TRAVER LAKES COMMUNITY MAINTENANCE ASSOCIATION v DOUGLAS COMPANY
Docket No. 182054
Court of Appeals of Michigan
Submitted October 1, 1996. Decided June 27, 1997.
224 Mich. App. 335
Dоcket No. 182054. Submitted October 1, 1996, at Detroit. Decided June 27, 1997, at 9:00 A.M. Leave to appeal sought.
Traver Lakes Community Maintenance Association brought an action in the Washtenaw Circuit Court against The Douglas Company, Windemere I Limited Partnership, Burlington Construction, and others, alleging negligence and trespass as a result of a build-up of sediment in the plaintiff‘s pond system following Windemere‘s construction of the nearby Windemere Apartment complex. Douglas was the general contractor and Burlington a subcontractor involved in the construction of the Windemere Apartment complex. Windemere, Douglas, and Burlington sought summary disposition on the basis that the period of limitation had run. The plaintiff opposed the motion and brought a motion seeking leave to amend its complaint to add a count of nuisance. The court, William F. Ager, Jr., J., granted the defendants’ motion for summary disposition and denied the plaintiff‘s motion for leave to amend. The court held that the proposed amеndment was untimely and that adding a nuisance count would be futile because no evidence had been produced to show that the defendants exercised possession or control of the pond system. The plaintiff appealed by leave granted.
The Court of Appeals held:
1. The court properly held that the plaintiff‘s negligence claim against defendant Windemere was time-barred. That part of the order granting summary disposition must be affirmed. The plaintiff‘s claim of ordinary negligence accrued more thаn three years before the plaintiff filed its complaint. The claim was barred pursuant to
2. The trial court erred in applying the three-year period of limitation applicable to injuries to property to the negligence claim against Douglas and Burlington instead of the six-year period provided in
3. Issues of fact remain with regard to the plaintiff‘s trespass claim. The court‘s stated reasons for denying the motion to amend the complaint to add a nuisance count constituted an abuse of discretion. That part of the order must be reversed and the matter must be remanded for further proceedings. The court abused its discretion in finding that the plaintiff acted with undue delay. The plaintiff alleged sufficient facts that Windemere, Douglas, and Burlington either owned the land from which the silt was coming or controlled the implementation of soil erosion controls during the construction of the Windemere Apartment complex. The dismissal of the trespass claim and denial of the motion to amend on grounds of futility was erroneous.
4. Where, as here, a question of fact exists regarding the temporary or permanent nature of the nuisance and whether, as a consequence, the trespass/nuisance claim is time-barred under
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
WHITE, J., dissenting in part, stated that the question whether the negligence claims against Douglas and Burlington are time-barred because the three-year period of limitation under
1. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS — CONTINUING WRONGFUL ACTS — TORTS.
A continuing wrong sufficient to toll the running of a period of limitation is established under the continuing-wrongful-acts doctrine by continual tortious acts, not by continual harmful effects from an original, completed act; Michigan courts have not recognized a cause of action for continuing negligence.
2. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS — NEGLIGENCE — IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL PROPERTY.
The period of limitation applicable to claims of ordinary negligence against contractors arising from an improvement to real property is six years (
Amendment of pleadings generally is a matter of right rather than grace and should be denied only for particularized reasons, such as undue prejudice to the opposing party, undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the movant‘s part, or where the amendment would be futile; delay without more, such as undue prejudice, does not mandate denial of a motion to amend; undue prejudice is prejudice that prevents a party from having a fair trial, not prejudice that arises from the amendment‘s effect on the result of trial or loss of a meritorious claim or defense; the remedy for undue delay is tо sanction the offending party to reimburse the opponent for the additional expenses and attorney fees incurred (MCR 2.118[A][2],[3]).
4. NUISANCE — TRESPASS.
A trespass is an invasion of a landowner‘s interest in the exclusive possession of the land; a nuisance is an interference with a landowner‘s use and enjoyment of the land; a person‘s intent in causing a trespass or a nuisance generally is irrelevant; nuisance is a condition and not an act or failure to act, and liability for trespass may be imposed regardless of the negligence or intentional conduct of the trespasser.
5. TORTS — TRESPASSORY NUISANCE.
A cause of action for trespassory nuisance may be found where the plaintiff shows a condition (nuisance or trespass), a cause (physical intrusion), and causation or control by the defendant.
6. NUISANCE — LIABILITY.
Liability for nuisance may be imposed where the defendant has created the nuisance, the defendant owned or controlled the property from which the nuisance arose, or the defendant employed another to do work that the defendant knew was likely to create a nuisance.
7. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS — NUISANCE — TRESPASS — CONTINUING NUISANCE OR TRESPASS.
Recovery is not barred by a statute of limitation where a trespass or nuisance is alleged to have continued during the limitation period; the damages recoverable under a continuing trespass/nuisance claim generally depends upon whether the interference with the plaintiff‘s property is permanent or temporary; where a question of fact exists regarding the temporаry or permanent nature of a nuisance and whether, as a consequence, the claim is time-barred, the issues should be submitted to the jury (
Vandeveer Garzia, P.C. (by Leonard A. Krzyzaniak, Jr., and Christine A. Fischer), for Burlington Construction.
Plunkett & Cooney, P.C. (by Christine D. Oldani, Robert H. Martin, and Brian McGorisk), for The Douglas Company.
Pedersen, Keenan, King, Wachsberg & Andrzejak (by Daniel P. King), for Windemere I Limited Partnership.
Before: HOLBROOK, JR., P.J., and WHITE and S. J. LATREILLE*, JJ.
HOLBROOK, JR., P.J. In this case alleging negligence and trespass, plaintiff appeals by leave granted from a circuit court order granting summary disposition to defendants1 on the basis that plaintiff‘s claims were time-barred under the applicable statute of limitations, MCR 2.116(C)(7), and denying plaintiff‘s motion to amend to add a nuisance claim. We affirm in part, reversе in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Windemere I Limited Partnership owned and constructed the Windemere Apartment complex in Ann Arbor in the late 1980s. The Douglas Company was the general contractor and Burlington Construction was a subcontractor for the project. The complex was
During and after construction of the Windemere Apartment complex, excessive amounts of silt and sediment flowed from the construction site into the Traver Lakes pond system, causing a build-up of sediment in the ponds and decreased water flow through the system. Plaintiff filed this lawsuit in September 1993, alleging that defendants had installed ineffective or insufficient erosion control measures in construction of the apartment complex and that it had expended approximately $200,000 to clean its pond system in 1992 and that this process would have to be repeated every five to ten years. Plaintiff‘s complaint alleged separate counts of negligence and trespass agаinst defendants Windemere, Douglas, and Burlington. Defendant Windemere moved for summary disposition on the basis of its affirmative defense that the period of limitation had run. Defendants Douglas and Burlington joined in Windemere‘s motion. Plaintiff responded and also moved for leave to amend its complaint to add a count of nuisance.
The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary disposition and denied plaintiff‘s motion for leave to amend its complaint. The court held that the proposed amеndment was untimely and that adding a
Plaintiff first argues that summary disposition of its claim of ordinary negligence was granted improperly. When reviewing a motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(7), this Court accepts as true the plaintiff‘s well-pleaded allegations and construes them in the plaintiff‘s favor. Huron Tool & Engineering Co v Precision Consulting Services, Inc, 209 Mich App 365, 376-377; 532 NW2d 541 (1995). To determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, we look to the pleadings, affidavits, and other documentary evidence submitted by the parties. Where a material factual dispute exists such that factual development could provide a basis for recovery, summary disposition is inappropriate. Otherwise, where no material facts are in dispute, this Court may decide the question as a matter of law. Moll v Abbott Laboratories, 444 Mich 1, 26; 506 NW2d 816 (1993).
Here, plaintiff‘s claim of ordinary negligence accrued at the latest by September 1988, when plaintiff became aware that silt and sediment were coming from the Windemere Apartment project. Given that the claim accrued more than three years before plaintiff filed its complaint, plaintiff‘s negligence claim is time-barred. See
With regard to plaintiff‘s negligence claim against defendants Douglas and Burlington, the parties and the trial court also applied the three-year limitation period applicable to injuries to property. This was error. The applicable statute of limitation for claims of ordinary negligence against contractors,
For ordinary negligence actions [against contractors] that accrue within six years from the occupancy, use, or acceptаnce of the completed improvement, the statute prescribes the time within which such actions may be brought and, thus, acts as a period of limitation. When more than six years has elapsed from the date of occupancy, use, or acceptance before an injury is sustained, the statute is one of repose that prevents a cause of action from ever accruing. Where the injury occurs after the passage of the applicable time period, thе injured party “literally has no cause of action. The harm that has been done is damnum absque injuria — a wrong for which the law affords no redress.” [Id. at 301 (citations omitted).]
Here, it is undisputed that plaintiff filed its complaint within six years from the occupancy, use, or acceptance of the completed construction project. Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting summary disposition of plaintiff‘s negligence claim against defend-
In addition to its negligence claim, plaintiff also had alleged a trespass claim and, in the face of defendants’ motions for summary disposition alleging that the period of limitation had run, plaintiff had moved for leave to file an amended complaint, adding a count of nuisance. Although the trial court‘s order did not specifically address plaintiff‘s trespass claim, it is clear that the court‘s grant of summary disposition included this claim. The trial court also denied plaintiff‘s motion to amend on grounds of undue delay and futility. On appeal, we conclude that issues of fact remain regarding the viability of plaintiff‘s trespass claim and that the court‘s stated reasons for denying the motion to amend constituted an abuse of discretion. Thus, we reverse and remand for further proceedings regarding these claims.
First, with respect to plaintiff‘s motion for leave to amend to add a count of nuisance, we agree with plaintiff that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that plaintiff had acted with undue delay. A court should freely grant leave to amend a complaint when justice so requires. MCR 2.118(A)(2). The rules pertaining to the amendment of pleadings are designed to facilitate amendment except when prejudice to the opposing party would result. Amendment is generally a matter of right rather than grace, and ordinarily should be denied only for particularized reasons, such as undue prejudice to the opposing party, undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the movant‘s part, or where the amendment would be futile. Ben P Fyke & Sons v Gunter Co, 390 Mich 649, 656, 659; 213 NW2d 134 (1973). Delay without more,
Here, there was no justification for the trial court‘s finding of undue delay. Plaintiff‘s motion for leave to file an amended complaint was filed 2½ months before the close of discovery, 3½ months before mediation was scheduled, and five months before trial was to begin. An amendment was entirely proper at this stage of the litigation.
Second, we find that the trial court erred in granting summary disposition of plaintiff‘s trespass claim and abused its discretiоn in denying plaintiff‘s motion for leave to amend on grounds of futility because defendants did not own or control the pond system. At the outset, we recognize that claims of trespass and nuisance are difficult to distinguish and include overlapping concepts. However, the essential difference has been stated as follows: “[T]respass is an invasion of the plaintiff‘s interest in the exclusive possession of his land, while nuisance is an interference
Liability for nuisance may be imposed where (1) the defendant has created the nuisance, (2) the defendant owned or controlled the property from which the nuisance arose, or (3) the defendant employed another to do work that he knew was likely to create a nuisance. Continental Paper, supra at 165, n 7, citing Baker v Waste Management of Michigan, Inc, 208 Mich App 602, 606; 528 NW2d 835 (1995). Here, plaintiff has alleged sufficient facts that defendants Windemere, Douglas, and Burlington
Finally, defendants argue that plaintiff‘s trespass claim and proposed nuisance claim were time-barred under the applicable three-year period of limitation for damage to property,
Unlike negligence, “[n]uisance is a condition and not an act or failure to act.” Hobrla v Glass, 143 Mich App 616, 630; 372 NW2d 630 (1985), quoting 58 Am Jur 2d, Nuisances, § 3, p 557.3 In addition, unlike in a negligence claim, liability for trespass may be impоsed regardless of the defendant‘s negligence or intentional conduct. Hadfield, supra. Thus, in reviewing plaintiff‘s damages claim for trespass/nuisance, we must focus our inquiry on the reasonableness of the interference with plaintiff‘s property, not the reasonableness of defendants’ conduct in creating or
Where a trespass or nuisance is alleged to have continued during the limitation period, recovery is not barred. Defnet v Detroit, 327 Mich 254, 258; 41 NW2d 539 (1950) (trespass); Moore v Pontiac, 143 Mich App 610, 614; 372 NW2d 627 (1985) (nuisance). The damages recoverable under a continuing trespass/nuisаnce claim generally depends upon whether the interference with the plaintiff‘s property is permanent or temporary. See Phelps v Detroit, 120 Mich 447, 451-455; 79 NW 640 (1899). The rules for making such a determination are summarized in 58 Am Jur 2d, Nuisances, §§ 273-275, pp 875-878:
An action in damages may be maintained for the creation of a nuisance and a subsequent and separate action may be maintained for the continuance of such nuisance. The determination of whether a single right of action or successive rights are created by a nuisance for damages depends primarily upon whether the cause of injury is permanent or temporary. . . . The question generally is one of fact for the jury.
* * *
If injuries from a nuisance are of a permanent character and go to the entire value of the estate, there can be but one action, and all damages — past, present, and future — are recoverable therein; in such a case, one recovery is a grant or license to continue the nuisanсe, and there can be no second recovery for its continuance. . . .
Where the injury from the alleged nuisance is temporary in its nature, or is of a continuing or recurring character, the damages are ordinarily regarded as continuing, and one recovery against the wrongdoer is not a bar to successive actions for damages thereafter accruing from the same wrong. In such a case, every day‘s continuance is a new nuisance. . . . That is, where a nuisance is temporary, damages
Here, a question of fact exists whether the alleged trespass/nuisance involving plaintiff‘s pond system was temporary, and therefore abatable by reasonable curative or remedial action, or whether it was permanent in nature, and therefore nonabatable. Where, as here, a question of fact exists regarding the temporary or permanent nature of the nuisance and whether, as a consequence, the claim is time-barred under
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We retain no further jurisdiction. No taxable costs are awarded pursuant to MCR 7.219, because neithеr party prevailed in full.
S. J. LATREILLE, J., concurred.
WHITE, J. (concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur in the conclusion that the negligence claim against Windemere Apartments is time-barred. I also concur in the conclusion that the circuit court abused its discretion in denying plaintiff‘s motion to amend its complaint to add a nuisance claim and improperly dismissed plaintiff‘s trespass claims.
I respectfully disagree, however, with the majority‘s resolution of plaintiff‘s negligence claims against The Douglas Company and Burlington Construction. The majority concludes thаt plaintiff‘s claims against Douglas and Burlington are not time-barred because the six-year period of limitation under
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
Notes
No person may maintain any action to recover damages for any injury to property, real or рersonal, or for bodily injury or wrongful death, arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property, nor any action for contribution or indemnity for damages sustained as a result of such injury, against any state licensed architect or professional engineer performing or furnishing the design or supervision of construction of the improvement, or against any contractor making the improvement, more than 6 years after the time of occupancy оf the completed improvement, use, or acceptance of the improvement, or 1 year after the defect is discovered or should have been discovered, provided that the defect constitutes the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which the action is brought and is the result of gross negligence on the part of the contractor or licensed architect or professional engineer. However, no such action shall be maintained more than 10 years after the time of occupancy of the completed improvement, use, or acceptance of the improvement.
Primarily, nuisance is a condition. Liability is not predicated on tortious conduct through action or inaction on the part of those responsible for the condition. Nuisance may result from want of due care (like a hole in a highway), but may still exist as a dangerous, offensive, or hazardous condition even with the best of care.