Schoff v. City of Somersworth

630 A.2d 783, 137 N.H. 583, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 124
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedAugust 31, 1993
DocketNo. 92-418
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 630 A.2d 783 (Schoff v. City of Somersworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schoff v. City of Somersworth, 630 A.2d 783, 137 N.H. 583, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 124 (N.H. 1993).

Opinion

BROCK, C.J.

This is an interlocutory appeal from the Superior Court’s (Temple, J.) order denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss. The defendant, City of Somersworth, raises several issues involving municipal immunity from tort liability. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The plaintiffs, Glenn D. Schoff and James Schoff, allege the following in their writ. On December 28,1986, they were injured after they drove off the end of Greenfield Drive in Somersworth. Greenfield Drive ends in a “cliff-like precipitous drop” within approximately 750 feet of its entrance. The plaintiffs were unable to see the “No Thru Street” sign intended to alert travelers that the street was a dead end because the sign was small and facing directly opposite the direction in which they were traveling. The plaintiffs’ writ alleges negligence under RSA 231:2 (1982) and RSA 231:92 (1982).

The defendant moved to dismiss, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to allege that the city had actual knowledge of the hazard; that the city has no actionable duty under the facts of this case to post signs or railings; that any duty that does exist is owed to the public, and a private cause of action for negligence may not be predicated upon it; and that the plaintiffs’ claims are barred under the discretionary function exception to municipal liability.

In a comprehensive order, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion. Because the facts alleged, construed in the light most favor[585]*585able to the plaintiffs, would constitute a basis for legal relief pursuant to RSA 231:92 (1982), as it existed at the time of the accident, we affirm. See Collectramatic, Inc. v. Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp., 127 N.H. 318, 320, 499 A.2d 999, 1000 (1985).

The defendant first contends that in order for the plaintiffs to maintain a suit against the city, they are required to plead that the city had actual notice of any alleged deficiency relating to the highway embankment. In support thereof, the defendant relies on this court’s statement in Opinion of the Justices, 134 N.H. 266, 276, 592 A.2d 180, 186 (1991), that “City of Dover [v. Imperial Casualty and Indemnity Co., 133 N.H. 109, 575 A.2d 1280 (1990)] plainly limits a municipality’s liability [for negligence] to instances of actual, not constructive, knowledge.” As the following discussion explains, however, the trial court was correct in finding that City of Dover “did not adopt, as common law requirements, the conditions of actual notice and opportunity to correct.”

The law of municipal liability and immunity historically has been composed of a patchwork of judicial decisions and statutory enactments. In Gossler v. Manchester, 107 N.H. 310, 221 A.2d 242 (1966), we questioned the utility of the judicially created doctrine of municipal immunity but did not strike it down. 107 N.H. at 314-15, 221 A.2d at 245. Eight years later, however, we abrogated municipal immunity, except “for acts and omissions constituting (a) the exercise of a legislative or judicial function, and (b) the exercise of an executive or planning function involving the making of a basic policy decision which is characterized by the exercise of a high degree of official judgment or discretion.” Merrill v. Manchester, 114 N.H. 722, 729, 332 A.2d 378, 383 (1974). We also held that municipalities should be held to the same safety standards as other citizens, 114 N.H. at 728, 332 A.2d at 383, and that they are subject to the same rules of liability as private corporations. 114 N.H. at 730, 332 A.2d at 381.

In response to Merrill, the legislature enacted RSA 507-B:2, see Laws 1975, 483:1, intending to codify the dictates of Merrill. RSA 507-B:2, amended in 1981, provided:

“A governmental unit may be held liable for damages in an action to recover for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage caused by its fault..., arising out of ownership, occupation, maintenance or operation of the following:
I. All premises, except public sidewalks, streets, highways or publicly owned airport runways and taxiways.
II. All motor vehicles.”

RSA 507-B:2 (1983); see Laws 1981, 376:2.

[586]*586In City of Dover we held that RSA 507-B:2 (1983) was unconstitutional in that it denied “parties injured on municipal highways and sidewalks a right to recover as provided in part I, article 14” of the New Hampshire Constitution. 133 N.H. at 120, 575 A.2d at 1286-87. In finding the statute unconstitutional, we provided the legislature with guidance to enable it to enact a constitutionally permissible statute, including a suggestion of imposing a notice requirement. Id. at 120, 575 A.2d at 1286. Contrary to what Opinion of the Justices, 134 N.H. at 276, 592 A.2d at 186, suggests, however, we did not create a notice requirement for all negligence actions against municipalities. Cf. Boston & Maine Corp. v. Town of Hampton, 987 F.2d 855, 860 (1st Cir. 1993) (erroneously interpreting common law as requiring actual notice and opportunity to correct as prerequisites to municipal liability). Moreover, as a note of caution, we reiterate that opinions of the justices are advisory opinions on the constitutionality of proposed legislation, and may not be entitled to weight equal to that given judicial decisions following full adversary process. See N.H. Const., pt. II, art. 74; see, e.g., State v. Corson, 134 N.H. 430, 432, 593 A.2d 248, 250 (1991).

In 1991, the legislature responded to City of Dover by reenacting RSA 507-B:2, providing for limited liability for injuries “arising out of ownership, occupation, maintenance or operation of all motor vehicles, and all premises.” RSA 507-B-.2 (Supp. 1992); Laws 1991, 385:9. The reenacted statute provides, however, “that the liability of any governmental unit with respect to its sidewalks, streets, and highways shall be limited as provided in RSA 231.” RSA 507-B:2 (Supp. 1992). In conjunction with the reenactment of RSA 507-B:2 in 1991, the legislature also repealed and reenacted RSA 231:90-:92, effective January 1,1992, by clarifying the statutory notice requirement imposed on parties suing a municipality in tort, and modifying other municipal liability law.

RSA 231:92, II, as reenacted, provides that

“[a]ny action to recover damages ... arising out of municipal construction, repair or maintenance of its public highways or sidewalks constructed on such highways shall be dismissed unless the complaint describes with particularity the means by which the municipality received actual notice of the alleged insufficiency, or the intentional act which created the alleged insufficiency.”

RSA 231:92, II (Supp. 1992); see also RSA 231:90-:91 (Supp. 1992); see generally Laws 1991, ch. 385.

[587]

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Bluebook (online)
630 A.2d 783, 137 N.H. 583, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schoff-v-city-of-somersworth-nh-1993.