Dr. Phillips, Inc. v. L & W SUPPLY CORP.

790 So. 2d 539, 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 9686, 2001 WL 793253
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 13, 2001
Docket5D00-3143
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 790 So. 2d 539 (Dr. Phillips, Inc. v. L & W SUPPLY CORP.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dr. Phillips, Inc. v. L & W SUPPLY CORP., 790 So. 2d 539, 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 9686, 2001 WL 793253 (Fla. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

790 So.2d 539 (2001)

DR. PHILLIPS, INC., Appellant,
v.
L & W SUPPLY CORPORATION, etc., et al., Appellee.

No. 5D00-3143.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

July 13, 2001.

*540 Catherine Brown, Orlando, for Appellant.

John R. Hamilton of Foley & Lardner, P.A., Orlando, for Appellee, Seacoast Supply.

Stacy D. Blank and Jack C. McElroy, of Holland & Knight, LLP, Tampa, for Appellee, L.B. Sowell Corporation.

THOMPSON, C.J.

Appellant, Dr. Phillips, Inc. ("Phillips"), timely appeals two final orders granting summary judgment in favor of appellees L & W Supply Corporation, d/b/a Seacoast Supply ("Seacoast") and L.B. Sowell Corporation ("Sowell") and one non-final order which struck the demand for jury trial Phillips had made in its amended complaint.

Phillips filed a four-count complaint against Seacoast, a building supply company, seeking injunctive relief and damages for Seacoast's alleged misuse of an ingress/egress easement along a road named Mercy Star Court on Phillips' property. Phillips later amended the complaint to add Sowell as a defendant. As Sowell's tenant, Seacoast used the easement for access to its business.

*541 Phillips' complaint alleged that Seacoast's building supplies are delivered and picked up in large trucks driven by Seacoast employees, customers and "various invitees." The complaint states that Seacoast's lot can only accommodate two to three trucks at a time for loading and unloading, but often there are many other trucks parked for extended periods on Phillips' surrounding property waiting to enter Seacoast's lot. Phillips alleged that, at the time the complaint was filed, Seacoast permitted and encouraged truck drivers to do the following:

A. Trespass on Plaintiffs properties with semi trucks and other large trucks.
B. Otherwise damage Plaintiff's properties (i) by parking semi-trucks and other large trucks on Plaintiffs properties; (ii) by driving semi-trucks and other large trucks on and off the pavement on Mercy Star Court thereby breaking the pavement; and (iii) in one recent instance, driving so recklessly so as to break a fuel line/tank and discharge fuel onto Plaintiffs properties and attempt to escape liability by simply driving away.
C. Block Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs tenants' access to and egress from Mercy Star Court and otherwise interfere with Plaintiffs use of its properties.
D. Create safety and traffic hazards on Plaintiffs property by blocking visibility and access.

Count I of Phillips' complaint sought a temporary and permanent injunction. Counts II, III, and IV sought money damages under varying theories all tied to the basic factual premise that Seacoast and Sowell had damaged Phillips financially by abuse of the easement.

Phillips moved for a temporary injunction reiterating the allegations contained in the complaint. Evidence presented at the hearing on the motion for temporary injunction corroborated, for the most part, the factual allegations in the complaint. The trial court declined to issue a temporary injunction, reasoning:

[T]here is no emergency situation. There is substantial evidence of a nuisance on that roadway. There is substantial evidence that there is unreasonable use of this easement by the defendant that may ultimately result in the Court having to fashion some sort of injunction so that the use becomes a reasonable use permanently. But I'm not certain of that. There is no clear legal right to this remedy. There is no question in my mind that there is not an adequate remedy at law for a temporary injunction. There is no emergency that I can see, the existence of this situation that goes back several years. And I'm not certain that the injunction may not cause more harm than the harm being complained of by the petitioner at this point.

Phillips timely appealed and this court affirmed without opinion. See Dr. Phillips, Inc. v. L & W Supply Corp., 725 So.2d 1134 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).

Subsequently, Phillips was allowed to amend its complaint against Seacoast and Sowell. On the same facts, Phillips developed seven, rather than four counts: three of these counts again asked for injunctive relief; three asked for relief in the form of damages; and the last count asked for a declaratory judgment "resolving all doubts about the parties' rights and relations under the Ingress/Egress Easement." Lastly, unlike the original complaint, this complaint sought a trial by jury.

The trial court deemed the right to jury trial waived as it had not been raised in *542 the original complaint and no new issues had been injected by the new complaint. The amended complaint, answer, and various orders arising therefrom were all filed between December 1998 and March 1999. Sowell's August 18, 2000, motion for summary judgment and an affidavit by the president of Sowell supporting the motion, are the next documents in the record. In the affidavit, Sowell's president testifies that the lease between Sowell and Seacoast expired in November 1999 and that Seacoast had vacated the premises. A new tenant had moved into the premises and the lease between Sowell and the new tenant prohibited any standing or parking on the easement by the new tenant or its invitees. No parking signs had been put up along Mercy Star Court, the road had been regraded and repaved, and curbs had been put in place to discourage truckers from parking along the grass. Based on the affidavit, Sowell moved for summary judgment, asserting that the conditions which led to the lawsuit no longer existed or were unlikely to recur and thus no injunctive relief was necessary. As to damages, Sowell argued that as a matter of law Sowell as landlord could not be liable for the conduct of its tenant Seacoast or Seacoast's invitees. Seacoast filed a brief motion for summary judgment in which it adopted the position of Sowell.

Phillips then moved for summary judgment as to the declaratory judgment count. Attached to the motion was the affidavit of an employee of Phillips asserting that a truck was seen parked on Mercy Star Court adjacent to the Sowell property after Seacoast had vacated the property. The driver of the truck was sleeping in the parked truck, and upon waking advised that he was waiting for the new Sowell tenant to open for the day; he refused to move when requested, despite the "no parking" signs. Another affidavit was filed in opposition to appellees' motions, which included photos of the damage to the roadway which sat upon the easement. The photos were not current but rather were taken before Sowell repaired the road.

A brief hearing was held on appellees' motions for summary judgment. Seacoast and Sowell primarily argued that Seacoast, by vacating the Sowell property, had rendered the lawsuit moot. In response, Phillips argued that the dispute was not simply mooted by Seacoast moving its operations:

[U]ntil I have a determination by this Court as to whether they're allowed to park or not park on the property, this matter's not moot. Until I have a determination of what our damages are for not being able to use our road for two years, this matter's not moot. Until I have a determination of what our damages are for the trespassing that occurred and damaged our property, this matter is not moot.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
790 So. 2d 539, 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 9686, 2001 WL 793253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dr-phillips-inc-v-l-w-supply-corp-fladistctapp-2001.