Krueger v. Mitchell

332 N.W.2d 733, 112 Wis. 2d 88, 1983 Wisc. LEXIS 2867
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided April 26, 1983·No. 81-247·Published·Cited by 39 cases

Opinions

[91] BEILFUSS, C.J.

This is a review of a decision of the court of appeals1 which affirmed the judgment of the circuit court for Waukesha County, MAX RASKIN, Reserve Circuit Judge, presiding, in favor of the plaintiff in a private nuisance action.

In 1969 the plaintiff, Harold Krueger, commenced the operation of Krueger’s Lawn Capitol, a lawn and garden supply and equipment store across the road from the Capitol Drive Airport (Airport). In 1977 the defendants, Dean and Lois Mitchell, purchased the Airport which had been in operation over 25 years. The Airport, although privately owned, is open for public use.

Prior to 1978 the Airport had no paved runways, rather the Airport had two grass runways. One runway ran along the west border of the Airport in a north-south direction, and the other runway ran along the north border in an east-west direction. In the fall of 1978 the defendants began construction of a paved runway which would run in a north-east/south-west direction, thus channeling ascending and descending aircraft in a path directly over the plaintiff’s building. This paved runway was constructed for safety reasons in that it provided a longer runway distance than the unpaved north-south runway, and because the unpaved runways often became unsafe due to precipitation.

Krueger commenced this action in November of 1978, claiming that the paved runway would create a nuisance. He alleged that because the paved runway, unlike the unpaved runways, channeled flights directly over his business, the noise emanating from the airplanes would interfere with the use and enjoyment of his business. He sought an injunction enjoining the defendants from constructing the runway.

Krueger obtained an ex parte order restraining the Mitchells from continuing work on the runway. Follow[92] ing a hearing the trial court denied the plaintiff’s request for a temporary injunction and dissolved the ex parte order. The plaintiff was then allowed to amend his complaint to request damages for the annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort caused by the noise emanating from the planes using the runway. Construction of the paved runway was subsequently completed.

In August of 1980 a jury trial was held. There was no evidence presented that the Airport was operating in violation of the law, and the only damages claimed were the annoyance, discomfort and inconvenience caused by the aircraft noise. The jury returned a verdict finding that the operation of the airport since 1978 constituted a nuisance. It awarded $2,000 for past damages and $10,000 for future damages. The trial court held that the jury could reasonably have found the Airport to constitute a nuisance but that the evidence was insufficient to support the amount of damages awarded. It therefore reduced the award to $500 for past injury and $2,500 for future annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort. The plaintiff accepted this remittitur and judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff. The defendants appealed.

The court of appeals affirmed. The court concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the Airport constituted a nuisance, and the amount of damages awarded by the trial court. It also held that the plaintiff could recover damages for personal inconvenience, annoyance and discomfort caused by a nuisance even in the absence of any showing of monetary loss or bodily injury. We accepted the defendants’ petition for review.

The first issue on review is whether Congress, by the enactment of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (Act), 49 U.S.C., sec. 1301 et seq., as amended, preempted the field of aviation noise control to the exclusion of private nuisance actions against owners of private airports.

[93] The doctrine of preemption, a corollary to the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution, art. VI, cl. 2, invalidates state or local government regulation that “stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.” Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67 (1941). Under the the concept of preemption, federal regulation may preclude state or local action in the same area only if it was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress to supersede state authority. Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230 (1947). “The principle to be derived from our decisions is that federal regulation of a field of commerce should not be deemed preemptive of state regulatory power in the absence of persuasive reasons — either that the nature of the regulated subject matter permits no other conclusion, or that Congress has unmistakably so ordained.” Florida Avocado Growers v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142 (1963). Where Congress has not expressly stated its intent to preempt an area of commerce, the Supreme Court has enunciated the grounds for inferring that such intent as follows:

“The scheme of federal regulation may be so persuasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it. Pennsylvania R. Co. v. Public Service Comm’n, 250 U.S. 566, 569; Cloverleaf Butter Co. v. Patterson, 315 U.S. 148. Or the Act of Congress may touch a field in which the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject. Hines v. Davidowitz, 321 U.S. 52. Likewise, the object sought to be obtained by the federal law and the character of obligations imposed by it may reveal the same purpose. Southern R. Co. v. Railroad Commission, 236 U.S. 439; Charleston & W.C.R. Co. v. Varnville Co., 237 U.S. 597; New York Central R. Co. v. Winfield, 244 U.S. 147; Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., supra. Or the state policy may produce a result inconsistent with [94] the objective of the federal statute. Hill v. Florida, 325 U.S. 538.” Rice, 331 U.S. at 230.

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Krueger v. Mitchell, 332 N.W.2d 733, 112 Wis. 2d 88, 1983 Wisc. LEXIS 2867 (Wis. 1983).

332 N.W.2d 733 (Krueger v. Mitchell) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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