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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

No. 1380 September Term, 2010 ______________________________________ ANNAPOLIS ROADS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, ET AL. v. THOMAS C. LINDSAY, SR., ET AL. ______________________________________ Matricciani, Watts, Eyler, James R. (Retired, Specially Assigned) JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by Watts, J. ______________________________________ Filed: June 4, 2012

This appeal involves conflicting claims of ownership over a ten-foot strip of land (the "Strip")1 located between Lots 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the Annapolis Roads subdivision located in Annapolis, Maryland. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of Thomas C. Lindsay, Sr. and The Thomas C. Lindsay, Sr. Revocable Trust (the "Lindsay Trust"), appellees, and against the Annapolis Roads Property Owners Association ("ARPOA"), Stanley and Barbara Samorajczyk, and Margaret Talbot, appellants.2 The circuit court issued two declaratory judgments, both of which are at issue in this appeal. In the first Declaratory Judgment, the circuit court declared that ARPOA holds no right, title, or interest in the Strip "binding" upon Lots 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the Annapolis Roads subdivision. In the second Declaratory Judgment, the circuit court declared that the Lindsay Trust holds all right, title and interest in the Strip "binding" upon Lots 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the Annapolis Roads subdivision, "subject, however, to an easement appurtenant to Lot No. 18, [owned by the Samorajczyks] . . . to use the 152' Right of Way for ingress and egress to Carrollton Road."3

The circuit court described the Strip as being approximately 10 feet wide and 116.6 feet long, beginning at Carrollton Road and running between Lots 19 and 20 for the first 100 feet of its length. The remaining 15 feet of the Strip extends beyond the back lot lines of Lots 19 and 20, where it connects at the end of Lots 18 and 21, creating a triangle between Lots 18 and 21. See attached Plat, filed September 18, 1928. Carrollton Road is spelled "Carrolton Road" in some deeds in the record. For consistency, we will refer to it as Carrollton Road. In the circuit court, ARPOA, the Samorajczyks, Margaret Talbot, John Talbot, and William and Elizabeth Ochs were plaintiffs. On appeal, only ARPOA, the Samorajczyks, and Margaret Talbot are appellants. The circuit court describes this easement as the second part of the Strip that is in dispute. The circuit court stated that the easement was created in 1962 when the owners of
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Appellants noted an appeal raising three issues, which we have rephrased and consolidated into one:4 I. Whether the circuit court erred in 2009, by granting summary judgment in favor of appellees and declaring that ARPOA owns no interest in the Strip, and in 2010, by granting summary judgment and declaring that the Lindsay Trust holds all right, title and interest in and to the Strip?

We answer this question in the negative, and, as such, we affirm the circuit court's August 10, 2009, grant of summary judgment and declaratory judgment, and the June 29, 2010, grant of summary judgment and declaratory judgment. Appellees filed a cross-appeal raising four issues, which we have rephrased and consolidated into one:5 Lot 18 reserved an easement over a narrow piece of the Strip conveyed to the owners of Lot 19, and that easement connects the Strip to the relocated boundary of Lot 18.
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Appellants phrased the issues as follows: Whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to the Appellees and held, in its August 2009 partial Judgment, that ARPOA owns no interest in the Carrollton Road Extension at issue in this case? Whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to the Appellees and ignored the effect of Equitable's mortgage on "Belmont Farms," which applied to the Extension and which was never released prior to the first conveyances of Lots 19 and 20. Whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to the Appellees and held, in its July 2010 Second Declaratory Judgment that The Thomas C. Lindsay, Sr. Revocable Trust, holds all right, title and interest in and to the Carrollton Road Extension?

I.

II.

III.

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Appellees phrased the issues thus: (continued...) -2-

I.

Whether the circuit court erred in finding that the Strip is subject to an easement appurtenant to Lot 18 to use the Strip for ingress and egress to Carrollton Road?

We answer this question in the negative. We, therefore, affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 1925, the Annapolis Roads subdivision, then known as "Belmont," was conveyed to The Armstrong Company by Rella Abell Armstrong. In 1927, The Armstrong Company entered into an agreement with The Munsey Trust Company regarding the Annapolis Roads subdivision. The agreement, dated November 22, 1927, required The Munsey Trust Company to develop the community and make payments on a proposed mortgage in favor of The Equitable Company ("Equitable"). This agreement required that the following language be included in all subsequent deeds for sale of property in the Annapolis Roads subdivision:

(...continued) I. Whether any easement appurtenant to Lot 18 is extinguished because Lot 18 no longer exists and the Samorajczyks may not use any easement that ran to Lot 18 in their capacity as the owners of other lots. II. Whether the first conveyance of Lot 18 by reference to the plat created an easement by implication when the plat itself does not contain any words that demonstrate the existence of an easement. Whether any easement on the strip created by the first conveyance of Lot 18 by reference to the plat is limited to the

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