Hutchins v. Smith

63 Barb. 251, 1872 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 110
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 23, 1872
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 63 Barb. 251 (Hutchins v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hutchins v. Smith, 63 Barb. 251, 1872 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 110 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1872).

Opinion

Hardin, J.

To maintain an action to abate a nuisance, since the remedy is by action and not by writ, the plaintiff must allege that he was the owner of the freehold affected by the nuisance at the time when the several acts complained of were committed; and the action must be against the owners in fee, in cases where it is brought to abate the nuisance. (1 N. Y. 223. 5 Barb. 550. 16 id. 568. 24 id. 404. 29 id. 391. 12 N. Y. 486.) By section 453 of the Code, the writ of nuisance is abolished, and by section 454 it is provided that “ injuries heretofore remediable by writ of nuisance are subjects of action, as other [253]*253injuries, and in such action there may be judgment for damages, or for the removal of the nuisance, or both.”

The plaintiff in this action seeks to recover damages for past injuries, and the complaint also asks for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from so using their lime kilns as to annoy him, and prevent the enjoyment of his premises.

It is now well settled that the plaintiff has a right to come into a court of equity and ask for such relief, together with his damages as incidental to his equitable relief.

“Although he had a remedy at law for the trespass, yet as it was of a continuous nature, he had a right to come into a court of equity and to invoke its restraining power to prevent a multiplicity of suits, and can, of course, recover his damages as incidental to this equitable relief.” (Williams v. N. Y. Central R. R. Co., 16 N. Y. 111.) . In Davis v. Lambertson, (56 Barb. 480,) the general term in this district passed upon this question, and the opinion of Justice Foster very ably maintains the right to the double relief in one action, and reaches the conclusion that such an action is one in equity.

It has been insisted by the learned counsel for the defendants, that “ this is not a clear case, upon the proofs, in respect to the nuisance, and therefore it should be tried before a jury, and this complaint, for that reason, should be dismissed.”

FTumerous case are found in the books, where a court' of equity has refused to grant a preliminary injunction in doubtful cases, until a trial had been had before a jury ; and it may be conceded that before the adoption of the Code- that was the general rule. (3 John. Ch. 282. 16 Ves. 338. 6 Paige, 563. 11 Sump. 403. 1 Cooper, 343. 6 Barb. 152. 37 N. Y. 99. 56 Barb. 480.)

But the question presented here is not whether a preliminary injunction should issue, but on the contrary, whether a permanent one shall be granted, in conjunction [254]*254with the findings and decision upon the facts relied upon to entitle the plaintiff to damages.

In this case the defendants might have had the issues tried by a jury; had they chosen to have the same settled under the rule. They have been voluntarily brought to a hearing before the court, and the findings of the court are to stand in place of a verdict of a jury, (4 Rob. 451; 56 Barb. 485;) and the defendants must be held to have waived a trial by jury, (34 N. Y. 30; 40 id. 504; 40 How. 160;) and in case the court reaches the conclusion that the plaintiff’s rights have been invaded by the acts of the defendants, so that they have been guilty of maintaining, a nuisance, the plaintiff will be entitled to “judgment for damages or for removal of the nuisance, or both.” (Code, 454.)

The important question in this case, upon the proofs, and to be determined by the court, comes to this; have the defendants, by erecting their lime kilns 204 feet from the dwelling-house of the plaintiff, and there operating, them for the purpose of burning stone into lime, by fire made of coal-dust and wood, and allowing the dust, gas and smoke therefrom to come upon, and into, the premises and house of the plaintiff, caused such an interference with the plaintiff’s enjoyment of, and such an injury to, his property, as amounts to a nuisance.

The authorities bearing upon this question are very numerous, and an examination of some of them may not be inopportune. In Bamford v. Lumley, (4 Com. Bench, N. S., 334,) it was held that in the case of a brick kiln, where it was not proved that it was at an improper location, the party was not liable, although the plaintiff’s property was directly injured, and his trees and shrubbery killed and destroyed. But in a later case this rule was very considerably modified. In Tipping v. St. Helen’s Smelting Co., (11 House of Lords Rep. 642,) the lord chancellor held that the rule, as above laid down in Bamford [255]*255v. Lumley, only applied to cases of simple annoyance, and not to the cases where the property was materially injured. This rule, as modified, was substantially stated and asserted by the chancellor, in this State, in his opinion in Catlin v. Valentine, (9 Paige, 575,) in these words: “To constitute a nuisance, it is not necessary that the noxious trade or business should endanger the health of the neighborhood. It is sufficient if it produces that which renders the enjoyment of life and property uncomfortable.”

The chancellor’s conclusion was approved in Brady v. Weeks, (3 Barb. 159,) by Paige, J., in which it was also held that a slaughter-house in a city is, prima facie, a nuisance to persons residing in the neighborhood.

In Hay v. Cohoes Co., (2 N. Y. 161,) Gardiner, J., says: “ The use of land by the proprietors is not therefore an absolute right, but qualified and limited by the higher right of others to the lawful possession of their property. To this possession the law prohibits all direct injury, without regard to its extent, or the motives of the aggressor. A man may prosecute such business as he chooses, upon his premises, but he cannot erect a nuisance to the annoyance of the adjoining proprietor, even for the purpose of lawful trade.”

It was held in Carhart v. Auburn Gas Light Co., (22 Barb. 297,) that the use of land for gas works was not within the usual and ordinary purposes to which real estate is applied, and that whenever the works cause any special injury, they are to be regarded as a private nuisance ; and that an action will lie in favor of any person sustaining special injury.

In Fish v. Dodge, (4 Denio, 311,) Judge Bronson very clearly states the rule, and fortifies his statement with numerous cases; and his language, at page 316, is not inapplicable here. He says: “There are many cases in the books where this doctrine has been applied; and among the number are those where a man erects a smith’s forge, swine-sty, lime kiln, privy or tallow furnace, so near [256]*256the dwelling-house of another as to render it unfit for habitation; It is not necessary to a right of action, that the owner should have been driven from his dwelling; it is enough that the enjoyment of life and property has been rendered uncomfortable.”

The defendant’s counsel has cited to the court the case of Doellner v. Tynan, (38 How. Pr.

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Bluebook (online)
63 Barb. 251, 1872 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hutchins-v-smith-nysupct-1872.