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HOOK 91 FACE . -7 M PINE TREE PARK - (RIGHT-OF-WAY ENCROACHMENT) - JANE A. GRAVES, AND OTHERS, VS. STATE OF FLORIDA. AND OTHERS The Board reviewed the following memo dated February 24, 1994: TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Terrence P. O'Brien, Assistant County Attorney DATE: February 24, 1994 SUBJECT: JANE A. GRAVES, AND OTHERS, VS. STATE OF FLORIDA, AND OTHERS Indian River County is a named defendant in the subject law suit. A copy of the complaint is attached for reference. This is an action in ejectment and for damages based upon Plaintiffs' reliance on a plat. Pine Tree Park was platted in June of 1953 by Vero Beach Associates, Inc. The plat showed a 60 foot road right-of-way adjacent .to the subdivision, the road being Southern Boulevard (lateral B-4 County Road) now 4th Street. This road was at one time a state road and the property abutting this road was subject to a Murphy deed reservation (100 feet on each side of centerline) . The road was later turned over to the County including the Murphy deed reservation. This reservation was apparently overlooked by the engineers who platted the subdivision and by subsequent title companies who insured the properties. Over the years a number of houses have been built on the platted lots and unknowingly have encroached into the County right-of-way. These facts recently came to light when one of the Plaintiffs, Jane A. Graves, tried to sell an undeveloped lot. The staff was asked to agree to an abandonment of these property rights. It was explained by County staff that thit, road is a collector road and that the 100 feet will be needed in the future for expansion; therefore, the statutory prerequisites for abandonment did not exist. The owners of property under the above circumstances are in an unfortunate position; however, 4th Street is a collector road and on the thoroughfare plan. It will be widened eventually and the right-of-way is not surplus. The owners have title insurance but apparently it is inadequate to make them whole. In view of the forgoing, a number of affected landowners have filed an action against the County to gain title to this right-of-way property. Staff is in the process of filing several motions which go to the Procedural aspects of the filing. Assistant County Attorney Terry O'Brien gave a brief history of how the State acquired numerous tracts of land in foreclosure actions during the 1930s. The State subsequently sold many of the parcels, but where parcels were located along a state road right- of-way, 100 feet on each side of the center line was reserved for future use, known as a Murphy Deed reservation. The subject area along 4th Street is an example of instances where roads were transferred to the County, but the County was. not aware of the 46