Opinion ID: 1597927
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the defendants had a duty to exercise reasonable care in preventing the creation of a dangerous condition.

Text: ¶ 8. To improve land means to develop land. Black's Law Dictionary 761 (7th ed.1999). Land may be considered to be improved even though the value of the land has not been enhanced by the improvement. Id. ¶ 9. An owner of land which is situated over other lands (the upper landowner) is liable for water which flows onto land which lies underneath the incline when he has, by artificial means, discharged the water in a manner that unreasonably damages the lower landowner. Hall v. Wood, 443 So.2d 834, 839 (Miss. 1983). ¶ 10. The duties of upper landowners are set out in Hall, as follows: Where the flow of waters has been rendered by the operation of the laws of physics upon the natural contours of the land, a lower landowner has no rights against his upper neighbor for damages thus caused. Certainly upper landowners may use well established watercourses through lower lands to drain upper properties. On the other hand, an upper landowner may not unreasonably alter natural drainage patterns to the detriment of his lower neighbor. Id. (citations omitted). ¶ 11. Hall goes on to state that an upper landowner may use his lands in a reasonable manner, even if, as a result of this use, the waters harm lower landowners. Id. However, the use of the land cannot be unreasonable. See, e.g., Homes, Inc. v. Anderson, 235 So.2d 680, 682 (Miss. 1970); Lauck v. Gilbert, 252 Miss. 371, 173 So.2d 626 (1965); American Sand & Gravel Co. v. Rushing, 183 Miss. 496, 502, 184 So. 60 (1938); Bd. of Drainage Comm'rs v. Bd. of Drainage Comm'rs, 130 Miss. 764, 95 So. 75 (1923). ¶ 12. As set out in Hall, it is impossible for an upper landowner to retain all water that comes upon property: The owner of unimproved upper lands may allow diffused surface waters to drain from his lands unimpeded in their natural state even though lower landowners are affected. To require an upper landowner to retain all waters coming onto his property from all sources, especially rainfall, would (a) be to require an impossibility and (b) impose an intolerable burden on the owners of upper lands in every water shed. 443 So.2d at 839. ¶ 13. In the absence of proof of an affirmative act creating an artificial condition, the upper landowner cannot be liable for the damage allegedly caused by the diffusion of surface waters. Id.; see also Fazio v. Fegley Oil Co., 714 A.2d 510, 514 (Pa.Cmwlth.1998), appeal denied, 557 Pa. 656, 734 A.2d 863 (1999); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 368 (1965). In Hall, the Court held that an upper landowner who stripped his land should reasonably have known his actions would result in erosion which in turn would result in substantial silting, sedimentation, and general pollution of lake, and that the lower landowners were entitled to injunctive relief against him. 443 So.2d at 840. In Fazio, the Pennsylvania court defined an artificial condition, for which an upper landowner might be liable, as one where the grade of the property was artificial, where the flow of water differed from the natural channel of water flow, or where the upper landowner did something to increase the quantity of the water flow. 714 A.2d at 513-14. ¶ 14. Martin argues that the Scruggs' use of the field roads and of the culvert for ingress and egress constituted an artificial condition, and that the use of the field roads constituted an affirmative act, thus making the defendants liable for the dangerous condition on the road. Scruggs responds that no affirmative act was performed and that there is no basis for liability. Vanderbeck contends that summary judgment was proper because the Estate had no duty to travelers on the road. ¶ 15. Martin cites and relies on Maucieri v. Ware, 263 A.D. 721, 30 N.Y.S.2d 672, 673 (N.Y.App.Div.1941). In that case, a pedestrian brought suit for injuries received from a fall onto an icy sidewalk abutting the defendant's land. The plaintiff alleged that this fall was caused by the icy accumulation of water discharged by the defendant's driveway. On appeal, the court found that there was evidence sufficient for a jury to conclude that the driveway changed the natural contours of the land and caused surface waters to concentrate and discharge on the sidewalk. This ruling appears to be in conflict with Mississippi law, which requires the upper landowner's use to be unreasonable. ¶ 16. Scruggs cites LaForm v. Bethlehem Township, 346 Pa.Super. 512, 499 A.2d 1373, 1378 (1985), for the rule that an upper landowner is liable for the effects of surface water running off his property only when he has (1) diverted the water from its natural channel by artificial means or (2) unreasonably or unnecessarily increased the quantity or changed the quality of water discharged. Id. In Fazio, the LaForm rule was adopted, holding that proof of a single identifiable act or a dramatic change in the landscape caused by the upper landowner is required. 714 A.2d at 513. Fazio alleged that the defendants were liable for injuries she incurred when she slipped on ice. Water from an artificial condition created by a mini-mart had accumulated on a public thoroughfare. The court held that the artificial condition caused unnecessary and unreasonable water runoff which resulted in a risk of harm to the public when the water froze. 714 A.2d at 514. See also LaForm, 499 A.2d at 1378. ¶ 17. The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 368, Conditions Dangerous to Travelers on Adjacent Highway, provides as follows: A possessor of land who creates or permits to remain thereon an excavation or other artificial condition so near an existing highway that he realizes or should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk to others accidently brought into contact with such condition while traveling with reasonable care upon the highway, is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to persons who: (a) are traveling on the highway, or (b) foreseeably deviate from it in the ordinary course of travel. Also instructive is Restatement (Second) of Torts § 349, which defines the duties of landowners to maintain highways or warn motorists of dangerous conditions on the highway. A possessor of land over which there is a public highway or private right of way is not subject to liability for physical harm caused to travelers upon the highway or persons lawfully using the way by his failure to exercise reasonable care (a) to maintain the highway or way in safe condition for their use, or (b) to warn them of dangerous conditions in the way which, although not created by him, are known to him and which they neither know nor are likely to discover. ¶ 18. Mississippi follows the rationale of LaForm and Fazio, requiring an unreasonable affirmative act on the part of the landowner for liability to result. No genuine issue of material fact exists that the use of the land by Scruggs and/or the Estate was unreasonable. ¶ 19. These issues are without merit.