Pilkington v. Fausone

Opinion

COAKLEY, J.

This quiet title action presents the question of ownership of an alley, 20 feet wide. The court decreed ownership of the westerly 10 feet of the alley in the respondents and the easterly 10 feet in appellant. Appellant contends he owns the entire 20 feet.

The facts are not in dispute and there is no issue of credibility

[351]

of witnesses. The solution lies in the interpretation of documentary evidence, chiefly deeds, and in applicable statutes. Accordingly, the question is one of law, which, as an appellate court, we must resolve independently of the trial court’s determination.

(Parsons

v.

Bristol Development Co.,

62 Cal.2d 861, 865 [44 Cal.Rptr. 767, 402 P.2d 839].)

The alley was dedicated to public use in 1906 when the Fresno County Board of Supervisors accepted a subdivision map, and the same was recorded, showing the alley as a public way. Fee title was not conveyed to the county. It, therefore, acquired only an easement for public use. The easement was officially abandoned in 1966. When a public easement in a street or alley is officially abandoned, title reverts to the owner or owners of the underlying fee. (Sts. & Hwy. Code, § § 960, 960.5.)

The alley which runs in a north-south direction is bounded on the west by lots 10 to 15, and on the east by parcel 2. As shown on the subdivision map, lots 10 to 15 run to the western boundary of the alley, but do not include any part of the alley, while parcel 2 includes all of the alley, the western boundary of parcel 2 and the eastern boundary of lots 10 to 15 being a common boundary. Lots 10 to 15 and parcel 2, respectively, face on and about public streets.

In 1904, Elizabeth Pickett became the sole owner of lots 10 to 15 and of parcel 2 through a decree of distribution in her deceased husband’s estate. The decree describes the lots by subdivision numbers and parcel 2 by metes and bounds, the western boundary of parcel 2 being described as “[t]he