J. HANNAH FRANK v. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY OF MORRISTOWN (Tenn.Ct.App. July 31, 2008).
The city of Morristown appeals a judgment in favor of a commercial leaseholder who brought an inverse condemnation and nuisance action against the city for damages allegedly sustained as a result of dirt, debris, odor, noise, and interference with ingress and egress caused by the city's road and bridge construction project. After careful review, we reverse the judgment of the trial court as to the inverse condemnation claim upon our finding that the damages complained of by the leaseholder were the necessary effects of careful construction and not different from the effects suffered by the leaseholder's neighbors and because damages resulting from inconvenience during construction are not recoverable. We also reverse the trial court's judgment in favor of the leaseholder upon the claim of nuisance because the leaseholder failed to establish that the construction project was conducted in an unreasonable manner.
Opinion may be found at the TBA website:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/frankj_073108.pdf
"'Inverse condemnation' is the popular description for a cause of action brought by a property owner to recover the value of real property that has been taken for public use by a governmental defendant even though no formal condemnation proceedings under the government’s power of eminent domain have been instituted." Id. (citations omitted).
"Owners of land, no part of which has been taken for public purposes, are not entitled to compensation for damages naturally and unavoidably resulting from the careful construction and operation of the public improvement which damages are shared generally by owners whose lands lie within the range of the inconveniences necessarily attending that improvement." Id. (citations omitted).
"A nuisance has been defined as anything which annoys or disturbs the free use of one’s property, or which renders its ordinary use or physical occupation uncomfortable. Under the circumstances presented in the present matter, it is clear that the noise, dirt, debris, and obstruction complained of annoyed or disturbed Ms. Frank’s free use of her leasehold and rendered its ordinary use uncomfortable. However, as this court has further noted, the key element of any nuisance is the reasonableness of the defendant’s conduct under the circumstances. Acts of the government are not nuisances per se and it is actionable only when a nuisance is established by evidence that the governmental function is conducted in an unreasonable manner. Our careful review of the record reveals no finding by the trial court that the City acted unreasonably at any time during the construction project." Id. (citations and quotations omitted).
