Wichita Terminal Ass'n v. F.Y.G. Investments, Inc.

305 P.3d 13, 48 Kan. App. 2d 1071
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMay 31, 2013
DocketNo. 107,666
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 305 P.3d 13 (Wichita Terminal Ass'n v. F.Y.G. Investments, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wichita Terminal Ass'n v. F.Y.G. Investments, Inc., 305 P.3d 13, 48 Kan. App. 2d 1071 (kanctapp 2013).

Opinion

Bruns, J.:

This is the third appeal in a dispute over access to real property. The Wichita Terminal Association, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Company, and Union Pacific Railroad (collectively WTA) own and operate railroad tracks in Wichita. F.Y.G. Investments, Inc., andTreatco, Inc. (collectively FYG) own real property adjacent to the WTA’s tracks. In 2008, the WTA was ordered to provide access—by way of a permanent railroad crossing—from a public street to FYG’s real property.

In the present appeal, although the WTA does not dispute the district court’s authority to require it to install a permanent railroad crossing to provide access to FYG’s property, it contends that federal law preempts state courts from requiring interstate rail carriers to remove or reconstruct existing tracks in order to install a permanent railroad crossing. Specifically, the WTA argues that provisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act [1073]*1073(ICCTA), 49 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. (2006), preempted the remedies ordered by the district court in a journal entry filed on Januaiy 25, 2012. Because we find that federal .preemption is applicable to some of the remedies ordered by the district court, we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand with directions.

Facts

Wichita City Ordinance No. 5436—which was enacted in 1916—grants the WTA the right to construct, operate, and maintain railroad tracks along 25th Street in Wichita. Pursuant to the ordinance, the WTA continues to own and operate two sets of parallel railroad tracks that run within a 30-foot right-of-way located south of 25th Street. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe and Union Pacific use the tracks as an interchange to move rail traffic between their rail lines. In addition, they temporarily store railcars on tire tracks to facilitate the interchange of rail traffic.

In 1996, FYG purchased approximately 27 acres of undeveloped land directly to the south of the WTA’s railroad tracks. After the WTA began repairing its railroad tracks in September 2002, FYG claimed that the WTA was a trespasser. Thereafter, on November 6, 2002, the WTA initiated this action, seeking to enjoin FYG from interfering with its right to maintain the railroad tracks. In response, FYG filed a counterclaim requesting an easement to allow vehicles to cross the WTA’s tracks in order to access its property from 25th Street.

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the WTA on January 7, 2004, finding that FYG had no legal right to ingress and egress across the WTA’s railroad right-of-way. The district court also found that the city ordinance gave the WTA the right to construct, operate, and maintain railroad tracks along 25th Street. On appeal, a panel of this court reversed the district court’s ruling and remanded the case to the district court “to determine if an injunction to provide- ingress and egress [was] appropriate.” See Wichita Terminal Association v. F.Y.G. Investments, Inc., No. 92,132, 2005 WL 824042, *4 (Kan. App. 2005) (unpublished opinion) (Wichita Terminal Association I).

[1074]*1074On February 20, 2007, the district court held an evidentiary hearing on remand. After hearing the testimony of several witnesses, the district court announced its decision on the record. The district court found that 25th Street—although undeveloped—is a public street and that the city ordinance required the WTA to provide ingress and egress over its railroad tracks to FYG’s real property. In addition, the district court announced that it was entering a mandatory injunction requiring the WTA to construct and install a permanent railroad crossing and, in the interim, to keep a temporary crossing open to provide access to FYG’s land adjacent to the railroad tracks. Following the hearing, the district court filed a minute order and directed FYG’s attorney to prepare a journal entry.

Because the parties could not agree on the terms of the journal entiy, one was not filed until August 1, 2008. In the journal entiy, the district court ordered the WTA to:

“construct and install, within 90 days after [FYG’s] presentation to [the WTA] of sealed engineering drawings ..., (i) a permanent railroad crossing at least 32 feet in width at the point where the centerline of the dedicated Emporia Court street intersects with the railroad tracks, and (ii) permanent railroad crossing protection in compliance with Federal Railroad Administration requirements.”

No appeal was filed from this journal entry, and it became a final order of the district court.

On December 18, 2008, FYG presented the WTA with a set of engineering drawings approved by the City of Wichita for the construction of a permanent railroad crossing at Emporia Court. Under the terms of the journal entiy, the WTA was obligated to complete a permanent railroad crossing at Emporia Court by March 22, 2009. Because work on the project had not commenced as of April 2, 2009, FYG filed a motion for order to appear and show cause. The motion requested that the court hold the WTA in contempt for failing to begin work on the Emporia Court crossing and for failing to keep the temporaiy crossing open as required by the journal entiy filed on August 1, 2008.

In response, the WTA moved for relief from judgment under K.S.A. 60-260(b). In die motion, the WTA argued that the installation of a permanent railroad crossing at the Emporia Court lo[1075]*1075cation would be impractical, if not impossible, because the placement of crossing protection devices would impede the public right-of-way on 25th Street and would violate the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Moreover, in its response to FYG’s contempt motion, the WTA also argued that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) had express or implied jurisdiction to review the matter under the ICCTA because a railroad crossing at Emporia Court would have a substantial impact on interstate commerce.

On June 9, 2009, a different district judge conducted an eviden-tiary hearing to consider both FYG’s contempt motion and the WTA’s K.S.A. 60-260(b) motion. At the hearing, tire judge questioned an employee of Burlington Northern & Santa Fe regarding whether the WTA could construct the Emporia Court crossing in compliance with the MUTCD if it removed the north track to allow more room for the placement of crossing protection devices. The judge also questioned the employee regarding whether the WTA could install an undeqpass or overpass at Emporia Court.

At the conclusion of tire hearing, the district court granted the WTA’s K.S.A. 60-260(b) motion and denied FYG’s contempt motion. Specifically, the district court found that “the installation of traffic protection for a crossing over two tracks at Emporia Court is practically impossible . . . without impeding traffic on the unimproved 25th Street.” Hence, the district court concluded that the WTA had shown good cause for failing to timely construct and install a permanent crossing at Emporia Court.

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Bluebook (online)
305 P.3d 13, 48 Kan. App. 2d 1071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wichita-terminal-assn-v-fyg-investments-inc-kanctapp-2013.