Skates v. Bryant

863 So. 2d 907, 2003 Miss. LEXIS 693, 2003 WL 22725284
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 20, 2003
DocketNo. 2000-CT-00835-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 863 So. 2d 907 (Skates v. Bryant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Skates v. Bryant, 863 So. 2d 907, 2003 Miss. LEXIS 693, 2003 WL 22725284 (Mich. 2003).

Opinions

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

WALLER, Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Jeffery and Sheree Bryant filed a petition in the Adams County Chancery Court against Ray Skates to determine whether Quasar Drive, located in Natchez, was a private road that entitled them to its exclusive use or a public road to be used by Skates and the general public. The chancellor held that the right of ownership was vested exclusively in the Bryants. Additionally, the chancellor enjoined Skates from the use of Quasar Drive unless he was given permission to do so by the Bryants. On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that there was insufficient evidence for the chancellor to determine that a common law dedication of the road had occurred. Skates v. Bryant, 2000-CA-00835-COA (Miss.Ct.App. Nov. 6, 2001). Furthermore, the Court of Appeals held that there was sufficient evidence to support the chancellor’s conclusion that the use was permissive, not hostile, and that the road was private. Therefore, the Court of Appeals found that the chancellor did not abuse his discretion and affirmed his judgment. Skates filed his petition for writ of certiorari claiming that the subject road should be considered a public road (1) under the common law doctrine of dedication as a result of the previous owner subdividing his land, and (2) under the doctrine of “user” as a result of hostile use for more than 10 years. We granted Skates’s petition and now affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Jeffery and Sheree Bryant own property in Natchez adjoining U.S. Highway 61. A road or drive known as Quasar Drive is located on the east side of the property. The Bryants received this land by conveyances from George Bryant, Jeffery’s father, who named the road in honor [909]*909of Quasar televisions, which he sold. Skates is the owner of the land located immediately to the south of the Bryants’ property. Originally, Skates’s property was also owned by George Bryant, who developed a trailer park on this property sometime in the 1960s. George created Quasar Drive as a means of ingress and egress to this property. George conveyed this property to James McManus in 1972, who continued to operate the trailer park for a period of time. After McManus’s death in 1984, Skates purchased the property from McManus’s wife. Evidence was presented that for at least ten years, while the trailer park was in existence, Quasar Drive was used by residents of the park and others. Eventually, the trailer park ceased to exist. Even after Skates had obtained ownership of the property, there was an approximately two year period in which Quasar Drive had become overgrown with kudzu and was impassable. Skates’s property was also accessible by other roads besides Quasar Drive.

¶3. At some point Skates placed some warehouses on his property, and the Bryants constructed a house alongside Quasar Drive. The Bryants contend that since Skates had placed warehouses on his land the flow of traffic had increased on Quasar Drive, which frustrated their use and enjoyment of the land. On July 17, 1997, Jeffery Bryant mailed a letter to Skates addressing the increase in traffic on Quasar Drive. The letter informed Skates that Quasar Drive was 100 percent on private property and as of July 15, 1997, it would only be used as a private drive to his residence. Nevertheless, Skates and those that utilized the warehouses on his property continued to use the road. Additionally, Skates had bulldozed a portion of the pavement of Quasar Drive and replaced it with gravel. It was due to the continued commercial use of the road that this matter went to trial.

¶ 4. At trial, Skates attempted to establish that the road was a public road and that he and the general public were entitled to use the road. Alternatively, Skates claimed adverse possession or prescriptive easement. The chancellor personally viewed the property in question before trial. A review of the deed between George Bryant and McManus does not show Quasar Drive being conveyed in the legal description. The chancellor found that Skates’s use of the road was not exclusive or open and notorious, Skates’s use of the road was permissive, and the road was not public. As a result, the chancellor held that the right of ownership was vested exclusively in the Bryants. Additionally, the chancellor enjoined Skates from the use of Quasar Drive unless he was given permission to do so by the Bryants.

¶ 5. On direct appeal, the Court of Appeals held that there was insufficient evidence for the chancellor to determine that a common law dedication of the road had occurred. It further held that there was sufficient evidence to support the chancellor’s conclusion that the use was permissive, not hostile, and the road was private. Therefore, it found that the chancery court did not abuse its discretion and affirmed its decision.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

¶ 6. We will not disturb the factual findings of a chancellor unless the findings are manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous. Nettleton Church of Christ v. Conwill, 707 So.2d 1075, 1076 (Miss.1997). This same standard is applied even when conflicting evidence has been presented by the parties. See Harvey v. Meador, 459 So.2d 288, 293 (Miss.1984). In the case at bar, there was conflicting evidence regarding whether Quasar Drive had become a public [910]*910road under the theory of common law dedication. There was also conflicting evidence regarding whether Skates’s use of the subject road was permissive or hostile.

I. COMMON LAW DEDICATION.

¶ 7. A street will become a public street under common law dedication when the survey and sale of lots makes reference to the streets. “If the owner of urban property has laid it off into lots intersected by streets, and sells the same with reference thereto, or with reference to a map or plat dividing it into squares, streets and alleys, such action will amount to a dedication of the streets and alleys to the public.” Luter v. Crawford, 230 Miss. 81, 88, 92 So.2d 348, 351-52 (1957).

¶ 8. Skates claims that the Court of Appeals’ decision here is in conflict with our decision in Nettleton Church of Christ, and other cases. However, this case is distinguishable from Nettleton (and related cases) in that the land in the present case was not sold according to a subdivided plat or map. The back lot which was initially sold by George Bryant to McManus, and later to Skates, was one large lot which was accessed by Quasar Drive. The Court of Appeals considered the question as follows:

Although some of the evidence was disputed, there was evidence in the case at bar which showed that prior to the conveyance from George Bryant to Mc-Manus, George had a map prepared by engineer Richard Logan. The map showed individual lots owned by George, along with the one being purchased by McManus, as well as roadways, including the road called Quasar Drive. In this deed, there was a reference made to the map or plat; however, as asserted by the Bryants, the deed stated that the reference is made for the purposes of assisting in the description. Quasar Drive was not contained in the legal description.
The testimony given only reflected that George Bryant may have initially intended to establish a subdivision on the lot currently owned by Skates; however, there is no evidence of a more conclusive nature to reflect that it had been formalized. See Magnolia Memorial Gardens, Inc. v. Denton, 317 So.2d 38, 42 (Miss.1975) (Mere plans

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
863 So. 2d 907, 2003 Miss. LEXIS 693, 2003 WL 22725284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/skates-v-bryant-miss-2003.