Huron Mountain Club v. Marquette County Road Commission

845 N.W.2d 523, 303 Mich. App. 312
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 5, 2013
DocketDocket No. 309075
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 845 N.W.2d 523 (Huron Mountain Club v. Marquette County Road Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Huron Mountain Club v. Marquette County Road Commission, 845 N.W.2d 523, 303 Mich. App. 312 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Fer CURIAM.

Huron Mountain Club (HMC) appeals as of right the trial court’s order granting summary dis[314]*314position to defendant Marquette County Road Commission (Road Commission). On appeal, the HMC argues that the trial court erred by holding that the Road Commission’s abandonment of County Road KK (the road) was invalid. We affirm.

I. BASIC FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The HMC is a local nonprofit corporation that owns property in Powell Township, Marquette County. The road includes a bridge over the Salmon Trout River, which ends 130 feet northwest of the bridge. Only the HMC owns property that abuts the road. However, the road provides access to forestry lands and to lands owned by other private-property owners, including intervening defendant, Dan Collins, who has an easement from the HMC to use the road.

In 2007, the Road Commission, which had jurisdiction over the road, reduced the load capacity of the bridge because of the bridge’s deteriorating condition. The reduction impeded the use of the bridge by heavy vehicles such as the HMC’s fire trucks and logging trucks. The Road Commission told the HMC that it could not afford to repair the bridge, but advised the HMC and the owner of some property being logged that they were welcome to make the repairs at their own expense. The HMC and the logging company made repairs sufficient to allow the Road Commission to lift the load restrictions, but the need for significant repairs remained. The Road Commission suggested that the HMC obtain ownership of the bridge and do further repairs and maintenance.

On January 12, 2009, the HMC filed a petition for abandonment of the road. Only the HMC was listed on that portion of the petition listing the “freeholders” requesting abandonment. An attachment to the peti[315]*315tion also stated, “Please note that the Petitioner is the owner of all land abutting the portion of the road sought to be absolutely abandoned and discontinued.. . .”

The Road Commission’s board held a public hearing on February 16, 2009. Minutes from the meeting indicate that the Road Commission’s engineer/manager, James Iwanicki, “stated that the MDNR [Michigan Department of Natural Resources] has been contacted and they oppose the abandonment because the road serves as an access corridor to an area of Salmon Trout River.” Iwanicki recommended that the abandonment request be denied because “although the Road Commission sees the abandonment as a positive, the issue regarding navigable waterways which gives the MDNR the first right of refusal could be an issue.”

In spite of these concerns, the Road Commission approved a motion “to abandon the requested portion of County Road KK.” A written resolution to that effect was subsequently issued. It provided, “THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that it is in the best interest of the public that the above described County Road KK be absolutely abandoned and discontinued . . . .” On February 17, 2009, Iwanicki sent a letter to the township and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) advising them of the abandonment and that they had the right to retain the road “under public ownership.” There is no indication that either the township or the DNR responded. The resolution was published in a local paper on April 3, 2009. The Road Commission’s director of engineering sent a letter to the Michigan Department of Transportation (DOT) informing it of the abandonment, that the bridge of the Salmon Trout River on the abandoned portion was “part of our Bridge inventory,” and asking the DOT to remove the bridge from the bridge inventory.

[316]*316In the summer of 2009, the HMC began making improvements, purchasing a 32-acre property for the purpose of creating a new turnaround and meeting with the Road Commission’s director of engineering to determine the size and location of the turnaround. However, some area residents began voicing disagreement with the decision to abandon the road.

The Road Commission put the matter of “CR KK Abandonment” on the agenda for its August 17, 2009, meeting under the heading “UNFINISHED BUSINESS.” At the meeting, several people voiced objection to the abandonment. The Road Commission approved a motion to consult with its attorneys about the abandonment. At the Road Commission’s September 21, 2009, meeting, pursuant to advice from its counsel, the Road Commission voted to declare that the February 16, 2009, motion to abandon was “defective and ineffective” and “that the abandonment procedure be redone carefully adhering to the state abandonment statute . ...” A public hearing was set, but was apparently canceled.

On November 30, 2009, the HMC filed the present suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief enforcing the abandonment and an order quieting title to the road in its favor. The HMC later amended its complaint to assert a takings claim, a procedural due process claim, and one based on promissory estoppel. By stipulation of the parties, Dan Collins intervened as a defendant, claiming that access to his property and to the river would be affected by the abandonment.

The Road Commission moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10). The Road Commission argued that its abandonment proceedings were defective and, as a result, the abandonment should be deemed ineffective. The Road Commission’s claim was [317]*317based on the requirements set forth in MCL 224.18 for a board of county road commissioners to abandon a road. Its main argument was premised on subsection 4 of that statute, quoted below, and on the part of subsection 5 also quoted below:

(4) The board of county road commissioners shall not absolutely abandon and discontinue any highway, or part of a highway, except as provided in this section, upon the written petition of 7 or more freeholders of the township in which the road is sought to be absolutely abandoned and discontinued. The petition for absolutely abandoning and discontinuing a highway shall describe the road in general terms or by any name by which it is known, and if the absolute abandonment and discontinuance of only a portion of a road is asked for, that portion shall be specified. The petition shall be accompanied by a true and correct list of the names and mailing addresses of the occupants of each parcel of land abutting the highway, or portion of the highway, sought to be absolutely abandoned and discontinued, which list shall be certified to under oath by 1 of the persons making or presenting the petition.
(5) If a petition for absolute abandonment and discontinuance of a road or portion of a road contains the signatures of all of the owners of record and occupants of land abutting the road, as ascertained from the records in the office of the register of deeds and the certified list provided for in subsection (4), the board of county road commissioners shall, within 20 days after receiving the petition, subject to subsection (8), determine the advisability of the abandonment and discontinuance and either grant or deny the petition without further proceedings. In all other cases the board shall, within 20 days after receiving a petition, issue a written notice stating the object of the petition and appointing a time and place of hearing, which notice shall be served on the township board of the township in which the road is situated and on the owners of record and occupants of lands through or adjoining which it is proposed to absolutely abandon and discontinue the road, by mailing a copy of the notice by

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Bluebook (online)
845 N.W.2d 523, 303 Mich. App. 312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huron-mountain-club-v-marquette-county-road-commission-michctapp-2013.