Gensburg v. Clark

98 N.E.3d 726, 2017 Ohio 7967
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Trumbull County
DecidedSeptember 29, 2017
DocketNO. 2017–T–0039
StatusPublished

This text of 98 N.E.3d 726 (Gensburg v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh District, Trumbull County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gensburg v. Clark, 98 N.E.3d 726, 2017 Ohio 7967 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

CYNTHIA WESTCOTT RICE, P.J.

{¶ 1} Appellants, Barthold Gensburg, Jr., et al., appeal from the judgment of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, adopting the magistrate's decision, ruling in favor of appellees, Daniel Clark, et al., on appellants' complaint to request alteration of plat by clarification and substitution and declaratory judgment. At issue is whether the trial court erred in concluding a 56.94' portion of a street upon which appellants reside was publically dedicated when the subdivision was initially plotted. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

{¶ 2} Appellants are residents of Ina Drive in Lordstown, Ohio. The street dead ends into a stretch of farm land owned by appellees, who have access to their property via Ina Drive. Appellants asserted the original grantor of the land, Frank Giovannone ("Frank"), appellant Judith Gensburg's ("Judith") father, intended Ina Drive to extend only 785' east from Goldner Lane, Ina Drive's point of origin. Appellants requested the court to declare Ina Drive dedicated and accepted as 785' in length, as evidenced by various unrecorded instruments. To the extent the recorded plat did not reflect this intent, they sought to alter the recorded dedication, arguing Ina Drive stops 56.94' short of appellee's property line. They therefore sought to have the 56.94' portion in question revert to the Estate of Frank Giovannone in fee simple, subject to an easement dedicated to the Village of Lordstown ("Lordstown") for the purpose of providing a public turnaround for Ina Drive (aka "temporary tee" or "turnaround tee").

{¶ 3} Appellees maintained the original recorded plat indicates the entirety of the Ina Drive, i.e., the 785' portion as well as the 56.94' portion, for a total of 841.94', was the subject of Frank's dedication. They acknowledged the original plat includes "squiggly lines" at the entry of the turn around, but asserted the broken lines do not evince an intent to create a boundary. They further underscored the 1995 recorded replat of the area does not include the "squiggly lines" and therefore the most recent recorded evidence undermines appellees' position.

{¶ 4} Appellees filed a motion for summary judgment, which was denied. The matter proceeded to hearing before the magistrate, at which the following evidence was adduced:

{¶ 5} Frank and Ina Giovannone owned approximately nine acres of farmland in Lordstown, Ohio, which they planned to subdivide into residential lots. Judith worked with Frank planning the lots and the way in which the access road would direct traffic. According to Judith, her grandparents, the original owners, granted an easement to East Ohio Gas to install a high-pressure power gas line perpendicular to Ina Drive, 30' from the east boundary line of the subdivision. The gas line goes north and south through the 56.94'

*729area in dispute. When East Ohio Gas received notice that the property would be subdivided, it sent a letter stating that no buildings or structures could be placed within 30' of the pipeline. Frank platted the last two lots in the subdivision differently from the others based upon this advisement. And, apparently, the letter prompted Frank to consider implementing the turnaround at the end of Ina Drive.

{¶ 6} With respect to the road, surveyor Richard Dittmer prepared a plat demonstrating Ina Drive terminating at 500' from an area designated "Giovannone Plat No. 5." The terminus of the 500' measurement was marked by a solid line with no provision for a turnaround at the dead end. (Plaintiff's Exhibits 2 and 2A) This plat was not signed and was not approved by Lordstown. Mr. Dittmer later prepared another plat for the Roadway Dedication Plat for Ina Drive. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 1) According to Judith, this plat measured Ina Drive at 785' from Goldner Lane and took into consideration the East Ohio Gas easement. It additionally provided for a boundary line at the entrance to the temporary tee, which was shaded by hash marks. This draft copy was also neither signed nor approved.

{¶ 7} In February 1979, the property on which Ina Drive is situated was dedicated to Lordstown, and the planning commission approved and accepted the dedication. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 5). In March 1979, the plat was signed by all necessary parties, including Frank, and recorded. The plat shows what was referred to as a "squiggly line" across Ina Drive at the 785' point and outlines the shape of what is described as a "temporary tee," or turnaround. (Plaintiffs Exhibit 6). The plat further provided that the full length of the road, including the temporary tee, is 841.94', the 785' plus 56.94. Unlike the unrecorded plat in Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, the recorded plat did not include a solid boundary line at the entrance of the temporary tee and the area was not hash-marked.

{¶ 8} Ina Drive is paved up to the end of the temporary tee. There is an eight-foot grassy area between the temporary tee and the Clark boundary line. There are two storm drains in the grassy area that Lordstown installed some time after the plat was approved. Frank purchased the pipe for the drains and the catch basins. Lordstown installed and has maintained the sewers since they were installed and, similarly, has maintained the entirety of Ina Drive since it was dedicated.

{¶ 9} In January 1995, Frank had the relevant property replatted. The replat was duly recorded and does not include a numerical measurement of Ina Drive, but shows the street extending up to the edge of the temporary tee. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 7). In other words, the replat deleted the "squiggly line" that appeared on the original 1979 map and, as a result, does not distinguish, in any way, the 56.94' parcel in question from the remainder of Ina Drive.

{¶ 10} The surveyor who replatted the area, Jerry Daniel, testified that the deletion of the squiggly line had no effect on the length of the subject right of way. In Mr. Daniel's professional opinion, the correct measurement of what Frank actually dedicated was 841.94'. Mr. Daniel testified that solid lines are used to designate a boundary line and dotted or dashed lines are generally used to denote other designations, such as an easement. Moreover, Mr. Daniel testified the original recorded plat sets forth the 841.94' to the nearest hundredth decimal. In denoting boundaries, he maintained, surveyors carry measurements to the nearest hundredth. Alternatively, Mr. Daniel testified the 785' is not carried to the nearest hundredth and thus cannot represent a boundary measurement. Rather, in his opinion, that *730measurement simply indicated where the beginning of the temporary tee should be designated.

{¶ 11} Further, Mr. Daniel pointed out that the original recorded plat provides that the "area in streets" is 1.310 acres. Mathematically, if one multiplies 841.94' by 60' (the width of Ina Drive) and adds this sum to the result of multiplying 260.66' (the length of Goldner Drive included in the plat) by 25' (half of the width of Goldner Drive), the result is 57,032.9'. Then divide this amount into 43,560' (the square feet in an acre), the result is 1.310. These figures appear in the original recorded plat and support the conclusion that the Ina Drive right of way that was dedicated to Lordstown was 841.94 feet.1

{¶ 12} Civil engineer and surveyor, J. Robert Lyden, testified on appellants' behalf. He testified that, based upon the various unrecorded plats and the recorded plats, the dedicated portion of Ina Drive was 785' in length. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
98 N.E.3d 726, 2017 Ohio 7967, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gensburg-v-clark-ohctapp11trumbu-2017.