Taxation of Easements

In the case of Lever v. Grant,1 the supreme court passed incidentally upon the effect of a tax deed on an easement appurtenant to the estate on which the delinquent taxes had been levied. From the facts in that case it appears that in 1884 the owner of a parcel of land in the city of Detroit, bounded on the west by Woodward avenue, platted the same. The plat shows a street on the north side extending from Woodward avenue east thirty feet wide, one-half the width of an ordinary street. This street was named Custer Avenue. The next year, 1885, other owners platted a parcel of land adjoining Custer avenue on the north. Upon this plat appears a strip of land the same width as Custer avenue and bordering it on the north marked Private way. In the dedication of this plat, the owners, after dedicating to the public the streets and alleys appearing thereon, add: excepting the north 30 feet of Custer avenue, which we reserve as a private right of way. North of Custer avenue and parallel therewith is Bethune avenue. The land between the private way and Bethune avenue was divided into lots, three of which front Woodward avenue and extend east and west and the others extend north and south from the private way to Bethune avenue. Grant, the defendant, purchased the lot fronting Woodward avenue and adjoining the private way. In 1890, this private way was assessed for city taxes, and Grant upon the sale therefor, obtained a lease from the city of Detroit for 99 years. In 1894 the defendant obtained from the owners, the proprietors of the plat, the fee of so much of the private way as extended along the side of his lot, and he enclosed the same