People v. William Kent Estate Co.

This appeal requires definition of the statutory term “ordinary high water mark” (Civ. Code, § 830), and application of the rule to a situation in which the land itself moves in greater degree, but with less frequency, than do the tides.

Defendant owned a sandspit bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean, and on the opposite side by Bolinas Lagoon. On each of these sides, defendant owned the upland and the state the submerged lands. Following state survey, defendant brought a quiet title action. Decree was entered in 1950. Defendant then subdivided the land and sold some lots. It drove a line…