Court Preserves Public Access to Newport’s Historic Waterfront

Newport Realty, Inc. v. Lynch, 878 A.2d 1021 (R.I. 2005).

Benjamin N. Spruill, 3L, Roger Williams School of Law

The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently ruled that the public can access the Newport Harbor waterfront via a commercial wharf despite a private landowner’s challenge. The court found that a 1921 land transfer reserved several streets for public use, preserving the public’s right to access.

Background
In 1990, Newport Realty sought to establish ownership of certain streets traditionally open to the public in Newport, Rhode Island. The streets, North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf, are both located on “the Wharf,” an artificial land structure extending into the water which has historically provided the public with access to Newport Harbor. The streets are valuable to private landowners because they service commercial interests located on the Wharf and the Town of Newport, which has an interest in maintaining public access to the waterfront. Newport Realty’s ownership of North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf is dependent upon a somewhat awkward history of land conveyances.

In 1919 Narragansett Bay Realty Company (“Narragansett”) gained ownership of the Wharf, including rights to all access roads located on the Wharf. However, in 1921 the financially troubled Narragansett conveyed the Wharf to a board of trustees who subdivided the land.

Recorded as the First Ebbs Plat, the parcels in the subdivided Wharf were conveyed to various parties with proceeds going to Narragansett’s creditors. Subsequent conveyances by the trustees in 1923 and 1924 were recorded as the Second and Third Ebbs Plat, respectively; a final sale in 1925 completed the work of the Trustees. Since 1925, parcels on the Wharf have been conveyed to different owners, until 1986, when Newport Realty established common ownership of all but one of the Wharf’s lots.

Central to Newport Realty’s ownership claim of North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf was whether the public gained an interest in the two streets after the Wharf was originally subdivided in the First Ebbs Plat from a single parcel of land. Interpreting the law of incipient dedication, the Rhode Island Supreme Court found for the State of Rhode Island when it held that the streets were reserved for public use.

Incipient Dedication
The Rhode Island Supreme Court determined, under the doctrine of incipient dedication, that the rights of way on North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf belonged to the City of Newport. For the public to receive ownership of land by incipient dedication, the law requires that the landowner intend to convey ownership to the public and the public accepts that conveyance. In the case of subdivided land, the question of “whether the streets on the plat are open to the public depends on the owner’s intent at the time the plat is recorded and the lots are sold.”1 In determining the Trustees’ intent in 1921, the court relied on precedent establishing that when an owner sells lots referenced in a recorded plan that has clearly delineated public streets, it is a clear indication of an owner’s intent to reserve the delineated streets for public use.

Because the First Ebbs Plat was clear in its delineation of North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf streets, the court rejected Newport Realty’s reliance on the Second and Third Ebbs Plat to negate the original conveyance, and found the Trustees’ actions satisfied the intent requirement of incipient dedication.

Next, the court found the second element of incipient dedication, public acceptance of the disputed streets, satisfied. Public acceptance is established when the municipality formally accepts the dedication or if the public physically uses the land.2 Aside from a stipulation by both Newport Realty and the State that the public has used North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf for the past several decades, the court found that the City of Newport formally accepted the dedication.

Newport’s treatment of the disputed streets has been consistent with town ownership of roadways and other public lands. The court found that Newport officially treated North Commercial Wharf and Scott’s Wharf as public rights of way by not taxing the portion of the Wharf attributable to the streets and recognizing the North Commercial Wharf as a public street by posting official town signs, performing maintenance and upkeep, and extending the fire department’s jurisdiction over the streets.

Conclusion
The Rhode Island Supreme Court held that the Trustees of the Wharf intended to dedicate the streets on the Wharf for public use and preserved public access to the Newport Waterfront. Further, the court ruled that where the public interest is at stake, the State has the right to pursue legal action on behalf of the public, even in seemingly local matters.

Endnotes
1. Newport Realty, Inc. v. Lynch, 878 A.2d 1021, 1033 (R.I. 2005).
2. Id. at 1034.