Also known as: dedicate · dedicated · public dedication
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
2 senses
An appropriation of land or an easement by a private owner to public use. The appropriation is completed by an offer manifesting the owner's intent and acceptance by the public.
An appropriation of land or an easement by a private owner to public use. The appropriation is completed by an offer manifesting the owner's intent and acceptance by the public.
Dominion Capital sought permits to enlarge its retail complex. The city conditioned approval on dedication of a strip for a bike path and greenway. The city could not show that the required dedication matched the traffic impact from the expansion in nature and extent.
Deborah Dunn applied to rebuild her oceanfront home. The coastal commission required dedication of a public access easement across the property. The condition lacked an essential connection to any impact caused by the rebuild itself.
The act of pledging or committing corporate assets to the repayment of indebtedness.
Dawson Steel's board resolved to dedicate certain equipment and inventory to repayment of a new bank loan. No shareholder vote was required because the transaction fell within ordinary board authority to encumber assets.
1 common questions
The act of pledging or committing corporate assets to the repayment of indebtedness.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
The Nollans own a beachfront lot in Ventura County, California. A concrete seawall approximately eight feet high separates the beach portion of their property from the rest of the lot. The historic mean high tide line determines the lot's oceanside boundary. The Nollans originally leased their property with an option to buy, and the building on the lot was a small bungalow totaling 504 square feet. The Nollans' option to purchase was conditioned on their promise to demolish the bungalow and replace it. On February 25, 1982, they submitted a permit application to the California Coastal Commission proposing to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a three-bedroom house. The Commission informed them that the permit would be granted subject to the condition that they allow the public an easement to pass across a portion of their property bounded by the mean high tide line and their seawall. On June 3, 1982, the Nollans filed a petition for writ of administrative mandamus in the Ventura County Superior Court to invalidate the access condition. The court remanded the case to the Commission for a full evidentiary hearing. After the hearing, the Commission reaffirmed the condition. The Superior Court ruled in favor of the Nollans on statutory grounds and directed that the permit condition be struck. While the Commission's appeal to the California Court of Appeal was pending, the Nollans tore down the bungalow, built the new house, and bought the property. The Court of Appeal reversed the Superior Court. The Nollans appealed to this Court, raising only the constitutional question.
View caseA developer recorded a subdivision plat that expressly dedicated interior streets and a park to public use. The municipality accepted by installing utilities and assuming maintenance. The dedication created public easements without a deed to any specific grantee.
Owners of shoreline lots allowed public foot traffic across a path for many years. The local government began maintaining the path and posting signs. Courts treated the long use plus government acts as an accepted implied dedication.
A plat designated five-foot strips along lot lines as utility easements and dedicated them to the public. After lots sold and utilities were installed, the city treated the strips as accepted dedications. No separate conveyance was required.
3 common questions
An owner must manifest an intent to dedicate through words or conduct, and the public must accept the dedication. Acceptance may be shown by formal resolution or by the public authority assuming maintenance of the area.
No. Dedication may be express or implied from conduct, and the statute of frauds does not apply. Offers commonly appear in subdivision plats that designate areas for streets or parks.
The condition must satisfy both a nexus requirement linking the dedication to the development's impact and a rough-proportionality requirement. The government bears the burden of demonstrating that the exaction is roughly proportional in nature and extent to the projected impact.
Corporate dedication pledges assets to secure debt repayment and requires no public acceptance. Property dedication transfers an interest to public use and requires both offer and acceptance.
…schools, hospitals, theatres, hotels, and railroad stations. (b) Any street, road, bridge, or other public passageway, dedicated to public use or habitually used by the public. (c) Any track, roadbed, right of way, pipe, conduit, wire, or other facility, used in the service of the public by any municipal corporation…