines thereof.” Although the original lot is
not a part of the 1929 subdivision, the lot is marked as “The Venerable Cunner
Asso. and Propeller Club” on the 1929 Plan.
6 Siegel’s property abuts Brook Road and is located to the west of the Burkes’ lot; Siegel’s lot is
not depicted on the 1929 Plan and, as mentioned above, does not abut Cunner Lane. This
information is discernable from the record and provided for context.
10
[¶13] In May of 2017, HEB conveyed to Cunner Lane II title to Cunner
Lane, Sunrise Drive, and Brook Road, all as depicted on the 1929 Plan, as well
as title to the five-foot-wide strips abutting certain segments of these roads.
B. Facts Relevant to Adverse Possession
[¶14] In 1998, Smith commissioned a survey of his property. That
survey indicated that large sections of the twenty-foot-wide corridor labeled
Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan were actually located several feet west and
northwest of the present-day Cunner Lane—placing part of the existing road
on Smith’s property and part of the twenty-foot-wide corridor on the Fissmer,
Burke, and Gramse lots. Sometime after that survey was completed, Smith
paved Cunner Lane where it then existed on the earth.7
[¶15] The disputed property, for purposes of the adverse possession
claims, does not include the paved way, but does include portions of the
twenty-foot-wide corridor designated as Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan, as
well as the five-foot-wide strips of land located between that
twenty-foot-wide corridor and the Fissmer, Burke, and Gramse lots as
Before trial, the parties stipulated that the Cunner Lane Owners and Siegel have a prescriptive
7
easement appurtenant to the portions of Cunner Lane, as it now exists, where it encroaches on
Smith’s property.
11
deeded.8 Provided here for illustrative purposes only, Figure 2 below depicts
the disputed property.
8 Fissmer’s adverse possession claim also includes an apple tree and a small area of or near her
driveway that appear to encroach on portions of Smith’s lot.
12
Figure 2. The background for this illustration comes from a 2016 land survey commissioned by Smith.
13
Referring to the criteria set out in our cases—twenty years of possession and
use of another’s property that was actual, open, visible, notorious, hostile,
under a claim of right, continuous, and exclusive—the trial court made scores
of factual findings concerning the Cunner Lane Owners’ use of their respective
properties as lawns and gardens. Weeks v. Krysa, 2008 ME 120, ¶ 12, 955 A.2d
234. Each finding is supported in the record. See Dupuis, 2017 ME 132, ¶ 3,
166 A.3d 112.
C. The Trial Court’s Conclusions
[¶16] After a thorough review of the evidence presented, the trial court
ruled on each of the claims. The court ultimately concluded that Cunner Lane
II holds title, in fee simple, to the twenty-foot-wide corridor designated as
Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan, as well as to the five-foot-wide strips of land
directly to the north and west of that corridor, but also concluded that the
Cunner Lane Owners own the disputed property up to the paved edge of
present-day Cunner Lane by adverse possession. As discussed below, we
affirm this portion of the court’s decision.
[¶17] In other parts of its decision, however, the court determined that
Cunner Lane II has no interest in Brook Road or Sunrise Drive. Instead, the
court concluded that Siegel, the Burkes, and the Gramses own, in fee simple, to
14
the centerline of Brook Road where it abuts their properties and that Fissmer
owns the “entire fee under Sunrise Drive.” These portions of the decision
must be vacated, at least in part.
[¶18] No party moved for additional findings of fact after the court
entered the judgment. Smith and Cunner Lane II filed a timely appeal; the
Cunner Lane Owners and Siegel filed a timely cross-appeal. 14 M.R.S. § 1851
(2018); M.R. App. P. 2B(c)(1), 2C(a)(2). We discuss the competing claims
below, starting with those brought under the Paper Streets Act.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Paper Streets Act
[¶19] The PSA was enacted in 1987 “to clarify title to old, proposed,
unaccepted streets shown on subdivision plans, and to eliminate the
possibility of ancient claims.” Tisdale v. Buch, 2013 ME 95, ¶ 9, 81 A.3d 377(quotation marks omitted); see also 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(8). “In particular, 33
M.R.S. § 469-A was created to resolve ownership disputes regarding roads and
streets laid out on subdivision plans where the original owner did not reserve
title in the roads and where the roads have never been accepted by a town.”
Tisdale, 2013 ME 95, ¶ 9, 81 A.3d 377 (quotation marks omitted).
15
[¶20] Pursuant to section 469-A(1),
[a]ny conveyance made before September 29, 1987 that conveyed
land abutting upon a proposed, unaccepted way laid out on a
subdivision plan recorded in the registry of deeds is deemed to
have conveyed all of the grantor’s interest in the portion of the
way that abuts the land conveyed, unless the grantor expressly
reserved the grantor’s title to the way by a specific reference to
this reservation in the conveyance of the land.
33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1). Generally, “[i]f the grantor or his successors fail to
reserve title as set forth in the statute,” and the proposed, unaccepted way is
bounded on both sides by land included in the subdivision, then an abutting
landowner “is deemed to own to the center line of the portion of the way
abutting his or her property.” Tisdale, 2013 ME 95, ¶ 9, 81 A.3d 377; see also
33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6). If the grantor fails to reserve title, and the proposed,
unaccepted way “is bounded on the opposite side by land that is not included
in the subdivision,” then the abutting landowner owns not just to the
centerline but the entire width of the proposed, unaccepted way abutting his
or her property. 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6-A).
[¶21] Although the term “proposed, unaccepted way” is not defined in
the PSA, we have construed the term to include “roads, constructed or
unconstructed, that are depicted on a subdivision plan recorded in the
registry of deeds and that are proposed to a municipality for acceptance but
16
not yet accepted by the municipality.”9 Fournier v. Elliott, 2009 ME 25, ¶ 20,
966 A.2d 410 (quotation marks omitted); see also Tisdale, 2013 ME 95,
¶¶ 10-11, 81 A.3d 377.
1. Cunner Lane
[¶22] The Cunner Lane Owners argue that section 469-A of the PSA
conveys ownership of the twenty-foot-wide corridor and the five-foot-wide
strips to them and that the court erred in concluding otherwise. We review
the trial court’s factual findings for clear error, Zablotny v. State Bd. of Nursing,
2017 ME 29, ¶ 18, 156 A.3d 126, and its interpretation of section 469-A of the
PSA and its application of that section to the facts de novo, Brooks v. Carson,
2012 ME 97, ¶ 19, 48 A.3d 224. Through this de novo review, we analyze “the
statute’s plain language to effect the Legislature’s intent.” Id.a. The Fissmer and Burke Lots
[¶23] With respect to the Fissmer and Burke lots, the original source
deeds did convey land that abutted the twenty-foot-wide corridor identified
as Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan. See supra n.5. Both original grantees,
however, conveyed back to HEB the five-foot-wide strips of land at the edge of
As a preliminary matter, the parties agree, and the trial court implicitly found, that Cunner
9
Lane, Brook Road, and Sunrise Drive each qualifies as a “proposed, unaccepted way” for the
purposes of 33 M.R.S. § 469-A (2018). See Fournier v. Elliott, 2009 ME 25, ¶ 20, 966 A.2d 410(quotation marks omitted).
17
their respective properties that abutted the twenty-foot-wide corridor.
Although these deeds of reconveyance explicitly stated that the five-foot strips
were meant to widen the proposed Cunner Lane to twenty-five feet, the trial
court found no evidence that Cunner Lane was ever widened, and more
importantly, it determined that HEB never submitted a new subdivision plan
depicting Cunner Lane as a twenty-five-foot-wide proposed way. See 33
M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
[¶24] The trial court explicitly found that the five-foot-wide strips are
not part of a “proposed, unaccepted way laid out on a subdivision plan
recorded in the registry of deeds.”10 See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1). Because
neither Fissmer nor the Burkes hold title to land abutting the
twenty-foot-wide corridor identified as Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan—which
is “a proposed, unaccepted way laid out on a subdivision plan recorded in the
registry of deeds”—the court correctly determined that section 469-A does
not apply to them. 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
10 The trial court’s factual finding that the five-foot-wide strips are not a part of Cunner Lane as
depicted on the 1929 Plan is supported by competent record evidence and is dispositive on the
issue. Had the 1929 Plan been amended and then recorded in the registry of deeds—depicting
Cunner Lane as a twenty-five-foot-wide way—the determination of fee ownership could be
different in this case. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
18
b. The Gramse Lot
[¶25] With respect to the Gramse lot, the source deed—conveyed in
1933—expressly reserved title in HEB to,
a strip of land five (5) feet in width extending from the southerly
line of the lot . . . along each of the courses of the . . . lot on said
road known as Cunner Lane . . . , said five-foot strip of land
extending in its full width around the curve at the intersection of
said Cunner Lane and said proposed street [Brook Road] and
being measured at right angles to each of the courses of said lot
along the line of said Cunner Lane as shown on said plan.
Because the Gramse lot was always separated from Cunner Lane by the
five-foot-wide strip held in fee simple by HEB, it never “abut[ted]” Cunner
Lane. 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1). The trial court determined—correctly—that the
Gramses could not rely on section 469-A to claim ownership of the
twenty-foot-wide corridor because their lot never abutted Cunner Lane as it
was depicted on the 1929 Plan.11 See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
[¶26] The Cunner Lane Owners argue that the court erred in these
determinations and ask us to make findings as to the original grantor’s—
HEB’s—intent. As a preliminary matter, we do not make factual findings.
Stickney v. City of Saco, 2001 ME 69, ¶ 13, 770 A.2d 592. Moreover, to the
extent that the Cunner Lane Owners ask us to examine their source deeds or
The court also correctly construed section 469-A when it declined to declare the Gramses
11
owners of the five-foot-wide strip.
19
reconveyances in order to determine HEB’s overall intent with respect to each
lot, we decline to do so. See N. Sebago Shores, LLC v. Mazzaglia, 2007 ME 81,
¶ 15, 926 A.2d 728 (stating the general rule that we will not look beyond the
four corners of a deed to discern intent unless the intent of the grantor is
ambiguous). Through reconveyance or reservation, HEB explicitly and
unambiguously held title to the five-foot-wide strips that sit between the
twenty-foot-wide corridor and the Fissmer, Burke, and Gramse lots.
c. Cunner Lane II is the Record Owner of the
Twenty-Foot-Wide Corridor Identified as Cunner Lane on
the 1929 Plan
[¶27] Although the Cunner Lane Owners’ general assertion that the PSA
was intended to eliminate “ancient claims” concerning land underlying
“proposed, unaccepted ways” is correct, 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(8); Tisdale, 2013
ME 95, ¶ 9, 81 A.3d 377, their request that the PSA be “liberally construed” is
better understood as a request for us to apply a series of exceptions to section
469-A that would effectively rewrite the current statute; granting such a
request would be inappropriate. See Cape Elizabeth Sch. Bd. v. Cape Elizabeth
Teachers Assoc., 459 A.2d 166, 171 (Me. 1983) (“[I]t is not our role to rewrite
the statute where its meaning is plain.”).
20
[¶28] By reserving a five-foot-wide strip in a deed or reacquiring title
to a strip through a conveyance, HEB held title in fee simple to the entire
length of the five-foot-wide strips in dispute in this case. By virtue of its
ownership of the five-foot-wide strips, which abutted the proposed,
unaccepted way—the twenty-foot-wide corridor designated as Cunner Lane
on the 1929 Plan—HEB became the owner of the twenty-foot-wide corridor
pursuant to the PSA. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6-A). In 2017, HEB conveyed title
to the twenty-foot-wide corridor and the five-foot-wide strips to Cunner Lane
II, and the trial court correctly determined that, through this conveyance,
Cunner Lane II holds record title—in fee simple—to this property. Portions of
this property, however, are owned by the Cunner Lane Owners through
adverse possession. See infra ¶¶ 39-49.
2. Sunrise Drive
[¶29] Smith and Cunner Lane II argue that the trial court erred in its
determination that “Fissmer owns the entire fee under Sunrise Drive.” We
agree. Fissmer’s predecessor conveyed to HEB a five-foot-wide strip, not only
along Cunner Lane, but also extending “around the circle at the southwesterly
corner of said Cunner Lane and said proposed street [Sunrise Drive] . . . ,
maintaining a width of five feet measured at right angles to the northerly line
21
of said proposed road [Sunrise Drive], adjoining said road and extending to
the westerly line of said land.” In other words, the five-foot-wide strip
extends the entire length of Sunrise Drive as it abuts Lot 14 on the 1929 Plan.
The predecessor’s reconveyance of the five-foot-wide strip along Sunrise
Drive means that Fissmer does not own land “abutting” a proposed,
unaccepted way, and therefore the court erred in declaring that, pursuant to
the PSA, Fissmer owns any portion of Sunrise Drive.12 See 33 M.R.S.
§§ 469-A(1), (6-A); Brooks, 2012 ME 97, ¶ 19, 48 A.3d 224. To the contrary,
due to its acquisition of land from HEB in May of 2017, Cunner Lane II is the
record owner of Sunrise Drive as depicted on the 1929 Plan, and of the
five-foot-wide strip that abuts it. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6-A). Therefore, we
must vacate that portion of the court’s judgment declaring Fissmer the owner
of the entire fee under Sunrise Drive.
[¶30] This opinion does not address ownership of any portion of
Sunrise Drive not shown on the 1929 Plan. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
[¶31] Furthermore, portions of the five-foot-wide strip abutting Sunrise
Drive, as well as Sunrise Drive itself, may overlap with property that Fissmer
claims and uses as part of her yard, especially with respect to the
12 At oral argument, counsel for the Cunner Lane Owners conceded that there was no difference
between Cunner Lane and Sunrise Drive with respect to the five-foot-wide strips.
22
southernmost edge of her property. We do not address whether Fissmer has
acquired by adverse possession any portion of Sunrise Drive or the
five-foot-wide strip running along that proposed road; no factual findings
were made concerning Fissmer’s use of this area. Finally, although Cunner
Lane II is the title owner of the portion of Sunrise Drive that is depicted on the
1929 Plan and of the five-foot-wide strip abutting that road, Fissmer still
maintains a right-of-way in common over Sunrise Drive and the five-foot-wide
strip through certain deeds and conveyances.
3. Brook Road
[¶32] Smith and Cunner Lane II also argue that the trial court erred by
declaring that Siegel, the Gramses, and the Burkes own to the centerline of
Brook Road where it abuts their properties. Specifically, Smith asserts that
(1) section 469-A of the PSA does not apply to Siegel’s lot nor does it apply to
portions of Brook Road not depicted on the 1929 Plan, and (2) a small portion
of Brook Road where it intersects with Cunner Lane is owned by Cunner Lane
II—not the Gramses and Burkes—pursuant to the deed it acquired from HEB
in 2017. Again, we agree.
23
a. The Siegel Lot
[¶33] Although the trial court made no findings about the location of
Siegel’s property nor did it find that Siegel’s property was depicted on the
1929 Plan, it declared Siegel owner to the centerline of Brook Road where it
abuts his property. As counsel for the Cunner Lane Owners conceded at oral
argument, however, there is no competent evidence in the record to support
the court’s determination that, pursuant to section 469-A, Siegel holds title to
a portion of Brook Road. See Stickney, 2001 ME 69, ¶ 13, 770 A.2d 592(explaining that we will vacate a trial court’s conclusions if no competent
evidence exists in the record to support them). We therefore vacate this
portion of the judgment.
b. Burke and Gramse Lots
[¶34] As a preliminary matter, Smith and Cunner Lane II do not dispute
that “section 469-A vests [the] Burke[s] and Gramse[s] with title to those
portions of Brook Road delineated on the 1929 Plan that do not abut the
five-foot strips.” They assert, however, that over the years, the Burkes have
acquired additional land abutting Brook Road that was not included in the
1929 Plan, and that, because of this, the court erred in declaring the Burkes
owners of portions of Brook Road not depicted on the 1929 Plan.
24
Additionally, Smith and Cunner Lane II contend that the court erred in
declaring the Burkes and Gramses owners of a small section of Brook Road
where it meets Cunner Lane because the five-foot-wide strips “curve into
Brook Road.” We agree.
[¶35] Again, section 469-A applies only to land depicted on a
subdivision plan. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1). Brook Road, as it now exists, is
longer and proportioned differently than the proposed road on the 1929 Plan.
The trial court’s determination that the Burkes and Gramses own to the
centerline of Brook Road “where it abuts their properties” is thus overbroad;
by virtue of the PSA, the Burkes and Gramses own to the centerline of Brook
Road—as depicted on the 1929 Plan—only where the road abuts their
properties as they are depicted on the 1929 Plan as “Lot 1” and “Lily Pond
Lot,” respectively. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6).
[¶36] Furthermore, the trial court’s judgment did not address how the
five-foot-wide strips affect the ownership of Brook Road where the road
meets Cunner Lane. As discussed above, the Gramse source deed reserved a
five-foot-wide strip for HEB, and the Burkes’ predecessor re-conveyed a
five-foot-wide strip to HEB. Thus, to the extent that these five-foot-wide strips
25
curve off of Cunner Lane and run down either side of Brook Road,13 the
Burkes and the Gramses do not own property “abutting” that portion of Brook
Road; counsel for the Cunner Lane Owners conceded as much at oral
argument. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(1).
[¶37] Because HEB conveyed ownership of the five-foot-wide strips to
Cunner Lane II in 2017, it necessarily follows that Cunner Lane II holds title to
any segment of Brook Road, no matter how small, that is lined on either side
by the five-foot-wide strips, pursuant to the PSA. See 33 M.R.S. § 469-A(6). To
the extent, however, that the Burkes and Gramses have used portions of these
five-foot-wide strips, or portions of Brook Road abutting these strips, as their
lawns, then the five-foot-wide strips and those respective segments of Brook
Road may be owned by the Burkes and Gramses through their adverse
possession of this land. See infra ¶¶ 39-49.
[¶38] On remand, if the Burkes and Gramses wish to rely on the PSA to
be declared owners of any portion of Brook Road as depicted on the 1929
Plan, they will have to establish (1) the extent of Brook Road as depicted on
the 1929 Plan and (2) where the five-foot-wide strips end on Brook Road as
depicted on the 1929 Plan. The location of their lawns in relation to Brook
13The trial court made no factual findings as to how far these five-foot-wide strips curve down
Brook Road with regard to either lot.
26
Road and the five-foot-wide strips will be relevant to any claims of ownership
based on adverse possession.
B. Adverse Possession
[¶39] As mentioned above, the trial court concluded that although
Cunner Lane II has title ownership of the twenty-foot corridor and the
five-foot-wide strips, the Cunner Lane Owners “obtained fee simple title by
adverse possession to the property abutting the western and northwestern
edge of the paved road known as Cunner Lane.” Smith and Cunner Lane II
argue that the Cunner Lane Owners did not satisfy their burden of proving, by
a preponderance of the evidence, adverse possession to the disputed land.
Specifically, Smith and Cunner Lane II assert that the court erred in its
determination because several of the Cunner Lane Owners’ uses were
permitted and not continuous for the twenty-year limitations period.
[¶40] Adverse possession presents a mixed question of fact and law.
See, e.g., Striefel v. Charles-Keyt-Leaman P’ship, 1999 ME 111, ¶ 7, 733 A.2d
984. “Whether the necessary facts exist is for the trier of fact, but whether
those facts constitute adverse possession is an issue of law.” Grondin v.
Hanscom, 2014 ME 148, ¶ 13, 106 A.3d 1150 (alterations omitted) (quotation
marks omitted). We review a trial court’s factual findings regarding adverse
27
possession for clear error and will affirm those facts if they are supported by
competent record evidence. Id. We review questions of law de novo. See, e.g.,
D’Angelo v. McNutt, 2005 ME 31, ¶ 6, 868 A.2d 239.
[¶41] “A party claiming title by adverse possession has the burden of
proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that possession and use of the
property was (1) actual; (2) open; (3) visible; (4) notorious; (5) hostile;
(6) under a claim of right; (7) continuous; (8) exclusive; and (9) for a duration
exceeding the twenty-year limitations period.” Weeks, 2008 ME 120, ¶ 12,
955 A.2d 234. As a general rule, Maine law “disfavors the transfer of land by
adverse possession.” Striefel, 1999 ME 111, ¶ 4, 733 A.2d 984.
[¶42] “Actual possession means physical occupancy or control over
property” and “is established when the evidence shows an actual use and
enjoyment of the property that is in kind and degree the same as the use and
enjoyment to be expected of the average owner of such property.” Harvey v.
Furrow, 2014 ME 149, ¶ 12, 107 A.3d 604 (quotation marks omitted). “Hostile
simply means that the possessor does not have the true owner’s permission to
be on the land and has nothing to do with demonstrating a heated controversy
or a manifestation of ill will, or that the claimant was in any sense an enemy of
28
the owner of the servient estate.” Striefel, 1999 ME 111, ¶ 13, 733 A.2d 984(citations omitted) (quotation marks omitted).
[¶43] “Continuous means occurring without interruption, and, like
actual possession and use, continuous possession and use requires only the
kind and degree of occupancy (i.e., use and enjoyment) that an average owner
would make of the property.” Harvey, 2014 ME 149, ¶ 16, 107 A.3d 604(alteration omitted) (emphasis omitted) (quotation marks omitted). “Finally,
a claimant must prove that its possession and use satisfied each of the
aforementioned elements simultaneously for a period of at least twenty
years.” Id. ¶ 17 (alteration omitted) (quotation marks omitted).
[¶44] As the trial court found, the Cunner Lane Owners and their
predecessors have used the disputed property as owners of front lawns would
typically use such property: they mowed and watered their lawns; cared for
plants, trees, and shrubs in the area; erected and kept mailboxes in the area;
maintained flower beds; installed wooden posts; maintained driveways;
erected and then removed a picket fence; installed an irrigation system;
installed electric dog fences; placed four large rocks along the boundary of the
paved area of Cunner Lane; recreated on the grass with their families; and
generally used the land as if it were their own. See id. ¶ 12. None of the
29
Cunner Lane Owners attempted to hide any of these uses and the community
considered the disputed land as belonging to the Owners. We agree with the
trial court that the Cunner Lane Owners’ use of the disputed area was thus
actual, open, visible, and notorious. See Striefel, 1999 ME 111, ¶¶ 9-11, 733
A.2d 984.
[¶45] Smith and Cunner Lane II argue, however, that the Cunner Lane
Owners’ uses of the disputed property were not hostile because the Owners’
uses were consistent with their easement rights.14 This argument is not
persuasive. The term “right-of-way” generally refers to “the right of a person
to pass over the land of another person.” 33 M.R.S. § 458(2)(A) (2018); see
also Easement, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014) (“An interest in land
owned by another person, consisting in the right to use or control the land, or
an area above or below it, for a specific limited purpose (such as to cross it for
access to a public road).” (emphasis added)). We have held that the scope of a
right-of-way is not limitless, see generally Guild v. Hinman, 1997 ME 120, ¶ 6,
695 A.2d 1190 (collecting cases), and that determining this scope “requires
evaluation of the purpose it [the right-of-way] was to serve,” Badger v. Hill,
404 A.2d 222, 225 (Me. 1979).
14 The trial court found that the Cunner Lane Owners “have always had deeded rights-of-way
over Cunner Lane and the five-foot strip.”
30
[¶46] Here, the trial court found that the Cunner Lane Owners’
rights-of-way over the twenty-foot-wide corridor and the five-foot-wide strips
were “meant for passage.” The Cunner Lane Owners’ use of the disputed
property, however, was not limited to mere passage. Maintaining a lawn,
caring for flowers, trees, and shrubs, installing irrigation systems and electric
dog fences, and keeping driveways and mailboxes are all uses that are
consistent with complete ownership; these uses are inconsistent with the
Cunner Lane Owners’ mere right to pass over the land conferred to them by
their respective rights-of-way. See id; cf. White v. Lambert, 332 S.E.2d 266,
267-68 (W. Va. 1985) (affirming a trial court’s determination that where a
party planted shrubs and trees, buried a water line, and built a fence on an
unused portion of an easement designated for “for ingress and egress,” and
generally used that portion of the easement as his “lawn,” the party had
successfully extinguished the original easement over the unused portion of
the land by adverse possession).
[¶47] Smith’s own actions demonstrate that he believed that the
Cunner Lane Owners had, at the very least, a hostile claim of possession over
the disputed area. In 1998, Smith became aware that Cunner Lane, as it then
existed as a dirt road, was not in the correct location. Despite that knowledge,
31
he decided to pave the existing roadway up to the edges of the Cunner Lane
Owners’ lawns. In so doing, he reinforced the Cunner Lane Owners’ argument
that they have used the disputed properties as their lawns—and not as
rights-of-way. As the trial court correctly concluded, the Cunner Lane
Owners’ uses of the disputed area “exceeded the rights granted by the
rights-of-way and therefore established hostility.” See Guild, 1997 ME 120,
¶ 6, 695 A.2d 1190; Badger, 404 A.2d at 225.
[¶48] Furthermore, the Cunner Lane Owners’ and their predecessors’
use of the disputed land was under a claim of right, continuous, and exclusive;
since purchasing their homes, the owners considered their respective
properties to be their own and did not share them with others. See Harvey,
2014 ME 149, ¶¶ 15-16, 107 A.3d 604. Smith and Cunner Lane II ask us to
look at each use by the owners in isolation, arguing that no single use satisfies
the twenty-year requirement. This request is antithetical to our adverse
possession precedents; we consider a claimant’s activities “in the aggregate,
i.e., in the context of a claimant’s overall use of the property.” Id. ¶ 19.
[¶49] When considering the Cunner Lane Owners’ multiple uses of the
disputed area “in the aggregate” and in the context of their “overall use of the
property,” the trial court’s findings that the owners had satisfied the
32
twenty-year requirement are supported by competent record evidence. Id.;
see also Grondin, 2014 ME 148, ¶ 13, 106 A.3d 1150; D’Angelo, 2005 ME 31,
¶ 6, 868 A.2d 239. Given this support, we do not disturb the trial court’s
conclusion that “for well over twenty years, the use of the disputed property
by [the Cunner Lane Owners] has been comprehensive and complete” and
“each [owner has] adequately supported the elements necessary to establish
title by adverse possession to the disputed property up to the western and
northwestern edge of the pavement.”15 (Quotation marks omitted); see
D’Angelo, 2005 ME 31, ¶ 6, 868 A.2d 239; Striefel, 1999 ME 111, ¶ 7, 733 A.2d
984.
III. CONCLUSIONS
[¶50] In summary,
• The court correctly determined that Fissmer, the Burkes, and the
Gramses failed to establish that they owned the twenty-foot-wide
corridor designated as Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan pursuant to the
Paper Streets Act.
• The court correctly granted Cunner Lane II a declaratory judgment that
it holds record title to the twenty-foot-wide corridor designated as
15 Although we do not disturb the trial court’s adverse possession determination, we must
remand the case on this issue for the court to clarify the parties’ new boundary lines. See Hennessy
v. Fairley, 2002 ME 76, ¶¶ 27-28, 796 A.2d 41. Given the complexities of this case, including the
need for a new assigned justice—because the justice who entered the judgment is no longer a
Superior Court justice—a Rule 53 referee may be in order. See M.R. Civ. P. 53.
33
Cunner Lane on the 1929 Plan and to the five-foot-wide strips abutting
Cunner Lane.
• The court erred in making any determinations concerning Siegel’s
ownership of Brook Road.
• The court erred in determining that, pursuant to the Paper Streets Act,
Fissmer owns Sunrise Drive as depicted on the 1929 Plan.
• The court erred in declaring the Burkes and the Gramses owners to the
centerline of Brook Road in its entirety because such a determination is
overbroad.
• The court correctly concluded that Fissmer, the Burkes, and the
Gramses had acquired title, by adverse possession, to the disputed
property that they have used as their lawns, gardens, and driveways up
to the paved edge of present-day Cunner Lane.
• Any adverse possession claim by Fissmer concerning the southernmost
portion of the twenty-foot-wide corridor designated as Cunner Lane—
the portion of that corridor to the south of her driveway—will require
additional litigation.
• Any adverse possession claim by Fissmer concerning Sunrise Drive will
require additional litigation.
• Any adverse possession claims by the Burkes or the Gramses regarding
portions of Brook Road or portions of the five-foot-wide strips lining the
road—to the extent that such strips do in fact curve off of Cunner Lane
and down Brook Road—will require additional litigation.
The entry is:
The portion of the judgment declaring Fissmer
owner of the entire fee under Sunrise Drive is
vacated and remanded to the Superior Court for
entry of a judgment declaring Cunner Lane II
owner of Sunrise Drive, as depicted on the 1929
34
Plan, and of the five-foot-wide strip alongside
Sunrise Drive. The portion of the judgment
declaring the Burkes, Gramses, and Siegel
owners of the land to the centerline of Brook
Road is vacated in part and remanded to the
Superior Court for proceedings consistent with
this opinion. The judgment is affirmed in all
other respects. With regard to the adverse
possession issue, however, the judgment is
remanded for the purpose of legally
establishing the parties’ new boundary lines.
Kurt E. Olafsen, Esq. (orally), Olafsen & Butterfield LLC, Portland, for appellants
David D. Smith, Cunner Lane, LLC, and Cunner Lane II, LLC
Kelly W. McDonald, Esq. (orally), and John B. Shumadine, Esq., Murray, Plumb
& Murray, Portland, for cross-appellants Leslie S. Fissmer, Karen A.B. Burke,
William A. Burke, Patricia M. Gramse, Richard R. Gramse, and Robert E. Siegel
Cumberland County Superior Court docket numbers RE-2016-292, RE-2017-243, and RE-2017-255
FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY