Humphrey v. Krutz

Citations

• 77 Wash. 152
• 137 P. 806
• 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1910

Syllabus

<p>Dedication — By Parol — What Constitutes. There is a parol dedication of an alley where the owner of a block divided it by fencing off each side, leaving an alley uninelosed connecting two public streets, and then sold all the property abutting on both sides of the alley, which was continuously used with his consent and approval for ten years.</p> <p>Same — Dedication—By Parol Proof. A parol dedication rests in intention and may be proven by parol.</p> <p>Municipal Corporations— Alleys — Establishment — Prescription. An open, continuous, adverse user by the public for a period of twenty years or more, of an alley fenced off by the owner through a block connecting two public streets, makes the same a public alley by prescription.</p> <p>Same — Alleys — Obstruction — Rights of Abutters. Abutting owners have such an interest in an alley that they may maintain an action to enjoin its threatened obstruction.</p> <p>Same — Alleys — Threatened Obstruction — Actions — Issues. Where an answer in an action to enjoin the obstruction of an alley admits that defendants claim title in fee simple and intend to exclude the plaintiffs therefrom, the testimony of a defendant who had not forbidden its public use does not change the issues or show that its obstruction was not threatened.</p> <p>Dedication — Alleys — Estoppel — Payment of Taxes. The payment of taxes and assessments upon a strip of land dedicated as a public alley does not estop the city or abutters from asserting its public character.</p> <p>Quieting Title — Easements—Parties—Abutters. Abutting owners may maintain an action to quiet title to an easement in an alley and to the fee which they hold subject to the easement.</p> <p>Easements — Nature. An easement, although an Incorporeal right, is an interest in land.</p>