McMullen v. Jennings

41 P.2d 753, 141 Kan. 420, 1935 Kan. LEXIS 166
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 9, 1935
DocketNo. 32,065
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 41 P.2d 753 (McMullen v. Jennings) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McMullen v. Jennings, 41 P.2d 753, 141 Kan. 420, 1935 Kan. LEXIS 166 (kan 1935).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Thiele, J.:

This was an action to recover damages arising from the maintenance of á nuisance.

Although the facts of this case warranted the furnishing of a map or plan sufficient to aid the court in visualizing the scene and. the relation of events to locality, under subdivision (e) of rule 6 of this court, none has been supplied, but from the abstracts we learn the following undisputed facts: In the eastern part of the city of Hutchinson is a block of ground fronting on Second street. Facing north on this street is a row of nineteen houses, and plaintiff is the owner of the next to the last one at the east end. To the east of this block the main line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company runs in a north-and-south direction. Plaintiff purchased his lot and built his house about.twenty years ago. He then sold it and, after being away three or four years, repurchased it in 1924. In 1928 defendant purchased land south of the row of houses and erected an elevator having sixteen upright cylindrical concrete [422]*422storage tubes or bins arranged in a double row, the tubes being about 100 feet high. On'the top of these tubes'was erected a frame gallery about nine feet high and fourteen feet wide, and at the west end was built a headhouse to contain machinery for elevating grain and for distributing it to the various tubes. .In the latter part of 1929 and the early part of 1930 an additional twelve tubes were constructed to the east, and later in 1930 twelve more tubes were constructed to the west. The galleries were extended to cover the new tubes. The original headhouse was of temporary construction and was replaced in June, 1930, by a permanent one in the same location. Switches from the railroad have been built on both the north and south sides of the rows of tubes, one of the switches on the north side running within a few feet of the rear of plaintiff’s premises. Plaintiff’s lot is improved with a one-story, five-room house, a double garage, and has grass and shrubbery growing thereon. Plaintiff’s house is about 500 feet from the headhouse on the elevator.

Plaintiff’s petition was filed in November, 1932, and alleged his ownership of the real property and the construction by the defendant and the laying of the railroad tracks; that defendant has and now unloads large numbers of cars of grain, and cleans and stores it in the elevator and loads it into cars, and said acts have created a most offensive, obnoxious kind of dust, which, with smoke from the trains, has tainted and corrupted the air in and about plaintiff’s premises so as to render the dwelling house and premises unhealthy and unfit for occupation. It is further alleged the trains and large engines used in handling the grain have caused such noise and vibration as to render the premises valueless as a home; that in the treatment of grain obnoxious smelling chemicals have been used to plaintiff’s injury, and in the operation of the elevator dust has been permitted to escape; that it is obnoxious, sickening and offensive, and filters into plaintiff’s home and causes damage to the personal effects and furniture therein, and that all such acts have reduced the value of his home in the amount of $2,500, for which he prayed.

Defendant’s answer admitted plaintiff’s residence and defendant’s erection of the elevator, denied the various claims of nuisance or that- he had damaged plaintiff, and alleged that his elevator was. located on a switch of the above railroad in the industrial district of Hutchinson where it was permitted by ordinance to operate; that the first part of the elevator was erected in 1928 and commenced [423]*423operation about January 1, 1929, and.at all times since had been operated in a careful and orderly manner, with particular attention to the rights of adjacent owners, and without unnecessary annoyance or discomfort to them; that the main line of the railroad was a short distance to the east and had been there for years. The statute of limitations, providing a limitation of two yéars for bringing actions for damages to real or personal property, was pleaded..

Plaintiff, testifying in his own behalf, stated the elevator was in operation in 1929 and before; that after the headhouse was built, four switch tracks were built south of him (between his property and the elevator); switch engines would run in with bells ringing and smoke rolling out' of them, cars would stand there' and hoboes would sleep in them, and that was when the depreciation started; that one track came within seven feet of the corner of his lot; that since the building of the bins or tubes there is suction; that he has continuously had trouble with dust; it gets in the attic and through the shingles, rots the lumber, causes a terrible smell when it gets wet; that he complained to defendant right at the start, and when defendant started to build the second section plaintiff talked with defendant, who said when they got it completed there wouldn’t be any dust, but there was just as much dust afterwards as before. He further stated that in the winter the headhouse cuts off the sunshine from his place after 2:30 in the afternoon. Other witnesses for plaintiff testified there had been dust there ever since the elevator was in operation; that dirt had been scooped out of the elevator from the top to the ground; that the dust would settle on plaintiff’s property; that it had an odor or stench similar to a pig pen. One witness stated he believed there was more dust after the new headhouse was completed than before, because the whole construction was larger; that he had seen better precautions to prevent escape of dust, and did not see any dust collector when he was in the elevator. Another witness stated he had lived near since 1928 and that the dust came out wherever there was an opening, and that when the first headhouse was there, a greater part of the time you could hardly see it for the dust, and that he and others complained to defendant both before and after the new headhouse was built. Other witnesses testified that the erection of the new head-house didn’t get rid of the escaping dust; one said the amount of dust increased as more bins were added, another that it stayed about the' same. There was testimony also as to the noisome [424]*424quality of the-dust, as well as to the effect upon living conditions. We need not here notice the testimony as to the effect upon the value of plaintiff’s property.

Defendant demurred to plaintiff’s evidence on the ground no cause of action was proved, on the further ground it was not affirmatively shown that the operation of the elevator constituted a nuisance or a negligent or improper use of the property, and for the further reason, that if any cause of action existed it accrued more than two years before the filing of the suit. This demurrer was overruled, the trial proceeded, and judgment against the defendant followed. Defendant appeals, assigning various errors, two of which will be noticed.

. Did 'the evidence show that a nuisance existed? It is argued by appellant that his business is a lawful one, located in a community where like businesses are being carried on, operated in a nonnegligent manner, and that such annoyances' as plaintiff suffers are not sufficient to warrant recovery. It is said that one is entitled to use his own property -in any lawful manner he may choose, and as a general statement that may be conceded, but his use must be such that it 'does not materially and unnecessarily interfere with the right of an adjoining property owner to have enjoyment of his premises.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
41 P.2d 753, 141 Kan. 420, 1935 Kan. LEXIS 166, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmullen-v-jennings-kan-1935.