BARFIELD INSTRUMENT CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
SEA VIEW INDUSTRIES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND BIRMINGHAM INDUSTRIES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1958-04-10
No. 57-314
CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON J., concur.
102 So. 2d 740 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1958) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

Barfield Instrument Corporation sought injunctive relief against neighbors allegedly operating a manufacturing plant that emitted paint spray damaging Barfield's adjacent property used as a parking lot. The court held that the complaint stated a valid cause of action for private nuisance despite not alleging violation of any statute or zoning regulation, reversing the dismissal.


Holding

The amended complaint states a valid cause of action for injunctive relief. A private nuisance can exist from a lawful business conducted in an unreasonable manner that deprives a neighbor of free use and enjoyment of adjoining property, without requiring violation of statute or zoning regulations. The trial court erred in dismissing the complaint on the pleadings.


Key Quotes

“A lawful business may be conducted in such an unreasonable manner, that as a result thereof, a neighbor is deprived of the free use or enjoyment of his adjoining property.”

Establishes the core legal principle that unlawful use is not essential to establish an actionable nuisance

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Facts & Procedural History

Defendants owned a manufacturing plant adjacent to plaintiff's property that emitted dense quantities of paint spray and liquid paint particles onto p…

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Opinion of the Court
PEARSON, Judge.

PEARSON, Judge.

The appellant brought an action for injunctive relief. The amended complaint charged that the defendants were using their premises so as to constitute a private nuisance, in that a manufacturing plant located thereon continually emitted dense quantities of paint spray and particles of liquid paint, which fell on plaintiff’s adjacent real property causing plaintiff irreparable injury. It was further alleged that the wet paint spray rendered part of plaintiff’s premises unfit for the use to which it had previously been put, that is as a parking lot, thereby impairing the operation of plaintiff’s business of which the parking lot was a part. This complaint was dismissed with prejudice and without leave to amend.

The point for determination is whether the complaint sets forth a cause of action for injunctive relief by a sufficient allegation of facts, which if proved, would establish the operation conducted by the defendants to be a nuisance. We hold that the amended complaint states a cause of action and that therefore the cause should not have been dismissed. It is important to recognize that we are dealing with a pleading and therefore will not judge the probability or the degree of the effect of the ultimate facts pleaded.

However, the appellee points out that there is no allegation that the use which the defendants make of their property is a violation of any statute or zoning regulation. An unlawful use is not essential to the existence of an actionable nuisance. A lawful business may be conducted in such an unreasonable manner, that as a result thereof, a neighbor is deprived of the free use or enjoyment of his adjoining property. See Mayflower Holding Co. v. Warrick, 143 Fla. 125, 196 So. 428.

The appellees urge that the complaint was properly dismissed because of the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida in the case of Page v. Niagara Chemical Division, etc., Fla.1953, 68 So.2d 382. By that opinion the court affirmed a final decree dismissing an amended complaint for in-junctive relief. The complaint was brought *742by twenty employees of a railroad company, who alleged that the defendant operated its plant adjacent to the yard in which the plaintiffs were employed, and that the defendant operated its business in such a manner that chemical dust and gases were allowed to escape and injure the plaintiffs in their place of chosen employment. The Supreme Court held that the dismissal was proper because the plaintiffs owned no interest in the real property affected. This decison could be applicable only if it were true, as the appellees state, that the plaintiff in the instant case is actually not a party in interest and is acting solely for its own employees. But this defense requires the determination of the facts upon which it rests, and such a determination could not be made upon a motion to dismiss, which admits all facts well pleaded. Connolly v. Sebeco, Inc., Fla.1956, 89 So.2d 482.

We are also cognizant of the fact that in an industrial area a reasonable use of property often places some burden upon the property of one’s neighbor, and that these burdens must be considered carefully in the light of the circumstances presented in order to determine the reasonableness of the particular use. Beckman v. Marshall, Fla.1956, 85 So.2d 552. The reasonableness of each use must be determined from the circumstances of each case. Reaver v. Martin Theatres of Florida, Fla.1951, 52 So.2d 682; McClosky v. Martin, Fla.1951, 56 So.2d 916. It will be noted that in each of the three cases above cited the determination was made upon the basis of the testimony taken. Inasmuch as it does not affirmatively appear from the amended complaint that the use of the defendants’ premises was so reasonable under the circumstances that a nuisance could not have existed, if the allegations of the complaint are proved, the complaint should not have been dismissed.

Reversed and remanded.

CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Linton LEE and his wife v. Fla. Pub. Utils. Co., 145 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 1st DCA 1962)
    …. 1 Harper and James, The Law of Torts, p. 73. . Cason v. Florida Power Company, 74 Fla. 1, 76 So. 535, L.R.A.1918A, 1034. . Beckman v. Marshall, (Fla.1956) 85 So. 2d 552. . Barfield Instrument Corporation v. Sea View Industries, (Fla.App.1958) 102 So. 2d 740, 741.…
  • United Metal & Steel Corp. v. Jones Boat Yard, Inc., 128 So. 2d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed on the authority of Barfield Instrument Corporation v. Sea View Industries, Fla.App.1958, 102 So. 2d 740; A & P Food Stores, Inc. v. Kornstein, Fla.App.1960, 121 So. 2d 701. See, also, Page v. Niagra Chemical Division of Food Machinery & Chemical Corp., Fla.1953, 68 So. 2d 382; Beckman v. Marshall, Fla.1956, 85 So. 2d 552. HORTON, C. J., CARROLL, CHAS…
  • …his court reversed 'the trial court’s ruling that, as long as' the appellees limit the number of chickens to be in compliance with the county ordinance, there was no private nuisance. Id.; see also Barfield Instrument Corp. v. Sea View Indus., Inc., 102 So. 2d 740, 741 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958) (“An unlawful use is not essential to the existence of-an actionable nuisance.”). . The First District has also applied this reasoning in a case involving a rowing center, noting that' mere compliance with the zoning ordina…

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