Loyer Educational Trust v. Wayne County Road Commission

425 N.W.2d 189, 168 Mich. App. 587
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 17, 1988
DocketDocket 93959
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 425 N.W.2d 189 (Loyer Educational Trust v. Wayne County Road Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Loyer Educational Trust v. Wayne County Road Commission, 425 N.W.2d 189, 168 Mich. App. 587 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

Plaintiff, Loyer Educational Trust, brought suit against the Wayne County Road Commission, the Board of Wayne County Road Commissioners, the individual commissioners, and Brownstown Township, first seeking a preliminary injunction or writ of mandamus and later seeking money damages caused by the road commission’s denial of a driveway permit to allow access to plaintiff’s commercial development. Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction or in the alternative a writ of mandamus was denied on February 21, 1984, since the trial court was unconvinced that there was no appropriate legal relief available. That decision was appealed to this Court and defendants filed a motion to dismiss. This Court granted defendants’ motion since the denial of a preliminary injunction or writ of mandamus is not an appealable final judgment. Defendant Browns-town Township was dismissed from the suit upon the court’s grant of summary disposition for plain *589 tiffs failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

In May, 1986, the suit for money damages was heard by the Wayne Circuit Court. After taking under advisement the evidence presented, the arguments, and the briefs provided by the parties, the court issued an opinion finding that plaintiff was not entitled to injunctive relief, a writ of mandamus, or money damages since defendants’ conduct was not wrongful. From its judgment of no cause of action, plaintiff now appeals as of right, claiming the court’s decision was legally erroneous.

The Loyer Educational Trust was established by LaVern Loyer as an education fund for his children. After his children had been educated, Loyer found that money remained in the trust which would eventually be distributed to the children. The trustee decided that a real estate development would be a good investment for the trust and hired Loyer to be the contractor of a project which became known as the Sibley Plaza Shopping Center.

Defendant constructed a shell building consisting of between 23,000 and 24,000 square feet on approximately 2 Vi acres of land with 365-foot frontage on Sibley Road, between 1-75 and Telegraph Road. On April 1, 1981, when the building was approximately half done, plaintiff applied, through its agent, to defendant Wayne County Road Commission for a permit to connect to water and sewer lines and to connect a driveway to Sibley Road. The defendants stated that plaintiff could get a permit only if plaintiff made certain modifications to the road right of way, including a passing lane on the north (opposite) side of Sibley Road and a widening of the pavement in front of plaintiffs property on the south side of Sibley *590 Road as a deceleration lane, to prevent traffic congestion.

Plaintiff then constructed a driveway from the Sibley Plaza property onto a private road which was west of the shopping center site. This private road led to Loyer Construction, plaintiff’s construction company, which was situated behind the proposed shopping center. Construction of this driveway was unauthorized by the road commission. Defendants notified plaintiff that this construction was unauthorized and that a permit would be necessary. On October 14, 1981, plaintiff, under Sibley Plaza letterhead, reapplied for access to water and sewer, showing its new access to Sibley Road via the private drive leading to Loyer Construction. Defendant responded that a permit could not be issued until certain modifications were made to the Sibley Road right of way, the Van Cleef drain and Emit Street, a private drive opposite plaintiff’s property. These modifications included the addition of a passing lane on the north side of Sibley Road and the movement or enclosure of the Van Cleef drain. The additional work on the drain and private drive were required because the newly proposed placement of plaintiff’s driveway required the passing lane to disrupt this drain and the intersection of Emit Street with Sibley Road. Defendants based their modification requirement upon a set of rules entitled Rules, Standards and Procedures for Driveways within Wayne County Road Commission Right of Way, which was promulgated pursuant to the Michigan driveways, banners, events and parades act, MCL 247.321 et seq.; MSA 9.140(21) et seq.

Plaintiff refused to make the required modifications, claiming that the cost would be prohibitive and that the road commission had no authority to require it to pay for the improvement to the north *591 side of Sibley Road. Plaintiff estimated that the cost of the required improvements would be $150,000 to $200,000, which would be approximately thirty percent of the entire cost of the project. Defendants, on the other hand, testified that the required improvement on the north side of the road would cost between $40,000 and $50,000. Although defendants offered to let plaintiff defer the construction of the disputed improvements through the provision of letters of credit, plaintiff refused and instead proceeded to trial seeking injunctive relief or a writ of mandamus and damages.

Evidence was presented that the twenty-four-hour traffic volume on Sibley Road during a test conducted during 1981 was 15,280 vehicles. It was projected that there would be eighty-three left turns during a peak traffic hour. There also was testimony that the passing lane would be required to safely avoid accidents.

On appeal, plaintiff claims that the road commission may not, pursuant to the driveways, banners, events and parades act, compel a private developer to install a passing lane and related improvements as a precondition to the granting of a driveway permit. We disagree.

The purpose of the driveways, banners, events and parades act is to regulate driveways, banners, events, and parades upon highways, to promulgate rules for the regulation, and to prescribe requirements for the issuance of permits therefor. 1969 PA 200, Statement of Purpose.

Section 2 of this act, MCL 247.322; MSA 9.140(22), provides:

No driveway, banner or parade is lawful except pursuant to a permit issued in accordance with this act unless otherwise provided. Nothing in this *592 act shall be construed to prevent the application of the provisions of any other statute of this state or any local ordinance which is more restrictive than this act nor to preclude any city or village from requiring city or village permits with respect to any street or highway within its corporate limits. No permit shall be issued pursuant to this act unless there is compliance with other provisions of law or ordinances. [Emphasis added.]

Section 4 of the act, MCL 247.324; MSA 9.140(24), provides:

Permits for driveways shall be granted in conformity with rules promulgated by the highway authority which shall be consistent with the public safety and based upon the traiRc volumes, drainage requirements and the character of the use of land adjoining the highway and other requirements in the public interest. Rules shall prescribe reasonable standards for the design and the location of driveways and may require that driveways shall be hard-surfaced. The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to deny reasonable access to a nonlimited access highway.

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Related

Scholma v. Ottawa County Road Commission
303 Mich. App. 13 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2013)
Smith v. Edwards
645 N.W.2d 304 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
425 N.W.2d 189, 168 Mich. App. 587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/loyer-educational-trust-v-wayne-county-road-commission-michctapp-1988.