115 Wash. App. 126 | Wash. Ct. App. | 2003
When a deed grants property title in fee to one party but reserves mineral rights to another party, the title to the mineral rights is severed from the title to the surface rights. McCoy v. Lowrie, 42 Wn.2d 24, 26, 253 P.2d 415 (1953). Robert Michael Harrison obtained by quitclaim deed all “dolomite and limestone and silica and marble rock” located “in, under and upon” 80 acres of land near
On appeal, the Crains contend Mr. Harrison’s mineral rights are separate and distinct from any surface rights to the subject property. They argue that there is no precedent in Washington law for the trial court’s finding of a limited surface estate. Because we find that Mr. Harrison’s mineral rights were severed from the fee estate of the surface property, we reverse the superior court and reinstate the decision of the hearing examiner.
Facts
In April 1998, Mr. Harrison and Robert Martin Harrison obtained by quitclaim deed a mineral estate in 80 acres of land described as follows:
All dolomite and limestone and silica and marble rock suitable for mining and crushing for roof chips, terrazzo, stucco and related products located in, under and upon the following described lands in Stevens County, Washington:
The El/2 of the SW1/4 of Section 15, Township 32 North, Range 40 East, W.M.
TOGETHER with the right of ingress and egress for the purposes of mining and removing same.
CP at 12.
In June 2000, the county passed resolution 67-2000 “amending the short platting ordinance as amended regarding ownership interests and eliminating inconsistencies with Title 6.” CP at 139. Rather than require on the short plat application the signature of all parties having any interest in the land, resolution 67-2000 required the signature of “all parties having any ownership interest in the lands subdivided.” CP at 145 (emphasis added). After this amendment, the county invited the Crains to again apply for the short plat, and approved the second application in January 2001 without Mr. Harrison’s signature. On appeal of this decision, the county hearing examiner affirmed the short plat approval.
Mr. Harrison then filed a land use petition in superior court seeking judicial review of the hearing examiner’s decision. Following a hearing and review of the record, the trial court reversed the hearing examiner. The court found that the language in the quitclaim deed to Mr. Harrison was
Discussion
In reversing the decision of the hearing examiner, the superior court found that because the deed of mineral rights specified particular minerals that exist at the surface as well as in the subsurface of the land, the mineral rights constitute both a mineral estate and a limited surface estate. The Crains contend the superior court’s review and decision did not comply with the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), chapter 36.70C RCW.
Mr. Harrison petitioned for review of the hearing examiner’s land use decision under LUPA, asking the superior court to exercise appellate jurisdiction. To establish a need for relief from a land use decision, the petitioner must meet at least one of the following six standards:
(a) The body or officer that made the land use decision engaged in unlawful procedure or failed to follow a prescribed process, unless the error was harmless;
(b) The land use decision is an erroneous interpretation of the law, after allowing for such deference as is due the construction of a law by a local jurisdiction with expertise;
(c) The land use decision is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the whole record before the court;
(d) The land use decision is a clearly erroneous application of the law to the facts;
(e) The land use decision is outside the authority or jurisdiction of the body or officer making the decision; or
(f) The land use decision violates the constitutional rights of the party seeking relief.
RCW 36.70C.130(1). Mr. Harrison’s petition, while it does not cite specific subsections of RCW 36.70C. 130(1), clearly
Critical to our analysis is an understanding of the respective interests held by Mr. Harrison and the Crains in the land. The Crains purchased their 20 acres by statutory warranty fulfillment deed in 1999. In the usual case, a fee simple estate such as the Crains’ estate includes a claim to mineral rights as well as to all other rights incidental to ownership of the fee estate. Bryant v. Palmer Coking Coal Co., 86 Wn. App. 204, 219, 936 P.2d 1163 (1997). However, when the mineral rights have been reserved or granted to another, the title to the surface and the title to the mineral rights are severed. McCoy, 42 Wn.2d at 26. Possession, or ownership, of the surface becomes separate and distinct from ownership of the mineral rights after severance. Id. In McCoy, the fact that the deed reserved mineral rights “upon or in” the land — implying that such minerals may be found on the surface — did not alter the fact that the mineral estate had been severed from the surface estate. Id. at 25-26. The Crains’ deed indicates that their ownership is subject to various easements as well as to the quitclaim deed reserving the specified minerals “located in, under and upon” the larger 80-acre parcel. Suppl. CP at 110.
When the Crains decided that they might want to divide their 20 acres into four five-acre lots, they had to apply for a short plat pursuant to the terms of the county’s short platting ordinance. RCW 58.17.030, .060. Former Stevens County short platting ordinance 64-1971 (as amended by ordinance 01-1974) required the signature on the short plat application of all parties having any interest in the land to be subdivided. Later, the county passed resolution 67-2000,
No Washington case has determined the extent of the ownership interest in a mineral estate. The trial court concluded that an informal comment in a letter from Washington State Assistant Attorney General James Pharris to the Stevens County prosecuting attorney and language in a Texas case, Slack v. Magee Heirs, 252 S.W.2d 274 (Tex. App. 1952), aff’d, 152 Tex. 427, 258 S.W.2d 797 (1953), indicate that when the specified minerals lie on the surface, they constitute a limited surface estate. This conclusion is without precedent.
In Slack, the Texas Court of Civil Appeals held that the owners of a nonspecific mineral estate did not need to join in a dedication of a right of way through a subdivision because the construction of the right-of-way would not affect the mineral estate. 252 S.W.2d at 278. However, the court noted in dicta that if the mineral involved had been asphalt that was near the surface and required removal of the topsoil, then development on the surface would interfere with the owners of the mineral estate; consequently, the
More commonly, courts in other jurisdictions recognize that holders of mineral rights are entitled to use the surface of the property only to the extent reasonably necessary to remove the minerals, and the owner of the surface must not restrict such reasonable and necessary use. See Schlueter v. Shawnee Operating Co., 141 Misc. 2d 1000, 535 N.Y.S.2d 867, 869 (Sup. Ct. 1988), and cases cited therein; see also Spurlock v. Santa Fe Pac. R.R., 143 Ariz. 469, 694 P.2d 299 (Ct. App. 1984), and cases cited therein. As Assistant Attorney General James Pharris stated in his informal opinion letter to the Stevens County prosecuting attorney, the owner of mineral rights is not affected by the partitioning of the surface land, or presumably by the subdivision of the land. Anderson & Middleton Lumber Co. v. Quinault Indian Nation, 79 Wn. App. 221, 901 P.2d 1060 (1995), aff’d, 130 Wn.2d 862, 929 P.2d 379 (1996). All grantees of the subdivided surface estates will take their property subject to the rights of the owner of the mineral estate. In a subsequent letter, Mr. Pharris declined to comment on the specific facts of Mr. Harrison’s case, but offered as one possible issue “the possibility that your deed involves more than mineral rights and grants some form of surface estate.” CP at 184.
On the basis of the above, we conclude that the superior court erred in finding that the hearing examiner misinterpreted the law or erroneously applied the law to the proved facts. RCW 36.70C.130(l)(b), (c), (d). Consequently, we reverse the judgment of the superior court and reinstate the decision of the hearing examiner affirming the approval of the Crains’ short plat application. Assuming compliance with RAP 18.1, the Crains, as the prevailing parties, are entitled to statutory attorney fees and costs on appeal pursuant to RCW 4.84.080.
Reversed.
Kato, A.C.J., and Kurtz, J., concur.
Review denied at 149 Wn.2d 1031 (2003).
A short plat or short subdivision is a division of land into four or fewer lots. Former ROW 58.17.020(6) (1995).
Information regarding the Crams’ first short plat application and former ordinance 64-1971 is contained in a letter from Mr. Harrison’s attorney to the hearing examiner during the appeal of the approval of the Crains’ second short plat application. The Crains do not dispute these facts and we treat them as verities for the purposes of this appeal.
Because this is a short plat application, the local short plat ordinance applies and is controlling law whenever the general subdivision provisions of chapter 58.17 RCW conflict. RCW 58.17.030, .060. The trial court incorrectly applied only RCW 58.17.165 to the facts of this case. The Crains argue in their reply brief that because their plat certificate does not contain a dedication, RCW 58.17.165 does not apply. Mr. Harrison moves to strike this argument because it was not raised before the hearing examiner or the superior court. We agree, and strike the dedication issue as improperly raised for the first time on appeal. RAP 2.5(a). At any rate, even the Crains recognize that the county short plat ordinance applies and requires the signature of all who have ownership interests in the land.