Liter's of Indiana, Inc. v. Earl E. Bennett and Daniel L. Bodine

51 N.E.3d 285, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 28, 2016 WL 453548
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 5, 2016
Docket39A05-1408-PL-401
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 51 N.E.3d 285 (Liter's of Indiana, Inc. v. Earl E. Bennett and Daniel L. Bodine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Liter's of Indiana, Inc. v. Earl E. Bennett and Daniel L. Bodine, 51 N.E.3d 285, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 28, 2016 WL 453548 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

[1] Appellant-Plaintiff, Liter’s of Indiana, Inc. (Liter’s), appeals the trial court’s judgment entered pursuant to a jury’s verdict in favor of the Appellees-Defendants, Earl Bennett (Bennett) and Daniel Bodine (Bodine) (collectively, the Appellees).

[2] We affirm, and remand with instructions only as to the issuance of permanent injunction with regards to the trespass claim.

ISSUES

[3] Liter’s raises three issues on appeal which we restate as follows:

(1) Whether the common enemy doctrine precludes the Appellees’ negligence claim against Liter’s;
(2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in admitting certain expert testimony; and
(3) Whether the jury awarded inadequate damages on Liter’s trespass claim.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

(4) Around 1982, Bennett and his father purchased 27.25 acres in Hanover, Jefferson County, Indiana (Appellees’ Property). The existing home on the property served as Bennett’s home. In 1992, Bodine, Bennett’s half-brother, inherited his father’s one-half interest in the Appellees’ Property, thereby making him a joint owner. The land adjoining to the east was owned by Richard Clem (Clem). Clem had developed the furthest east side of his property with residential housing and named it Jefferson Manor, Phase I. The western portion, which was approximately 28.072 acres and abutted the Ap-pellees’ Property, remained undeveloped, and in early 2006, Clem accepted Liter’s, a construction service company, offer to purchase these remaining 28.072 acres (Liter’s Property). The Appellees’ and Liter’s Properties were bordered on the south by Highway 62, and the Appellees’ Property *289 and Liter’s Property now shared a boundary line. In the middle of the two Properties, there was a shallow ditch on the boundary line and after a rainfall, water would collect in the ditch and run south from the Liter’s Property to the Appellees’ existing twelve-inch culvert and flow out through Highway 62.

[5] LQI Development, Inc. (LQI), a company owned by Liter’s, projected to develop the Liter’s Property into a residential subdivision comprising of sixty three lots. The subdivision was to be known as Jefferson Manor, Phase II. Embarking on its plan, on March 20, 2006, Liter’s hired Blankenbeker & Son Land Surveyors Inc. (Blankenbeker) to conduct a boundary survey. Consequently, Liter’s applied for a preliminary plat from the City of Madison Plan Commission (the Commission). On May 1, 2006, an advisory hearing was held to consider Liter’s application. During the meeting, an issue arose regarding drainage on Liter’s Property, and the Commission directed Liter’s, through its engineers, to consider constructing a detention basin so as to relieve “down-stream neighbors” from flooding. (Transcript p. 884). On a follow-up meeting held on July 6, 2006, Liter’s attorney informed the Commission that Liter’s would procure a drainage easement from its neighbors prior to the Commission’s approval of the final plat. At the close of the meeting, the Commission approved Liter’s preliminary plat. 1

[6] Liter’s believed that the Appellees had encroached on its property because: (1) the eaves of Bennett’s roof visibly extended “by two feet” on its property, (2) Bennett’s driveway trees sat on Liter’s Property, (3) and Bennett’s satellite dish was rooted on Liter’s Property. (Appellant’s App. p. 112). In addition, each time Bennett mowed the grass bordering the boundary line, he would trespass on Liter’s Property. (Appellant’s App. p. 112). On September 25, 2006, Blankenbeker completed its initial survey, which did not confirm the aforementioned alleged encroachments. On October 26, 2006, Blank-enbeker revised the initial survey. Again, the alleged encroachments were undetected. Still, in the same month and in an effort to resolve the impending drainage issue raised by the Commission, Liter’s approached the Appellees seeking to construct a retention basin 2 on the Appellees’ Property. The Appellees rejected Liter’s proposal.

[7] On January 16, 2007, through a letter, Liter’s once again approached the Ap-pellees and offered $2,500 in exchange for the grant of an easement to construct a storm water detention basin 3 on the Ap-pellees’ Property. In addition, Liter’s proposed to execute an easement in favor of the Appellees, thus providing them with an access strip which would allow Bennett to walk and mow around his house without trespassing on the Liter’s Property, and to also keep the unpermitted encroachments. On the same day, the Appellees, through their lawyer, rejected that offer. Following that rejection, Liter’s commissioned Blankenbeker to commence plans to build a detention basin on its property.

[8] Since prior surveys did not reveal the encroachments, Liter’s instructed *290 Blankenbeker to conduct a third survey, which was finalized on February 5, 2007. That survey confirmed Liter’s allegations, and consistent with those findings, on February 7, 2007, Liter’s filed a Complaint seeking to enjoin and recover damages for the continuing trespass on its property. On April 3, 2007, the Appellees counterclaimed, alleging nuisance since Liter’s had erected a spite fence 4 which deprived them of light and air. On April 23, 2007, Liter’s filed its response stating that the chain link fence could not reasonably deprive the Appellees of light and air. On January 14, 2009, following leave of court, the Appellees amended their Counterclaim to contend that Liter’s had negligently designed its subdivision and that the post-development surface water runoff from the Liter’s Property would flood the Appellees’ Property. In the same month, Liter’s filed its response.

[9] Almost two years later, on December 6, 2010, Liter’s filed a motion for summary judgment on the Appellees’ negligence claim and on Liter’s trespass claim. In support of its motion, Liter’s argued that Indiana’s common enemy doctrine— which provides that surface water that does not flow in defined channels ⅛ a common enemy, and each landowner may deal with it in such a manner as best suits his own convenience — applied; therefore, it could not be liable for negligence. On its trespass claim, Liter’s argued that the facts were unrebutted. The Appellees’ sole rebuttal to Liter’s assertion that the common enemy doctrine barred their claim was that the doctrine was abrogated by the adoption of Indiana Code section 36-9-27-69.5 — which provides in part: (1) that a drainage plan must maintain the amount of drainage through the tract that existed when the tract was created; (2) the plan may not change locations where surface water enters the tract and exits the tract; and (3) water that sheds off a new structure especially when the new structure is elevated or near a property line or both must exit the tract in the same location where it did when the tract was created. A hearing on the summary judgement motion was held on November 21, 2011, and the trial court took the matter under advisement.

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51 N.E.3d 285, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 28, 2016 WL 453548, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liters-of-indiana-inc-v-earl-e-bennett-and-daniel-l-bodine-indctapp-2016.