Talbot's v. Cessnun Enterprises

ERWIN, Justice. OPINION This controversy centers upon an alleged easement across a tidelands parcel located in the City of Ketchikan. The original title was passed to the United States by the Treaty of Cession (1867). 1 In 1957, the United States passed title to the tidelands to the Territory of Alaska under the Tidelands Act. 2 While the federal government retained certain rights (navigational servitudes, eminent domain rights, etc.) the title granted to the Territory can only be described as a fee simple. The Act contained a restriction on alienation to the effect that if the land was to be disposed of the occupants thereof were to be given preference rights (undefined in the Act). 3 In 1963, in pursuance of the Tidelands Act and of Art. III, ch. 169, SLA 1959, as amended (AS 38.05.300-38.05.347), the State of Alaska granted title to the tidelands here contested to the City of Ketchikan, with the same restraint on alienation noted above (AS 38.05.320). The City of Ketchikan instituted its tidelands Disposition procedure by accepting applications for tidelands from January 2, 1964, until December 31, 1965. An integral part of this procedure was the adoption of the Tidelands Subdivision Plat which, pursuant to Ketchikan Ordinance 651, was approved after public hearings by the Planning Commission on February 11, 1964, and recorded February 28, 1964, as Plat No. 107, and on October 20, 1965, as Plat No. 107-C. This plat shows an easement appurtenant to the land then occupied by Alaska Packers Association, crossing the land occupied by Talbot's, Inc.