When Block K was initially platted in plat P–67E, the northern boundary of the lots appeared to terminate in the north at a steep, 50–70 foot bluff, with tidal mud flats below. Fink purchased Lots 2A and 3A in 1991, and Wilke acquired Lot 5A in 2000 and Lot 4A in 2012. Plat P–424 is the current and official plat of the subdivision, and it is incorporated by reference into the deeds owned by Fink and Wilke. The re-plat altered the internal boundary lines slightly, but it did not change the northernmost boundary. In 1957 the owners of Lots 1–6 re-platted the lots as Lots 1A–6A in plat P–424. The lots changed hands a number of times over the years. This deed was recorded on September 21, 1953. In September 1952 Union Bank conveyed via warranty deeds several lots in Block K, including Lots 2–5, the lots currently owned by Fink and Wilke. Each of the plats appears to indicate that the lots' northern boundary is at the top of the bluff face. This subdivision essentially contains the land conveyed by Ary to Marston in 1943 and later from Marston to Union Bank in 1946. Plat P–67E created a subdivision known as Block K, Turnagain Heights Subdivision. Plat P–67E was created in May 1952 and recorded in June of that year. A “Master Plan” for Turnagain Heights was created in April 1949. Plat P–67B was created in May 1948 and recorded in May 1952. Plat P–67, recorded in July 1947, was a topography of the land owned by Ary and Marston. Over the years several plats of the area were created and recorded. The ownership of the parcel described in the Beachfront Deed is at issue in this case. In June 1949 Ary conveyed to Marston via quitclaim deed the “Beachfront Deed,” described as “ll my right, title and interest to the Beach and Waterfront lying in front of the 550 feet originally sold to Marston out of the west side waterfront of the Lynn Ary Homestead and adjoining the Simonson Homestead.” Marston recorded the Beachfront Deed in 1954, and he never conveyed the property to Union Bank. In September 1946 Marston conveyed two deeds to Union Bank, one of which was a warranty deed conveying to Union Bank almost all of the 1943 conveyance from Ary to Marston except for a fifty foot strip of land on the western edge of the parcel. On its face, this conveyance does not appear to extend to the pre-earthquake mean high-tide line the northern boundary appears to terminate at the top of a 50–70 foot bluff face, short of the mean high-tide line. In 1943 Lynn Ary conveyed to Marvin Marston by warranty deed a piece of property in what is now the Turnagain area of Anchorage. The superior court concluded that the lot owners failed to show a substantial interest in the disputed parcel and that, even if the lot owners did have a substantial interest, the statute of limitations barred their claim. The Municipality argued that the lot owners did not have a substantial interest in the disputed property and that the statute of limitations barred the lot owners' claim. The parties do not dispute that the Municipality of Anchorage owns the new land between the pre-earthquake mean high-tide line and the post-earthquake mean high-tide line. Despite the plats of the subdivision apparently indicating that their lots' northern boundary is at the top of the pre-earthquake bluff face, the lot owners alleged that their property actually extends north to the pre-earthquake mean high-tide line. This caused the existing land between the preearthquake bluff face and the pre-earthquake mean high-tide line to become developable and created new land between the pre-earthquake mean high-tide line and the post-earthquake mean high-tide line. Appellants Matthew Fink and Diane Wilke (the lot owners) currently own four of the six lots at issue in this case.ĭuring the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, the bluff face flattened out and slid northward into Knik Arm. The bluff itself was just south of the mean high-tide line 2 of Knik Arm the land between the northern boundary of the lots and the mean high-tide line was not developable land. As initially platted the northern subdivision boundary stopped just south of a 50–70 foot bluff. The property was initially subdivided in May 1952 as part of Block K, Turnagain Heights Subdivision. The land is in the shape of a parallelogram its long sides run in a northeasterly direction up Knik Arm and its short sides run north-south. The dispute in this case concerns a narrow strip of land in the Turnagain area of Anchorage immediately west of Lyn Ary Park and bordering Knik Arm. Falsey, Municipal Attorney, Anchorage, for Appellee. Owens, Assistant Municipal Attorney, and William D. Gorski, Hughes Gorski Seedorf Odsen & Tervooren, LLC, Anchorage, Robert P. Stehle, The Law Office of Michael Stehle, PC, Anchorage, for Appellants. S–15614 Decided: September 16, 2016īefore: Stowers, Chief Justice, Fabe, Winfree, and Bolger, Justices. Matthew Fink and Diane Wilke, Appellants, v.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |