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2008 Michigan Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2008)

handle is hein.sag/sagmi0019 and id is 1 raw text is: The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN MIKE COX, ATTORNEY GENERAL PLATS: The scope of permissible public uses of platted roads ending at the shore of a lake DEDICATIONS: CONST 1963, ART 3, § 7: REAL PROPERTY: While the Legislature has the authority to modify the law, any legislative modification of the judicially established rules of property law that have shaped the rights and expectations of property owners regarding the meaning of public use in the context of platted roads ending at the shore of a lake has the potential to impact existing property rights and would be subject to the constitutional protections against the taking of property without due process and just compensation. Opinion No. 7211 January 30, 2008 Honorable John Stakoe State Representative The Capitol Lansing, MI 48909 You have asked whether the Legislature has the power to revisit determinations made by the Michigan Court of Appeals in court cases concerning the scope of permissible public uses of roads that end at the shore of a lake in platted subdivisions. The specific cases underlying your question are Jacobs v Lyon Twp (Jacobs 1), 181 Mich App 386, 391; 448 NW2d 861 (1989), Jacobs v Lyon Twp (After Rem) (Jacobs II), 199 Mich App 667; 502 NW2d 382 (1993), and Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n v Gerrish Twp, 255 Mich App 83; 662 NW2d 387 (2003), all of which involved evidentiary and legal determinations regarding the scope of permissible uses at particular road ends on Higgins Lake. Before addressing your question, some background information about plats and the law regarding the dedication of land in plats for public use is helpful. In the two Jacobs cases and the Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n case, the property at issue fronted on Higgins Lake and had been subdivided and platted, or mapped, by the proprietors of the property in accordance with state statutes that allowed the creation of such plats. Proprietor is the term used to describe the owner of the lands that are subdivided by a plat. See, e.g., the Land Division Act, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.101 et seq, at section 102(o), MCL 560.102(o). In addition to creating lots, the proprietors of the plats involved in these cases designated roads on the plats to provide access to the lots and to the shore of Higgins Lake. The roads ran approximately perpendicular to the shore of Higgins Lake and ended there. Jacobs /, 181 Mich at 387; Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n, 255 Mich App at 88. As part of the platting process, the proprietors set forth words of dedication on the plats, thereby defining who could use certain common areas on the plats, such as roads, alleys, and parks, and how those lands could be used. As to the plats involved in the Jacobs / and Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n cases, the words of dedication simply indicated that the roads in the plats were for public use. Jacobs I, 181 Mich at 389; Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n, 255 Mich App at 89. A dedication of land in a plat for public use not only describes who may use the land and how it may be used but also serves as an offer of a gift of that land for public use. Wayne County v Miller, 31 Mich 447, 448-449 (1875). Under the laws that governed the creation of plats at the time the plats in the Jacobs I and Higgins Lake Property Owners Ass'n cases were recorded, lands dedicated by plats were deemed to be held in trust by the local unit of government having jurisdiction over that land. The Plat Act, 1839 PA 91, as amended by 1887 PA 309, stated:

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