PERRY, J.

The Florida Department of Transportation seeks review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Clipper Bay Investments, LLC v. State Department of Transportation, 117 So.3d 7 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), on the ground that it expressly and directly conflicts with Florida Department of Transportation v. Dardashti Properties, 605 So.2d 120 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), on whether exceptions to the Florida Marketable Record Title Act may apply to an estate held in fee by the Florida Department of Transportation. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

OVERVIEW

Clipper Bay Investments, LLC (Clipper Bay) sought to quiet title to a portion of land adjacent to Interstate 10 (I-10) in Santa Rosa County under the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA). The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) claimed a fee estate for the purpose of establishing a right-of-way, and argued that, as such, the property was exempt from the MRTA under section 712.03, Florida Statutes (2008). The trial court extinguished a portion of DOT's estate but not the entire disputed area, and Clipper Bay appealed. The First District Court of Appeal found that DOT failed to present competent, substantial evidence that it maintained a right-of-way and reversed the trial court's final judgment.

Before this Court, the parties now agree that the exceptions provided in section 712.03 may apply to rights-of-way held in fee. Accordingly, we affirm that portion of the First District's opinion and disapprove of the conflicting portion of the Fourth District's decision in Dardashti. Additionally, because the plain language of the statute provides that use of any part of the estate shall exempt the whole, and it is undisputed that DOT has leased another portion to Santa Rosa County on which it maintains a county road, we find that the First District erred in finding that DOT failed to provide competent, substantial evidence to support its claim. Accordingly, we quash the First District's decision with instructions to remand to the trial court for issuance of an order denying Clipper Bay's action to quiet title and awarding the disputed property to DOT.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS

The First District Court of Appeal summarized the case and underlying facts as follows:

Clipper Bay, 117 So.3d at 8-10. The First District reversed, holding:

Id. at 8-9.

DISCUSSION

The issue in this case is whether the Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit in and for Santa Rosa County and the First District Court of Appeal properly applied the exception provided in section 712.03, Florida Statutes, to the land held in fee by DOT. The circuit court partially granted Clipper Bay's petition to quiet title and awarded exclusive use of the property north of DOT's right-of-way line to Clipper Bay. However, the First District reversed the trial court's judgment, holding that while the land being held in fee is not the dispositive issue, DOT had failed to show competent, substantial evidence that it maintained the right-of-way. While there is no dispute that DOT held the land in fee, the First District held that DOT did not provide sufficient evidence that the land was held to secure a right-of-way and therefore did not qualify for the statutory exception to marketable record title. Specifically, the First District held that DOT "failed to present competent, substantial evidence that the land at issue was ever devoted to or required for part of its Interstate 10 right-of-way." Id. at 15. We agree with the First District that the form of title is not dispositive, but also find that the plain language of subsections 712.03(1) and (5) requires finding DOT's entire fee estate excepted from the MRTA because the undisputed facts demonstrate that DOT used part of its estate for a lease to Santa Rosa County to maintain a county road.

Standard of Review

The issue presents a question of statutory interpretation, which is properly reviewed de novo. Reeves v. State, 957 So.2d 625, 629 (Fla.2007).

Blanton v. City of Pinellas Park, 887 So.2d 1224, 1230 (Fla.2004).

Marketable Record Title Act

The "MRTA was enacted in 1963 to simplify and facilitate land transactions and specifically provides that its provisions are to be construed liberally." Id. at 1227 (citing § 712.10, Fla. Stat. (2003)). It states:

§ 712.02, Fla. Stat.

"[The MRTA] eliminates all stale claims to real property, with certain enumerated exceptions, unless notice of these claims is filed in a procedurally proper manner." City of Jacksonville v. Horn, 496 So.2d 204, 206 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (citing City of Miami v. St. Joe Paper Co., 364 So.2d 439 (Fla.1978)).

St. Joe Paper Co., 364 So.2d at 442.

Subject to section 712.03, a marketable record title is free and clear of all estates, interests, claims, or charges, the existence of which depends upon any act, title transaction, event, or omission that occurred before the effective date of the root of title. § 712.03, Fla. Stat. Clipper Bay claims as its root of title1 a warranty deed from Julio and Sue DeJoris to Escambia Shores, Inc., recorded March 17, 1970. Clipper Bay's root of title provides it with marketability unless DOT can demonstrate an exception.

Exceptions to the MRTA

The only exceptions to the MRTA are provided in section 712.03. Relevant to our decision are subsections (1) and (5), which state:

§ 712.03, Fla. Stat.

Conflict

DOT contends that the First District's decision in Clipper Bay expressly and directly conflicts with the Fourth District's decision in Dardashti Properties, wherein the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a conveyance of land in fee to DOT did not create a right-of-way and that because a right-of-way did not exist, no exception to marketability of record title existed. The dispute was over an eleven-foot strip of land in Palm Beach County near the Florida Turnpike. In 1917, Model Land Company conveyed a "right of way and easement in and over" the north fifty feet of section 26 to Palm Beach County for use as a public highway, and provided that if the land ceased to be used, it converted back to Model Land or its successors. In 1956, Palm Beach County recorded a right-of-way map that showed a right-of-way over the north thirty-nine feet and conveyed the same thirty-nine feet to the State Road Department (a predecessor to DOT). Through several conveyances, the eleven-foot strip left behind was conveyed to Conrad Schaefer, who paid property taxes on the strip. Schaefer then conveyed his land to Dardashti in 1979, and Dardashti paid property taxes on the land. In 1989, Palm Beach County conveyed the entire fifty-foot parcel to DOT who constructed improvements over the eleven-foot strip.

At the conclusion of a non-jury trial, the trial judge found that section 712.03(5) did not extend an exception to an "estate" and thus did not apply to a right-of-way in fee. The Fourth District held, as did the trial judge, that "the 1917 deed did not create an easement or right-of-way." Dardashti, 605 So.2d at 122. Specifically, the Fourth District reasoned that "[a]lthough the 1917 deed labeled the fifty foot parcel as a `right of way and easement,' those words merely described the purpose for the conveyance." Id. (citation omitted). The court continued, stating that "[a]lthough the 1917 deed provided that the land would revert if not used as a public highway, that provision merely created a covenant of the deed. Whatever one chooses to call it, an ownership interest, a right-of-way in fee, or a determinable fee interest, we hold that the County received fee title to the fifty foot parcel." Id. (citation omitted). We disapprove of the Fourth District's holding and approve the First District's reasoning that rights-of-way are protected by the statute no matter how they are created.

The land at issue here was obtained by DOT in a 1965 conveyance as part of its I-10 project. The First District stated, "it is undisputed that FDOT claimed fee title and utilized a portion of the original land conveyance for right-of-way purposes." Clipper Bay, 117 So.3d at 14. The First District noted, "FDOT acquired the land that lies under Interstate 10 and the contested seven acres that lie north of the Interstate 10 fence line through a single recorded deed from Julio DeJoris and others in 1965." Id. at 9. Applying the definition of "right-of-way" contained in section 334.03(22), Florida Statutes (2008), the First District rejected Clipper Bay's assertion that "section 712.03(5) cannot be applied to rights-of-way held by FDOT in fee." Clipper Bay, 117 So.3d at 15. We agree.

At the time of the MRTA's enactment, "right-of-way" was not defined in the Act. However, it was defined in the transportation code. In section 334.02(22), "right-of-way" was defined as "land in which the state, the department, a county, or a municipality owns the fee or has an easement devoted to or required for use as a transportation facility." § 334.02, Fla. Stat. (1963), repealed by Laws of Fla. 1984 c. 84-309, § 7. Accordingly, the definition encompassed land held in fee. The First District therefore correctly determined that "[t]he focus ... is the reason or purpose that the state holds the land in question rather than the manner in which the title is actually held." Clipper Bay, 117 So.3d at 14. We consequently turn to the question of whether DOT's fee estate qualifies for exception from the MRTA.

Application of the Exceptions

A marketable record title that is established under section 712.03, Florida Statutes, does not affect or extinguish:

§ 712.03, Fla. Stat. To apply this exception to marketability, DOT must establish that the instrument provided to invoke the exception is a muniment2 of title that specifically references a pre-root conveyance.

In Sunshine Vistas Homeowners Ass'n v. Caruana, 623 So.2d 490 (Fla.1993), we considered the following certified question:

Id. at 491 (citing Sunshine Vistas Homeowners Ass'n v. Caruana, 597 So.2d 809, 811 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)) (footnotes omitted). Citing the Act, we stated that "a thirty-one-year-old restriction is preserved if the root of title or a subsequent muniment contains a `specific identification' to a recorded title transaction that imposed, transferred, or continued the restriction." Sunshine Vistas, 623 So.2d at 491 (citing § 712.03(1), Fla. Stat.). We then provided two methods of making the specific identification: "(1) by reference to the book and page in the public records where the title transaction that imposed the restriction can be found, or (2) by reference to the name of a recorded plat that imposed the restriction." Id. at 491-92. In Sunshine Vistas, the root of title and two subsequent deeds referred specifically to the "Sunshine Vistas, according to the Plat thereof, recorded in Plat Book 16, at page 29." Id. at 492. Further, each of the deeds also conveyed property subject to covenants and restrictions of record. Id.

Applying the test provided in Sunshine Vistas, we find that DOT has established a subsequent muniment that contains a specific identification to its interest in the disputed property in the lease to Santa Rosa County, recorded on December 7, 1987, at Book 920, Page 06 of the Santa Rosa County Records, and specifically references DOT's property interest sufficiently to provide notice to Clipper Bay.3 Accordingly, we find that DOT's interest is preserved and excepted under section 712.03(1).

Additionally, because the lease conveys a portion of the property, we find that the remaining area in dispute is protected by the exception in subsection (5), which provides:

§ 712.03(5), Fla. Stat. (emphasis added). As stated in the relevant portion of subsection (5), "the use of any part thereof shall except from the operation hereof the right to the entire use thereof." Accordingly, because the land described is included in DOT's title, use of any part of it as a right-of-way excludes the remainder from the effect of the MRTA. In the instant case, DOT's fee estate was used, in part, to build I-10; it is undisputed that DOT maintains a right-of-way within the estate to access I-10; and it is also undisputed that a portion of the estate has been conveyed to Santa Rosa County to maintain a county road. Therefore, DOT's use of part of its estate is sufficient to apply the exception. See Water Control Dist. of S. Brevard v. Davidson, 638 So.2d 521, 526 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994) ("Rights or easements acquired for the use and benefit of the public are not easily lost or surrendered, and MRTA should be broadly construed to protect these rights to the extent possible under the law.") (citing Horn, 496 So.2d at 204); see also Horn, 496 So.2d at 209 (holding that to demonstrate use, the parties must show "(1) use by the public, (2) the identity of the roadway, its location, width, length, and (3) that the use was adverse, in the sense that (for road purposes) it must be inconsistent with the owner's use and enjoyment of his own lands, and not a permissive use").

Therefore, in accordance with existing caselaw, DOT has established its entitlement to the exception provided in section 712.03(5) for its entire fee estate. Accordingly, we quash the First District's decision with instructions to remand to the trial court for issuance of an order denying Clipper Bay's action to quiet title and awarding the disputed property to DOT.

Because we so find, we decline to address DOT's remaining argument on review.

It is so ordered.

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and QUINCE, JJ., concur.

CANADY, J., concurs in result with an opinion.

POLSTON, J., concurs in result.

CANADY, J., concurring in result.

I agree with the majority's conclusion that DOT's interest in the disputed property is preserved under section 712.03(5), Florida Statutes (2008). Therefore, I concur in quashing the decision of the First District that is on review. I also agree with the majority's disapproval of Dardashti. I disagree, however, with the majority's conclusion that DOT's interest is preserved under section 712.03(1).

The resolution of this case is dictated by section 712.03(5), which provides that MRTA "shall not affect or extinguish" "[r]ecorded or unrecorded ... rights-of-way... so long as the same are used and the use of any part thereof shall except from the operation [of MRTA] the right to the entire use thereof." (Emphasis added.) Here, it is undisputed that the recorded deed on which DOT's claim is based covers lands used as the right-of-way for a stretch of Interstate 10, and there is no basis for concluding that the deed is not a recorded right-of-way within the meaning of section 712.03(5). Clipper Bay has presented no persuasive reason that the disputed property, which is covered by that same conveyance to DOT, does not fall within the scope of section 712.03(5).

Under the plain terms of the statute, DOT's "use of part" of the right-of-way preserves its "right to the entire use thereof." It is of no consequence that the disputed land has not been used for right-of-way purposes for Interstate 10. Contrary to the view adopted by the First District, DOT did not have the burden of proving that the disputed land was "ever devoted to or required for part of its Interstate 10 right-of-way." Clipper Bay, 117 So.3d at 15. This view imposes a requirement that is inconsistent with the terms of the statute. The clear import of section 712.03(5) is to preserve the full extent of a recorded or unrecorded right-of-way if any portion of the right-of-way is put to use for right-of-way purposes. See City of Jacksonville v. Horn, 496 So.2d 204, 208 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (stating that section 712.03(5) evidences "the intent to preserve a public easement or right-of-way to its full width, notwithstanding the use of only a part of its width as designated by the conveyance, dedication, or other means by which it was established"). And the rule of liberal construction in section 712.10 cannot be used to defeat the plain meaning of the exception in section 712.03(5). That exception and the other exceptions in the statute necessarily limit the curative scope of MRTA.

But I conclude that the majority incorrectly relies on section 712.03(1) to defeat Clipper Bay's claim. The majority's reliance on section 712.03(1) fails on both procedural and substantive grounds.

Procedurally, the specific ground relied on by the majority — that the 1987 lease from DOT to Santa Rosa County covering a portion of the disputed land constitutes a muniment of title that discloses DOT's interest — was not presented by DOT in its initial brief as a basis for quashing the First District decision. Indeed, DOT's initial brief does not so much as mention the 1987 lease on which the majority's alternative holding relies. It is elementary that an appellate court should not overturn a decision on review on a ground not properly argued by the petitioner. See Mendoza v. State, 87 So.3d 644, 663 (Fla.2011).

Substantively, the 1987 lease is not a muniment of Clipper Bay's title and thus cannot be a basis for preserving an interest under section 712.03(1). The 1987 lease is foreign to Clipper Bay's chain of title. The operation of section 712.03(1) comes into play only based on matters "disclosed by and defects inherent in the muniments of title on which [the MRTA claimant's] estate is based beginning with the root of title." The 1987 lease from DOT to Santa Rosa County is not among "the muniments of title on which [Clipper Bay's] estate is based." Accordingly, it cannot be the predicate for the operation of section 712.03(1).

Finally, I would reject the argument that DOT actually made in its initial brief relating to section 712.03(1). That argument was based on a curative instrument — a trustee's deed recorded in 1981 from one of Clipper Bay's predecessors in title to another such predecessor. It is questionable whether this curative instrument qualifies as a muniment of title on which Clipper Bay's estate is based. See Miami Holding Corp. v. Matthews, 311 So.2d 802, 803 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1975) (stating that "if the grantor [in a quitclaim deed] has no interest in the land described at the time of conveyance, the quitclaim conveys nothing to the grantee"). But even if the 1981 trustee's deed is properly considered to be among the muniments of title on which Clipper Bay's estate is based, it discloses nothing sufficient to trigger the operation of section 712.03(1).

DOT argues that the 1981 trustee's deed contains a reference to a pre-root instrument that contains a legal description that excepts lands previously conveyed to the DOT. This argument is unavailing. The 1981 trustee's deed does not on its face disclose any interest or estate adverse to the title of Clipper Bay. On the contrary, it simply contains a recitation of the authority by which the trustee acted in executing the instrument. Therefore, no "[e]states or interests, easements [or] use restrictions" are "disclosed by" the trustee's deed. § 712.03(1), Fla. Stat. (2014). Moreover, the pre-root instrument referred to in the 1981 trustee's deed does not constitute a "recorded title transaction which imposed, transferred or continued" the interest of DOT in the disputed property. Id.