John Riley v. Trent Angelle

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 4, 2022·No. 01-20-00590-CV·Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 4, 2022

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

interfered with his right of access to a city street and created a nuisance. Angelle filed a traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted Angelle’s motion and dismissed all Riley’s claims with prejudice.

On appeal, Riley argues that the trial court erred by (1) granting the traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion in favor of Angelle; (2) dismissing Riley’s public nuisance claim with prejudice; and (3) and (4) granting summary judgment when Angelle’s motion did not address all claims alleged by Riley, including claims for appropriation of a public street that interfered with Riley’s right of access, public nuisance, and injunctive relief. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

Background

The Robertson Subdivision is located in Katy, Texas. Avenue D runs in a north-south direction through the subdivision. A Street runs in an east-west direction from Avenue D. A Street is paved and ends in a cul-de-sac approximately thirty-five feet from the western boundary of the subdivision. The City of Katy owns a sixty- foot right-of-way that encompasses A Street as well as an open ditch on both sides of the street. Angelle owns 5.47 acres of land directly to the west of the Robertson Subdivision. Riley owns Lot 14 of Block 3 in the subdivision. The west side of Riley’s lot borders Angelle’s lot, and the north side of Riley’s lot borders A Street.

Riley’s lot is unimproved, and he has no immediate plans to build on this lot.

In 2016, Angelle constructed a house on his lot. As part of this construction, Angelle sought two permits from the City of Katy: (1) a permit to place a culvert in the ditch along the cul-de-sac of A Street, and (2) a permit for flatwork to construct a driveway leading from the cul-de-sac onto Angelle’s property. The City of Katy granted both permits and directed placement of the culvert, and Angelle constructed the driveway over the culvert. At his property line, Angelle built an electronic gate that was controlled by a keypad. This keypad is located to the left side of the driveway, in the right-of-way for A Street. Also in the right-of-way, Angelle placed a flowerbed and a sprinkler system.

These improvements—the driveway, the flowerbed, sprinklers, and the keypad for the gate—are all located in front of the western portion of Riley’s lot. In 2017, Riley filed suit against Angelle,1 alleging that the improvements materially and substantially impaired access from Riley’s lot to A Street. Riley requested that the trial court award him damages or, alternatively, order Angelle to “remove the impairments to access.” After Angelle filed special exceptions, Riley amended his petition twice to allege that Angelle interfered with Riley’s right of access to A Street and that the improvements created a nuisance. Riley again sought damages and a

1 Riley also sued the City of Katy. The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction, which the trial court granted. The court signed a severance order, making the ruling on the plea to the jurisdiction a final judgment. The City is not a party to this appeal.

permanent injunction requiring Angelle to restore the right-of-way so that Riley’s access to A Street was no longer impeded.

Angelle filed a combined motion for traditional and no-evidence summary judgment. Angelle argued that Riley’s suit was unripe because Riley had not attempted to obtain culvert or driveway permits for his lot from the City of Katy. Angelle pointed to hearing testimony from a City of Katy official stating that if Riley applied for permits for a culvert and to construct a driveway on his lot, the City would grant those permits. He argued that Riley had no damages and could not demonstrate any injury.

Angelle also argued that no fact issue existed on whether he intentionally or negligently created a nuisance. He argued that he properly obtained permits to build his driveway, and that the City of Katy directed where the culvert underneath the driveway would be placed. Therefore, he did not intend to cause any nuisance to Riley with the placement of the culvert and driveway. Angelle argued that he owed no duty to Riley, he breached no duty, and no breach of a duty caused Riley any damages.

After Angelle moved for summary judgment, Riley amended his petition and added an additional claim. For the first time, Riley alleged that Angelle used A Street

for a private purpose in violation of Transportation Code section 316.021,2 “because that use of a portion of ‘A’ Street interferes with the public use of that portion of ‘A’ Street.” He alleged that Angelle’s construction on A Street “is a nuisance per se.”

Riley also filed a response to Angelle’s summary judgment motion. Riley attached numerous exhibits, including an affidavit prepared by his daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth averred that she had assisted Riley with managing his properties for years, and she was familiar with Lot 14 and the improvements that Angelle had constructed. She attached several exhibits to her affidavit, including two surveys of Lot 14 and A Street and three pictures of the improvements.

Angelle filed a reply. In addition to responding to Riley’s arguments on the merits of the summary judgment, Angelle also objected to Elizabeth’s affidavit on several grounds, including lack of personal knowledge, lack of proper foundation for the exhibits attached to the affidavit, reliability, hearsay, and conclusory statements. Riley responded and argued that Elizabeth’s affidavit was admissible, but he also provided an amended affidavit.3

2 See TEX. TRANSP. CODE § 316.021 (authorizing municipality to permit use of portion of municipal street or sidewalk for private purpose if use does not (1) interfere with public use of street or sidewalk or (2) create dangerous condition on street or sidewalk).

3 At the hearing on the summary judgment motion, the trial court “accepted [the amended affidavit] as a person based upon—testifying based upon personal knowledge.” The trial court did not address any of the other grounds for Angelle’s objections. Angelle raised his objections to Elizabeth’s affidavit in his appellee’s brief. However, we need not address Angelle’s objections because consideration of

The trial court signed a written order granting Angelle’s summary judgment motion. The court ordered that Riley take nothing on all his claims and dismissed them with prejudice. The order specifically stated that the court dismissed Riley’s private and public nuisance claims against Angelle with prejudice. This appeal followed.

Summary Judgment

Riley challenges the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Angelle. Riley first argues that the trial court erred by granting Angelle’s traditional and no-evidence summary judgment motion. In his second issue, he argues that the trial court erred by dismissing his public nuisance claim. Finally, he argues that the trial court erred by dismissing all his claims because Angelle’s summary judgment motion did not address all of Riley’s alleged causes of action, including his claim for appropriation of a public street, public nuisance, and injunctive relief. A. Standard of Review We review a trial court’s summary judgment ruling de novo. Odyssey 2020 Acad., Inc. v. Galveston Cent. Appraisal Dist., 624 S.W.3d 535, 540 (Tex. 2021).

Elizabeth’s affidavit is not necessary to resolve any of Riley’s appellate issues. See TEX. R. APP. P. 47.1 (providing that appellate opinion must address “every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of the appeal”).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

John Riley v. Trent Angelle, (Tex. Ct. App. 2022).

John Riley v. Trent Angelle (John Riley v. Trent Angelle) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett
164 S.W.3d 656 (Texas Supreme Court, 2005)
G & H TOWING CO. v. Magee
347 S.W.3d 293 (Texas Supreme Court, 2011)
Luensmann v. Zimmer-Zampese & Associates, Inc.
103 S.W.3d 594 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Jamail v. Stoneledge Condominium Owners Ass'n
970 S.W.2d 673 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Maranatha Temple, Inc. v. Enterprise Products Company
893 S.W.2d 92 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
McConnell v. Southside Independent School District
858 S.W.2d 337 (Texas Supreme Court, 1993)
Blancett v. Lagniappe Ventures, Inc.
177 S.W.3d 584 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp.
39 S.W.3d 191 (Texas Supreme Court, 2001)
Aguilar v. Trujillo
162 S.W.3d 839 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2005)
Cooper v. Litton Loan Servicing, LP
325 S.W.3d 766 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)
King Ranch, Inc. v. Chapman
118 S.W.3d 742 (Texas Supreme Court, 2003)
Lake Travis Independent School District v. Lovelace
243 S.W.3d 244 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
PAS, INC. v. Engel
350 S.W.3d 602 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Battista v. CITY OF ALPINE
345 S.W.3d 769 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)
Quanah Acme & P. Ry. Co. v. Swearingen
4 S.W.2d 136 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)
Lujan v. Navistar, Inc.
555 S.W.3d 79 (Texas Supreme Court, 2018)