Northpark Associates No. 2, Ltd. v. Homart Development Co.

414 S.E.2d 214, 262 Ga. 138, 1992 Ga. LEXIS 216

• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
• Decided: March 13, 1992
• Docket: S91A1409
• Status: Published

Opinions

Fletcher, Justice.

Northpark Associates No. 2, Ltd. seeks to enforce its private easement rights in abandoned roads in a former residential subdivision that Homart Development Company has redeveloped as commercial property. We reverse the trial court’s finding that Northpark never acquired any easement rights and remand for consideration of the remaining issues.

In 1962, owner and developer John Dromey recorded the Crestline Valley subdivision plat in the superior court clerk’s office in Fulton County. The plat divided the property into lots and delineated the location of the two subdivision roads. In 1984 Homart bought all but two lots of the subdivision and all the lots in two adjoining subdivisions to develop an office project. Northpark, a competing developer, acquired Lot 5 fronting on Crestline Road and Lot 11 fronting on Crestline Valley Circle by deeds that referred to the recorded plat. Northpark’s title to these lots descended in chain of title from Dromey by deeds that also referred to the recorded plat.

As a result of an October 1988 agreement with Homart, the Fulton County Commission resolved to abandon portions of Crestline Road and Crestline Valley Circle (“Crestline Roads”) and, if necessary, to condemn Northpark’s private easement rights in the subdivision roads.¹ In exchange for a quitclaim deed from the county for the abandoned portions of the Crestline Roads, Homart agreed to pay any condemnation costs, construct a new parkway, and construct new sewer lines. Both of Northpark’s lots would have access to the new parkway. Northpark neither appealed the rezoning granted Homart in 1988 nor sought to enjoin the construction of the parkway in 1989; the county has not condemned Northpark’s easement rights in the subdivision roads.

In 1990, the county accepted the dedication of the Crestline Parkway, abandoned portions of the Crestline Roads, and delivered a quitclaim deed to Homart conveying the county’s interest in the abandoned roads. A month later Homart closed the abandoned roads. Northpark then sought an injunction to prevent Homart from interfering with its easement rights. Northpark appeals the trial court’s denial of the injunction.

1. A developer’s sale of lots in a subdivision according to a recorded plat creates private easement rights in favor of purchasers in any area set apart for their use. Walker v. Duncan, 236 Ga. 331, 332 (223 SE2d 675) (1976); Westbrook v. Comer, 197 Ga. 433, 439 (29 SE2d 574) (1944). We have repeatedly upheld this long-standing principle.

Where the owners of a tract of land subdivide it into lots, record a map or plat showing such lots, with designated streets and a public park, and sell lots with reference to such map or plat, the owners are presumed to have irrevocably dedicated such streets and park for the use of all of the lot owners in the subdivision. . . . The owners of lots in the subdivision have an easement in these public areas whether or not there has ever been an acceptance of the dedication by public authorities or the public generally.

Stanfield v. Brewton, 228 Ga. 92, 94-95 (184 SE2d 352) (1971); accord Owens Hardware Co. v. Walters, 210 Ga. 321 (80 SE2d 285) (1954). The rationale is that the purchasers have given consideration for the property’s enhanced value by paying a higher price for their lots. Walker v. Duncan, 236 Ga. at 332. Once acquired, a private easement in a road is not extinguished when a county abandons the road; a private easement also is not transferred from a closed road to a relocated road. Glass v. Carnes, 260 Ga. 627, 632 (398 SE2d 7) (1990); Bayard v. Hargrove, 45 Ga. 342, 351 (1872).

The Crestline Valley Subdivisión owner and developer recorded the subdivision plat showing the subdivision roads, then sold lots to Northpark’s predecessors-in-title by deeds referring to the recorded plat. The plat had no notation that the developer had conveyed the subdivision roads in fee simple to the county nor had the developer conveyed the roads to the county by deed prior to the sale of the subdivision lots. Therefore, Northpark acquired easement rights in the subdivision roads when it bought the two lots by deeds in chains of title that made reference to the recorded plat. The closing of the abandoned portions of the subdivision roads and their relocation to the Crestline Parkway did not eliminate Northpark’s easement rights in the subdivision roads delineated on the Crestline Valley subdivision plat. Northpark’s easement rights acquired in this manner are limited to the subdivision roads shown on the plat that Dromey recorded and do not extend to the parts of Crestline Road abutting Homart’s property in the other two subdivisions that Homart bought for its development.²

2. Homart argues that Northpark did not acquire private easement rights because the subdivision developer did not have any rights to convey. Homart contends that Dromey had already dedicated fee-simple title in the subdivision roads to Fulton County by recording the subdivision plat. Citing this court’s opinion in Clark v. McBride, 256 Ga. 308 (348 SE2d 634) (1986), Homart concludes that “the recording of a subdivision plat transfers fee simple title to the county where there is no indication that the owner intended to transfer only an easement.”

As we have previously acknowledged, “the recording of a subdivision plat not only acts as the grant of an easement to the purchasers of the property, but also raises a presumption of intent to dedicate to the public.” Walker, 236 Ga. at 332. There is an additional presumption that the dedication of roads to a county, whether express or implied, transfers only an easement. See R. G. Foster &c. v. Fountain, 216 Ga. 113, 123 (114 SE2d 863) (1960); 1 G. Pindar, Georgia Real Estate Law and Procedure, § 5-14 (3d ed. 1986). A governing authority can acquire fee-simple title to a county road only through condemnation or an express grant in a deed or other instrument. “Where, as here, a road is established by dedication and there is no express grant of fee-simple title, an easement results.” Glass v. Carnes, 260 Ga. at 630.

Our decision in Clark, which concerned a 20-foot strip of land used for sewage and drainage, failed to consider the presumption that the dedication conveyed an easement and not a fee-simple title. Furthermore, the Clark decision went outside the recorded plat, the instrument of dedication, to determine the parties’ intentions. By considering the developer’s and county’s intentions, the decision violated the rule of construction that parol evidence is inadmissible when a written instrument is not ambiguous. See OCGA § 13-2-2; 23 AmJur2d 29, Dedication, § 32 (2d ed. 1983). Because of these problems, we overrule Clark to the extent it permits the developer’s subjective intent in recording a plat to prevail. We reaffirm that a developer who intends to convey fee-simple title in subdivision roads must make an express grant to the county or other governmental authority.

3. Due to the present status of the record, we are unable to determine if the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying the injunction. The trial court denied the injunction based on its finding that Northpark’s predecessors-in-title never conveyed any private easement rights because the roads were dedicated to Fulton County before the sale of any subdivision lots, it was in the public interest to relocate the roads, and Homart had not impeded Northpark’s access to its lots. Because the trial court never reached Homart’s equitable defenses, particularly its laches defense, we remand this case for consideration of these and any other remaining issues.

Judgment reversed and case remanded.

All the Justices concur, except Benham, J., who dissents; Sears-Collins, J., not participating.

1 By Crestline Roads, we mean Crestline Valley Circle and Crestline Road in the three subdivisions that Homart bought as part of its office project. The term “subdivision roads” refers to Crestline Valley Circle and the part of Crestline Road delineated on the subdivision plat that Dromey recorded.

2 Our holding in this case does not alter the law dealing with the abandonment of easements as articulated in Tietjen v. Meldrim, 169 Ga. 678 (151 SE 349) (1929).