Also known as: dedicate · dedicated · public dedication
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see 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.
The act of pledging or committing corporate assets to the repayment of indebtedness.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A 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.
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…