McLoon v. Collins

317 A.2d 559, 114 N.H. 189, 1974 N.H. LEXIS 234
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedMarch 29, 1974
DocketNo. 6563
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 317 A.2d 559 (McLoon v. Collins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McLoon v. Collins, 317 A.2d 559, 114 N.H. 189, 1974 N.H. LEXIS 234 (N.H. 1974).

Opinion

Duncan, J.

By this bill in equity the plaintiff seeks to determine the boundary between adjoining premises of the parties on Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton, and the ownership of a wharf or pier projecting into the lake in the vicinity of the common boundary. The plaintiff also seeks to compel removal of a fence constructed diagonally across the wharf by the defendants, to enjoin future interference with the plaintiff’s rights in the wharf, and to recover damages for past interference and costs. Trial was before a Master (John P. Chandler, Esq.) in June 1969. The parties filed requests for findings and rulings, and on January 9, 1970, the master filed his report. The parties duly filed objections to the report, including objections to the granting and denial of requests for findings and rulings. Later, in February 1970, the defendants moved for rehearing, and for an opportunity to present additional evidence. These motions and the objections to the report were referred to the master, who heard the parties on June 29, 1970. The defendants then moved to take the deposition in Florida of Clara Holden, the survivor of the plaintiff’s two grantors who were also predecessors in title of the defendants. The master recommended by supplementary report that the motion to take the deposition be granted. His report was approved by the Superior Court (Keller, C.J.) on February 2, 1971. At the same time the court also entered the following order: “The time for filing a proposed reserve case by either side [191]*191is to be measured from the final report of the Master after the depositions have been submitted to him.” The master’s supplementary report approved on February 2, 1971, recommended denial of the objections and motions filed in January 1970, and of the defendants’ motions for rehearing and to produce additional evidence filed in March 1970 all of which was likewise approved by the Superior Court (Keller, C.J.) on February 2, 1971, subject to the exceptions of the parties.

In September 1971, the defendants moved for rehearing, or amendment of the master’s report, based upon the testimony of the common grantor by the deposition taken in June 1971. In January 1972, the defendants filed a motion for rehearing with supporting affidavits of the defendant Collins alleging newly discovered evidence concerning the location of a boundary mark.

On February 14, 1972, the master filed a second supplementary report recommending that the defendants’ motions of September 1971 and January 1972 be denied. The defendants’ objections and exceptions to this report were heard by the Superior Court (Dunfey, J.) and on April 4, 1972, the court denied the defendants’ motion for rehearing. All questions of law presented by the exceptions to the findings and rulings of the master were reserved and transferred by Dunfey, J., on July 17, 1972.

The parties own adjoining lots facing northeasterly toward Lake Winnipesaukee, in a subdivision of the shore front. In 1960, John and Clara Holden, then owners of two adjoining lots, conveyed to the plaintiff McLoon the westerly part of their westerly lot, including approximately three-fourths of the lake frontage thereof, by deed which described the disputed boundary, and the boundary at the lake frontage, as follows: “thence running north by other land of the Grantors a distance of 156.3 feet, more or less, to an iron pin at the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, thence running west along said Lake a distance of 129 feet, more or less, to an iron pin at the point of beginning.” The description also provided: “The present heavy stone breakwater and adjacent section of pier to be included in said property.”

In 1965, the Holdens conveyed their easterly lot and the balance of the westerly lot to Richard and Dorothy Ashley, [192]*192who in turn conveyed this enlarged lot to the defendants in 1966.

The boundaries of the original lots, other than the disputed division line, are not in question. The dispute relates to the division line created in 1960.

The disputed wharf is the second of three parallel wooden structures extending northeasterly into the lake within a distance of about 55 feet along the shore front. Each structure is approximately 7 to 8 feet in width. The westerly structure appurtenant to the McLoon lot, parallels and is supported along its westerly edge by the “heavy stone breakwater”, which faces northwest and serves to shelter all three structures. There is docking space of approximately 10 feet between the breakwater wharf and the disputed middle wharf. The disputed wharf is connected to the breakwater wharf at the shoreline, and there was evidence that it was similarly connected at the time when the deed to McLoon was given. The disputed wharf is the only wharf having lake water on both sides. The space between the disputed wharf and the easterly wharf, appurtenant to the Collins’ land, is approximately 20 feet. The latter wharf forms a right angle which encloses a patio of crushed rock between the planking and the shore. The middle wharf and the easterly wharf both project from a concrete retaining wall marking the waterline between them.

The middle wharf is located in the area of the littoral terminus of the disputed boundary line. Prior to suit, the defendants caused a solid six-foot fence to be erected upon this wharf, running diagonally across it from its southeasterly corner to its westerly edge, out over the water, thereby blocking access to the end of the wharf from the McLoon lot. Additionally, they caused a triangular addition to the wharf to be constructed at its southeasterly junction with the concrete wall, to facilitate access to the wharf on the easterly side of the fence.

The plaintiff asserts that the common boundary is a line running from a monument which undisputedly marks the parties’ common corner at the rear of their lots to an iron pipe 8 feet back from the middle wharf. A projection of this line through the iron pipe to the concrete retaining wall [193]*193falls just east of the shore end of the middle wharf. Hence if this is the true line, the disputed wharf originates entirely from the plaintiff’s side of the dividing line. If the line is further projected over the lake across the wharf, it runs nearly parallel to and within a foot or two westerly of the fence erected by the defendants.

Notwithstanding the fact that the defendants located the fence in this position they maintain that the boundary is a line which at the retaining wall falls some 10 feet west of the line claimed by the plaintiff. If projected into the lake, the line claimed by the defendants would place a major part of the wharf opposite the defendants’ land.

The superior court approved the master’s determination that the boundary line is where the plaintiff claims it to be. As found by the master the line was that shown as a “Property Line” on plaintiff’s exhibit 10, passing through both the iron pin near the wharf, and a “drill hole” at the easterly edge of the wharf. Moreover, the deed to the plaintiff conveyed “the present heavy stone breakwater and adjacent section of pier”. The master’s finding and ruling that the “adjacent section of pier” included the middle wharf is supported by the evidence.

The location of the boundary line was a question of fact for the master, and his findings were warranted by substantial evidence. Leigh v. LaPierre, 113 N.H. 633, 312 A.2d 699 (1973); Sheris v. Morton, 111 N.H. 66,

Related

Starvish v. Farley
347 A.2d 175 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1975)
State v. Delaware State Educational Association
326 A.2d 868 (Court of Chancery of Delaware, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
317 A.2d 559, 114 N.H. 189, 1974 N.H. LEXIS 234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcloon-v-collins-nh-1974.