Schnabel v. County of Du Page

428 N.E.2d 671, 101 Ill. App. 3d 553, 57 Ill. Dec. 121, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3547
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 12, 1981
Docket80-776
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 428 N.E.2d 671 (Schnabel v. County of Du Page) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schnabel v. County of Du Page, 428 N.E.2d 671, 101 Ill. App. 3d 553, 57 Ill. Dec. 121, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3547 (Ill. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE REINHARD

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs brought this action to quiet title and set aside a deed to property conveyed by quitclaim deed to the defendant, County of Du Page. Both parties moved for summary judgment and stated that there was no genuine issue as to any material fact. On June 6, 1979, the trial court entered an order denying the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and granting the county’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Subsequently, the trial court denied the plaintiffs’ motion to reconsider, which sought to vacate the court’s order of June 6. The plaintiffs brought this appeal against both the county and the Illinois Prairie Path, Inc., which was permitted to intervene during the course of proceedings below upon petition and over the objection of the plaintiffs.

On appeal plaintiffs raise these issues: (1) that there were genuine issues of material fact which precluded granting the county’s motion for summary judgment; (2) that the trial court should have granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment; and (3) that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Prairie Path to intervene.

The material factual allegations in the pleadings, supporting affidavits, and other documents filed in support of and in opposition to the motions for summary judgment reveal the following events underlying the present cause. In 1901, the plaintiffs’ predecessors in title granted by deed to the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway Co. (A, E & C) a portion or strip of their land for use by the A, E & C as a right of way “for the purpose of constructing a railroad, and for all purposes connected with the construction and use of a railroad.” The two deeds in question further stated that the railroad, its successors and assigns, were to hold the land described “for all uses and purposes, or in any way connected with the construction, preservation, occupation and enjoyment of a railroad.” Thereafter, a railroad was constructed and was in continuous operation until about the year 1960. A certified order of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), dated July 6, 1961, indicates that between 1955 and 1959 the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway Co. (subsequently reorganized as the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad Corp.) applied to the ICC for permission to abandon its passenger and freight transportation services. The order also states that the ICC authorized the railroad to abandon permanently all transportation services effective on July 6,1961, and further authorized the railroad to remove, sell, or otherwise dispose of its property, equipment, and facilities.

By the year 1965, the A, E & C had torn up and removed all the rails and wires necessary for and previously used by the A, E & C in operating its line for railroad purposes. In a quitclaim deed dated July 19, 1965, the A, E & C conveyed to the County of Du Page (county) all its interest in land previously granted to it as a right-of-way. The county leased this right-of-way to the Illinois Prairie Path, Inc. (Prairie Path) in an agreement dated December 18, 1973. This agreement was not filed in the recorder’s office of Du Page County. In this agreement the Prairie Path agreed to establish and maintain the right-of-way as a prairie path or nature trail between May 1,1973, and April 30,1983. The Prairie Path acknowledged that the Commonwealth Edison Company, the Illinois Bell Telephone Company, the Northern Illinois Gas Company and the Du Page County Highway Department also had easement rights in the subject property.

The plaintiffs, in support of their motion for summary judgment, filed affidavits by Leo Poss, one of the plaintiffs herein. In the affidavits, Poss stated that for more than 25 years he had resided on a farm immediately west of the land conveyed to the railroad as a right-of-way; that his daily observations had revealed that, ever since the railroad removed its rails, wires and other items formerly used in the operation of the railroad from the land, the premises have been unimproved and unoccupied; that the right-of-way became practically impenetrable as a result of being overgrown with small trees and underbrush; that for the past 10 years the right-of-way has not been used by any person or entity, except Commonwealth Edison Co., which bulldozed part of the right-of-way to obtain access to its power lines; and that there has never been a path or anything resembling a nature trail through or upon the right-of-way. Plaintiffs also allege that they have paid all real estate taxes levied against part of the subject property.

In opposition to the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the county introduced an affidavit of Thomas Merrion, the right-of-way agent and an employee of the highway department of Du Page County. Merrion stated that he had custody and charge of the official records and documents of the department pertaining to the subject railroad right-of-way. He also stated that on July 19, 1965, the county purchased from the railroad for the sum of $500,000 that portion of the railroad’s right-of-way which extended through Du Page County, including the property which is the subject of the present litigation; that the county and the Prairie Path negotiated and discussed alternative uses for the railroad right-of-way as early as July of 1965; that the county reached a preliminary agreement with the Prairie Path on May 10, 1966, to allow the Prairie Path to use the railroad’s former right-of-way, including the subject property; and that from 1966 until 1978 the Prairie Path had operated an outdoor recreational nature trail on the former right-of-way, including the subject property, pursuanttxra”lease executed by the county and the Prairie Path. However, the county in other documents filed in this case admitted that the “plaintiff correctly alleged that the property which is the subject of this suit is not on the ‘Prairie Path’.” The A, E & C right-of-way forked at a point east of the subject property. The Prairie Path follows the south branch, whereas plaintiff’s property is located on the north branch, known as the Batavia Branch. However, the county still maintains that the A, E & C conveyed its entire right-of-way, including plaintiffs’ property to the county.

The Prairie Path, in opposition to plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, submitted an affidavit of its president, Paul Mooring. Mooring stated that members of his organization and the public in general have used the former railroad right-of-way, described by the plaintiffs, as a nature trail as is evidenced by certain nature walks conducted in 1971. He also stated that the Prairie Path has a contractual agreement or lease with the county whereby the Prairie Path is authorized to develop and use from 1973-to -1983 the subject right-of-way as a prairie path or nature trail and as part of its nature trail system; that the Prairie Path has taken affirmative steps to develop a nature trail on the subject portion of the railroad’s former right-of-way; and that the right-of-way in question has been used as a nature trail during the last 10 years.

On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that the county is not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. The plaintiffs allege that since the right-of-way was abandoned, they are entitled to reclaim its use since an easement in gross cannot be assigned, being personal in nature. They claim that even if the easement is a commercial easement, and could be assigned, that it must still be used for railroad purposes.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
428 N.E.2d 671, 101 Ill. App. 3d 553, 57 Ill. Dec. 121, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schnabel-v-county-of-du-page-illappct-1981.