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755 N.W.2d 1, *1; 2008 Minn. LEXIS 417. *9 <br />Page 3 or 6 <br />HAIM Persons in possession of unopened platted streets will, until the tine arrives when such streets are required for actual <br />public use, be presumed to hold subject to the permanent right of the public. <br />Governments > Public improvements > Bridges & Roads <br />Real Property Law > .„ > Transfer Not By Deed > Dedication > General Overview <br />HNI1 In Minnesota, one purchasing a lot within a plat may rely upon the dedication of streets and alleys shown therein, <br />and possesses the right to use the same. Each purchaser of a lot is entitled to the benefit of the plat as it appears when he <br />purchases it, If there are public streets, they inure to his benefit, <br />Syllabus <br />1, The City of Duluth had the authority to issue a permit providing for the construction of private improvements on a platted <br />but undeveloped street. <br />2. The purchaser of a lot within a plat is entitled to use streets designated an the plat, <br />Counsel: Bradley J. Gunn, Malkerson. Gilliland & Martin, Minneapolis. Minnesota, for appellant. <br />Stephanie Ann Ball, Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith & Frederick, Duluth, Minnesota. for respondent. <br />M. Alison Luttennan, Deputy City Attorney, Duluth, Minnesota. for respondent. <br />Judges: Anderson, G. Barry, J. C.J. MAGNUSON. C.J., not having been a member of this court at the time of the argument <br />and submission, took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. <br />Opinion by: ANDERSON, G. Barry <br />Opinion <br />I*2] ANDERSON. G. Barry, Justice. <br />Appellant Todd Glass, pursuant to a permit issued by the City of Duluth. added gravel to a platted but undeveloped street <br />adjoining his property. The gravel extended onto parts of the street where his neighbors, respondents Michael and Deborah <br />Bolen and Joseph Zajac, own the underlying fee. The Bolens brought an action against Glass, alleging trespass and seeking <br />declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court added Zajac as a plaintiff [*2] and ruled against Glass, ordering him <br />to restore the street to its prior condition. The court of appeals affirmed the district court but modified the judgment to <br />require Glass to restore only those parts of the street where he is not the underlying fee holder. We reverse. <br />Michael and Deborah Bolen, Joseph Zajac, and Todd Glass own lots adjoining 40th Street in the Park Point neighborhood <br />of Duluth. In 1902, the Duluth Common Council accepted a plat of the Oatka Beach Addition that identified 40th Street <br />as Interiachen Street. The plat states that the owners of the property "dedicate to the public use the streets and avenues <br />herein shown." The Oatka Beach Addition plat indicates that Interlachen Street runs northeast -southwest between Lake <br />Avenue and Minnesota Avenue. I Lake Avenue runs along Lake Superior. and Minnesota Avenue runs along Superior Bay. <br />40th Street, which separates Blocks 1 and 2 of the Oatka Beach Addition, is 30 feet wide, two lots long, and slopes upward <br />away from Minnesota Avenue. A street sign designates the intersection of 40th Street and Minnesota Avenue, hut the City <br />does not maintain any part al' 40th ['3l Street. Former Duluth city engineer Michael Meso testified at trial that 40th Street <br />is "a public right-of-way that we likely would not develop as a public street." Likewise. the district court found that "the <br />The record suggests that Lake Avenue is an undeveloped street. <br />MARTIN NOROER <br />