Gregg H. Johnson, William Flies v. Township of Florence, State of Minnesota ( 2016 )

This opinion will be unpublished and
may not be cited except as provided by
Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2014).
STATE OF MINNESOTA
IN COURT OF APPEALS
A15-1887
Gregg H. Johnson, Plaintiff,
William Flies, et al.,
Appellants,
vs.
Township of Florence,
Respondent,
State of Minnesota, Defendant.
Filed May 23, 2016
Affirmed and remanded
Rodenberg, Judge
Goodhue County District Court
File No. 25-CV-14-1835
Patrick B. Steinhoff, Bruce D. Malkerson, Malkerson Gunn Martin LLP, Minneapolis,
Minnesota (for appellants)
Einar E. Hanson, Benjamin J. Kirk, Strobel & Hanson, P.A., Hudson, Wisconsin; and
John D. Hagen, Jr., Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondent)
Considered and decided by Hooten, Presiding Judge; Larkin, Judge; and
Rodenberg, Judge.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
RODENBERG, Judge
Appellants William Flies, Linda Flies, and Chateau Frontenac, Ltd. challenge the
district court’s summary-judgment dismissal of this consolidated declaratory-judgment
and title registration action. They argue that the district court erred in concluding that an
1857 plat conveyed fee title to a single un-subdivided parcel along the Lake Pepin
shoreline to respondent Florence Township, that appellants’ lots “fronting the shoreline
dedication” do not extend to the shoreline of the lake, that the Marketable Title Act
(MTA) does not extinguish the township’s interest in the property, and that the township
is therefore entitled to register the subject land in the Torrens system. We affirm the
summary-judgment dismissal of appellants’ claims and remand for Torrens proceedings
consistent with this opinion.
FACTS
This appeal concerns the ownership of shoreline property on Lake Pepin’s
Frontenac Point (subject land). Ownership and use of the subject land was previously
disputed in 1935, and the history of the land and that earlier dispute are chronicled in
Schaller v. Town of Florence, 193 Minn. 604, 259 N.W. 529 (1935). The Schaller court,
borrowing from the magazine Minnesota History, described the land and the settlement
of Frontenac Point:
It is impossible to understand the charm of Frontenac unless
one knows its history, for the little village is an expression of
strong personalities. Few beauty spots in America have been
so long in the possession of one or two families and remained
untouched by commercialism. This little settlement is located
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on Lake Pepin, a widening of the Mississippi River which
forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin at this
point. The scenery of the upper Mississippi Valley is
unsurpassed in the West. High on either side of the river rise
palisades of rock or wooded slopes that suggest the banks of
the Rhine. Early explorers marveled at its beauty, and the
tourist of today responds to its dignity and serenity. . . . To
those who respond to the atmosphere of Frontenac it is a
haven of rest and a place of beauty, the home of a grace and a
culture with roots in the past and a flowering in our own age.
193 Minn. at 605-06, 259 N.W. at 530 (quotation omitted).
The 1935 dispute in Schaller was similar to the one before us now. The subject
land was platted in 1857, and the original plat “dedicate[d] to public use [the subject
land] to be used as a steamboat landing.” Id. at 607, 259 N.W. at 532. The property was
so used until 1917. Id. at 605, 610 N.W. at 530, 533. In 1907, Celestine Schaller
purchased most of the land on Frontenac Point, including a hotel, but the legal
descriptions of the lots she purchased did not include the subject land. See generally id.
at 609, 259 N.W. at 532 (stating Schaller had purchased the hotel, which was located on
land immediately behind Frontenac Point). Schaller maintained that the public’s interest
in the subject land had been abandoned. Id. at 609, 259 N.W. at 533. The township
opposed her proceeding to vacate. Id. at 605, 259 N.W. at 530. The Minnesota Supreme
Court held that the prior owners had, by the 1857 plat, dedicated the shoreline for general
public use and that the discontinuation of the use of the property as a steamboat landing
did not constitute abandonment of the township’s interest. Id. at 611, 614-15, 259 N.W.
at 533, 535.
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Schaller later sold her lots. A Methodist camp group eventually bought the
property formerly owned by her. After the camp closed, appellants purchased the
property in 1987.
In October 2013, appellants filed an application to register title to their land and to
the subject land, which is the unplatted shoreline adjoining their described lots. On
January 28, 2014, the examiner of titles recommended denial of the application because
appellants sought to register title to the shorefront land dedicated by the 1857 plat to
public use.
In August 2014, appellants brought a declaratory-judgment action to determine
ownership of the subject land. Appellants alleged that the township had not recorded its
interest under the MTA, Minn. Stat. § 541.023 (2014), and had not exercised possession
of the land for more than 40 years. In September 2014, the township filed an action to
register title to the shoreline. The examiner of titles recommended that the township’s
application be granted.
On November 24, 2014, the district court consolidated the two registration-of-title
actions and the declaratory-judgment action. Appellants dismissed their registration-of-
title action without prejudice. Both parties moved for summary judgment in the
remaining and consolidated declaratory-judgment and registration-of-title actions.
The district court granted the township’s motion for summary judgment, dismissed
appellants’ declaratory-judgment complaint, and dismissed appellants’ affirmative
defenses in the township’s registration-of-title action. The district court declined to
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complete the Torrens proceedings, and instead certified the partial judgment for
immediate appeal.
DECISION
Appellants challenge the district court’s grant of summary judgment, arguing that
the district court erred in concluding that the 1857 plat conveyed fee title to a single un-
subdivided parcel along the shoreline of Lake Pepin to the township, the MTA does not
extinguish the township’s interest in the subject land (which appellants contend is an
easement), and the township is entitled to register the subject land in the Torrens system.
The parties agree that if the 1857 plat conveyed fee title to the township, that issue is
dispositive. See Hempel v. Creek House Trust, 743 N.W.2d 305, 312 (Minn. App. 2007)
(“The MTA does not operate offensively to provide foundation for new title, but
defensively to protect preexisting claims of title.”).
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Riverview Muir
Doran, LLC v. JADT Dev. Grp., LLC, 790 N.W.2d 167, 170 (Minn. 2010). “In doing so,
we determine whether the district court properly applied the law and whether there are
genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment.” Id. A genuine issue of
material fact exists when there is sufficient evidence that could lead a rational trier of fact
to find for the nonmoving party. DLH, Inc. v. Russ, 566 N.W.2d 60, 70 (Minn. 1997).
Summary judgment is not appropriate “when reasonable persons might draw different
conclusions from the evidence presented.” Id. at 69. Evidence is viewed in “the light
most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment was granted.” STAR
Centers, Inc. v. Faegre & Benson, L.L.P., 644 N.W.2d 72, 76-77 (Minn. 2002).
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Appellants argue that the district court erred in construing the Frontenac Plat as
having conveyed fee title to the township. They maintain that the plat conveyed only an
easement. Because Schaller considered the ownership of this same property, we first
consider whether the opinion in that earlier appeal operates as either res judicata or
collateral estoppel here.
Res judicata only applies when four elements are present: (1) the same set of
factual circumstances was involved in both the earlier and the current proceedings;
(2) both proceedings involved the same parties or parties in privity with them; (3) the
earlier case included a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the party against whom the
doctrine applies had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the claim. Brown-Wilbert, Inc.
v. Copeland Buhl & Co., 732 N.W.2d 209, 220 (Minn. 2007). Collateral estoppel, or
issue preclusion, is narrower than res judicata. The requirements for application of
collateral estoppel are that (1) the issue in the case is identical to an earlier adjudication,
(2) the earlier case was a “final judgment on the merits,” (3) the party to be estopped was
a party or in privity with a party in the earlier case, and (4) the party sought to be
estopped had a “full and fair opportunity to be heard” in the earlier case. Hauschildt v.
Beckingham, 686 N.W.2d 829, 837 (Minn. 2004). Collateral estoppel only applies to
issues “actually litigated, determined by, and essential to a previous judgment.” In re
Application of Hofstad, 376 N.W.2d 698, 700 (Minn. App. 1985) (quotation omitted).
Neither doctrine is to be rigidly applied. Hauschildt, 686 N.W.2d at 837.
Here, neither doctrine applies as a bar. Res judicata does not apply because the
issue in the earlier appeal was whether to vacate an interest arising from the plat due to
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abandonment. Here, appellants argue that the plat conveyed only an easement and that
the township, as owner of the easement, failed to exercise possession and failed to record
its interest under the MTA for 40 years. These claims require proof of different facts
than were considered in Schaller. Appellants’ MTA claim is based on a new statutory
provision not in effect at the time of Schaller. See Minn. Stat. § 541.023.
Collateral estoppel does not apply to the fee-versus-easement dispute because that
issue was not “directly determined” in Schaller. The Schaller court instead resolved the
case by applying common-law abandonment principles. 193 Minn. at 614-15, 259 N.W.
at 534-35. The supreme court held that Schaller did not meet the statutory standard for
vacating a plat, which required that the vacation be in the public interest. See id. The
fee-versus-easement issue was not squarely decided in Schaller, nor was it necessary to
the holding there.
Although Schaller does not bar appellants’ claims or finally resolve the fee-
versus-easement issue, we agree with the district court that the Schaller court’s language
in the earlier case informs our decision. The Schaller court noted:
It seems obvious to us that what the donors intended was to
convey to the public for its use all of Lake avenue, including
as well all the property fronting upon the lake at Frontenac
Point. . . . Everything points to a general donation or grant to
public use of all the areas not surveyed into lots and
blocks. . . . It is unreasonable to suppose that the dedication
in respect of steamboat landing made for naught the prior
general grant in respect of the public use indicated by the
plat. . . . Conceding that the [district] court was right in
holding that the lake shore had not been used for steamboat
landing purposes over a period of some seventeen years, yet
that would not, as we view the situation, at all interfere with
the right of the public to the possession for use of Lake
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avenue and the other streets and public places bordering upon
the lake. The steamboat landing provision cannot be said to
be in denial of the general grant.
193 Minn. at 611, 259 N.W. at 533.
Informed by Schaller’s characterization of the Frontenac Plat, we consider now
whether the 1857 plat conveyed fee title or an easement to the subject land.
The original plat concerned and conveyed to the public far more shoreland than
just the steamboat landing. The plat conveyed the subject land in the following terms:
We also dedicate to Public use the Lake Shore between
Blocks 9 & 13 to be used as a Steamboat Landing, reserving
to ourselves all rights of wharfage and all rights and
privileges of Ferry either within the above limits or
elsewhere, either at the ends of the streets or within the
boundaries of Lots which run to the water.
The territorial statute in effect at the time of platting, which the Schaller court
applied to the facts before it, provided:
When the plot or map shall have been made out and certified,
acknowledged and recorded as required by this chapter, every
donation or grant to the public or any individual or
individuals, religious society or societies, or to any
corporation or body politic, marked or noted as such on said
plot or map, shall be deemed in law and equity a sufficient
conveyance to vest the fee simple of all such parcel or parcels
of land, as are therein expressed, and shall be considered to
all intents and purposes a general warranty against such donor
or donors, their heirs or representatives to said donee or
donees, grantee or grantees, for his, her or their use, for the
uses and purposes therein named, expressed and intended,
and no other use and purpose whatever; and the land intended
to be for the streets, alleys, ways, commons or other public
uses in any town or city, or addition thereto, shall be held in
the corporate name thereof, in trust to, and for the use and
purposes set forth and expressed or intended.
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Minn. Gen. Stat. ch. 26, § 5 (1858); see also Schaller, 193 Minn. at 608, 259 N.W. at 632
(noting that the statute was effective between 1849 and 1858). The first part of the
statute provides that grants to the public are deemed to convey a fee simple interest.
Minn. Gen. Stat. ch. 26, § 5. The second excepts from this treatment lands intended for
streets and public ways, and treats such “donations” as easements. Id. The parties
dispute which portion of the statute governs the platters’ conveyance of the subject land.
We review the district court’s construction of the territorial statute de novo. Denman v.
Gans, 607 N.W.2d 788, 794 (Minn. App. 2000) review denied (Minn. Jun. 27, 2000).
Appellants rely on a line of cases that distinguish “donation[s] or grant[s],” which
convey fee title, from dedications, which do not convey fee title. See Betcher v. Chicago
M. & St. P. Ry. Co., 110 Minn. 228, 124 N.W. 1096 (1910); Schurmeier v. St. Paul &
Pac. R.R. Co., 10 Minn. 82 (1865).
Citing Schurmeier, appellants argue that the plain language of the Frontenac Plat
indicates that it was intended to dedicate, rather than donate or grant, the subject land to
the public strictly for a steamboat landing. See Schurmeier, 10 Minn. at 104 (“A
dedication is not a grant or donation. Its effect is not to deprive a party of title to his land,
but to estop him, while the dedication continues in force . . . .”). In Schurmeier, the
parties disputed the possession and use of a levee along the Mississippi River in St. Paul.
Id. at 86-87. The plat in Schurmeier extended to the main channel of the river, id. at 84,
and designated a strip of land adjoining the river as a “landing,” id. at 85-86. The plat
also showed an “open river without islands.” Id. at 84. But changing water levels
actually revealed an “island” in the river. Id. The city graded the levee and included the
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island by filling the area in between it and the mainland, which effectively enlarged the
lots fronting on the landing. Id. at 86, 101-03. The plaintiff, Casper Schurmeier, owned
lots fronting on the landing and had built a warehouse on them. Id. at 83, 86. Schurmeier
derived title to his property from Louis Roberts, who purchased the property from the
government. Id. 85. He sought to enjoin the defendant railroad company from
constructing railroad tracks on the newly graded land, which would obstruct his use of his
warehouse in connection with the river. Id. at 87.
The railroad company argued, in part, that Schurmeier did not have fee title to the
land because the plat dedicated it as a “landing.” Id. at 105. The Minnesota Supreme
Court rejected the railroad company’s argument, holding that,
The use for which the dedication was made, therefore,
determines the extent of the right parted with by the owner
and acquired by the public or corporate authorities of the
town. Neither the use for which the dedication was made, nor
the language of the statute justifies, in this case, the
conclusion that a legislative transfer of the fee was intended,
and without such transfer, it remains in [the private party] and
his grantees.
Id. at 104-05 (emphasis added). Schurmeier’s conclusion was therefore fact-specific,
turning on the fact that the initial dedication allowed the public to use the parcel for a
“landing.” Id. at 104.
Here, the conveyance in the Frontenac Plat is unlike the dedication in Schurmeier.
This plat provides for a general conveyance for “public use.” The Schaller court thought
it “obvious . . . that what the donors intended was to convey to the public for its use” the
Lake Pepin shoreline on Frontenac Point. 193 Minn. at 611, 259 N.W. at 533. Both
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before and after 1917, when steamboat use of the point ceased, the shoreland conveyed to
the public consisted of much more shoreline than was used for the landing, and included
public uses other than the steamboat landing.
Appellants also cite Betcher for the proposition that “the dedication of land [for a
steamboat landing or levee] . . . does not pass the fee-simple title thereto, but only such
an estate as the purpose of the trust requires, and that the fee, subject to the public
easement, remains in the dedicator and his grantees.” 110 Minn. at 234, 124 N.W. at
1099. The facts in Betcher are similar to those of Schurmeier: a railroad company
sought to build railroad tracks on a piece of land that was, at one time, dedicated to public
use as a “Steamboat Landing,” and a private individual claimed that he owned fee title to
the disputed property. Id. at 230-31, 124 N.W. at 1097. The plaintiff, Charles Betcher,
sought to recover a tract of land that the defendant railroad company possessed after the
town of Red Wing declared the tract vacated and permitted the railroad company to use
it. Id. at 229-30, 124 N.W. at 1092. The railroad company argued that the plat, which
labeled the tract of land “Steamboat Landing,” conveyed fee title to the town and that the
company “was in the possession of the premises for railroad purposes with the
acquiescence of the owner [town].” Id. at 230, 124 N.W. at 1097. The plat in Betcher
did not contain any other dedication, grant, or donation language concerning the disputed
property. Id. at 233-34, 124 N.W. at 1098-99.
The Minnesota Supreme Court reviewed the facts in Betcher and was “of the
opinion that the [land] was dedicated to the use of the public primarily as a steamboat
landing or levee.” Id. at 231, 124 N.W. at 1097. But there is nothing from the Betcher
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opinion that indicates that the plat contained any language concerning the dedication
other than a label, “Steamboat Landing.” Here, in addition to the label, the Frontenac
Plat contains language that the subject land is “dedicate[d] to Public use.” Schaller, 193
Minn. at 607, 259 N.W. at 532. The Minnesota Supreme Court has construed this very
provision in the earlier litigation as “a general donation or grant to public use.” Id. at
611, 259 N.W. at 533. Betcher is therefore factually distinguishable from this case.1
Neither the plain language of the territorial statute, nor caselaw interpreting that
statute provides a general rule concerning conveyances for the purpose of establishing
steamboat landings. But Schurmeier’s general principle provides guidance for
determining whether the first half or the second half of the platting statute governs the
Frontenac Plat. The Schurmeier holding indicates that the platters’ intent “determines the
extent of the right parted with by the owner.” 10 Minn. at 104. We are informed by
Schaller’s construction of the Frontenac Plat as “intend[ing] to convey to the public for
its use all of Lake avenue, including as well all the property fronting upon the lake at
Frontenac Point.” 193 Minn. at 611, 259 N.W. at 533. The Schaller court observed that
“[e]verything points to a general donation or grant to public use of all the areas not
surveyed into lots and blocks,” which includes the subject land. Id. The clear intent of
the 1857 plat was to convey a fee interest. The supreme court said that “[i]t is
1
We are mindful that, at common law, a “dedication” generally “vests only an easement
in the public.” Note, Public Ownership of Land Through Dedication, 75 Harv. L. Rev.
1406, 1408 (1962) (citing Ryerson v. City of Chicago, 247 Ill. 185, 93 N.E. 162 (1910)).
Here, we are applying the territorial statute, and not the common law, and we do so in the
context of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s earlier review of a case concerning this
precise parcel of land under that same statute.
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unreasonable to suppose that the dedication in respect of [a] steamboat landing made for
naught the prior general grant in respect of the public use indicated by the plat.” Id. The
Schaller court further observed that even if “the lake shore had not been used for
steamboat landing purposes over a period of some seventeen years, . . . that would not . . .
at all interfere with the right of the public to the possession for use of Lake avenue and
the other streets and public places bordering upon the lake.” Id. In concluding that the
public had not abandoned the subject land, the supreme court necessarily construed the
Frontenac Plat as having conveyed more than an easement limited to steamboat-landing
purposes. Although the earlier Schaller opinion did not determine the same issues we
consider here, the supreme court’s construction of the plat language concerning this very
same parcel of land is persuasive. The 1857 plat conveyed fee title to the subject land to
respondent township.
Moreover, the 1857 plat contains the following language concerning the land:
We also dedicate to public use the Lake Shore between
Blocks 9 & 13 to be used as a Steamboat Landing, reserving
to ourselves all rights of wharfage and all rights and
privileges of Ferry either within the above limits or
elsewhere, either at the ends of the streets or within the
boundaries of Lots which run to the water.
Id., at 606, 259 N.W. at 532 (emphasis added.) Two portions of this reservation by the
plat confirm that it conveyed fee title. First, the plat reserved rights in the grantor. Had
the grant been limited to an easement, the reservation would have been unnecessary
because, in the case of an easement, the grantor would retain all rights in the property
except those rights conveyed in the easement. See 28A C.J.S. Easements § 192 (2016)
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(“Owners of the servient tenement retain every incident of ownership not inconsistent
with the easement and the enjoyment of the same.”). Second, the passage makes specific
reference to lots that “run to the water.” At the point where the Steamboat Landing was
situated, the lots do not “run to the water,” while in other places the lots are designated by
the plat to run up to the shore of Lake Pepin.
Because, under the territorial statute, the township was granted a fee interest in the
shoreland, appellants cannot rely on the MTA to create a fee interest where the deeds to
which their title can be traced do not include that shoreline property. See Hempel, 743
N.W.2d at 312 (“The MTA does not operate offensively to provide foundation for new
title, but defensively to protect preexisting claims of title.”); see also Padrnos v. City of
Nisswa, 409 N.W.2d 36, 38 (Minn. App. 1987) (noting that “the MTA was designed to be
invoked as a defense” and “does not operate to provide a foundation for a new title”),
review denied (Minn. Sept. 23, 1987). The MTA has no application here.
Under the territorial statute in effect at the time, the 1857 plat conveyed fee title to
the subject land to the township. Therefore, we do not address appellants’ other
arguments, and we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of
respondent. Because the Torrens proceedings were held in abeyance pending this appeal,
we remand the case for Torrens proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Affirmed and remanded.
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