Opinion ID: 852959
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Unlawful Activity or Use of Land as a Prerequisite for Nuisance

Text: We are not persuaded that a public nuisance necessarily involves either an unlawful activity or the use of land. Defendants cite no Indiana case that establishes this requirement, but point out that all Indiana cases to date have fallen into one of these two categories. We think that is due to the happenstance of how the particular public nuisance actions arose and not to any principle of law. The Court of Appeals reached a similar conclusion in rejecting the contention that a party must be the owner or controller of property to be held liable for a nuisance: [a]lthough most nuisance cases refer to the controversy as being between two landowners, it is because this is the norm, not because the law requires either party to be a landowner. Gray v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 624 N.E.2d 49, 53 (Ind.Ct.App.1993) (citations omitted). The court went on to point out that the nuisance statute: uses the broad term whatever to define the possible sources of a nuisance and it does not contain any reference to property ownership by the party creating the nuisance. This indicates the focus of the legislature was on protecting an individual's right to enjoy property from infringement by any source. We hold that the party which causes a nuisance can be held liable, regardless of whether the party owns or possesses the property on which the nuisance originates. Id. at 53. The same reasoning applies to the claim that use of real estate or conduct of an unlawful activity is a prerequisite of a public nuisance. The fact that public nuisance has never been applied to situations other than those involving real property or an unlawful activity does not mean it cannot arise in other contexts. The Restatement also supports the view that neither real estate nor unlawful conduct is a requirement of a public nuisance claim. It is explicit that unlike a private nuisance, a public nuisance does not necessarily involve interference with use and enjoyment of land. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821B, cmt h (1977). The requirement that a public nuisance arise from unlawful conduct is found in subsection (b) of Restatement (Second) section 821B(2). But subsection (b) is only one of three circumstances that may give rise to a public nuisance. Restatement (Second) section 821B, reads in full: (1) A public nuisance is an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public. (2) Circumstances that may sustain a holding that an interference with a public right is unreasonable include the following: (a) Whether the conduct involves a significant interference with the public health, the public safety, the public peace, the public comfort or the public convenience, or (b) whether the conduct is proscribed by a statute, ordinance or administrative regulation, or (c) whether the conduct is of a continuing nature or has produced a permanent or long-lasting effect, and, as the actor knows or has reason to know, has a significant effect upon the public right. Subsection (a) acknowledges that a nuisance may arise from a significant interference with public health, safety or convenience. Subsection (c) recognizes that a predictable significant effect upon the public right may constitute a nuisance. The three subsections are plainly alternative means of imposing an unreasonable interference, and the limitations of subsection (b) do not apply to either subsection (a) or (c). In sum, neither the language of the Indiana statute nor the standard case law formulation of public nuisance places those limits on the doctrine. Indeed, courts in this state and elsewhere have typically rejected any such requirement. Accordingly, we hold that there is no requirement that the activity involve an unlawful activity or use of land. If an activity meets the requirements of an unreasonable interference with a public right, it may constitute a public nuisance. Other jurisdictions have reached similar conclusions in the context of handgun cases. In City of Cincinnati, the Ohio Supreme Court noted although we have often applied public nuisance law to actions connected to real property or to statutory or regulatory violations involving public health or safety, we have never held that public nuisance law is strictly limited to these types of actions. City of Cincinnati v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 95 Ohio St.3d 416, 768 N.E.2d 1136, 1142 (2002) (citation omitted). The court in City of Chicago v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp ., noted common law public nuisance is not limited to those activities the legislature has declared [to be] public nuisances. 337 Ill.App.3d 1, 271 Ill.Dec. 365, 785 N.E.2d 16, 27 (2002) (brackets in original) (quoting Young v. Bryco Arms, 327 Ill.App.3d 948, 262 Ill. Dec. 175, 765 N.E.2d 1, 17 (2001)). See also City of Chicago v. Festival Theatre Corp., 91 Ill.2d 295, 63 Ill.Dec. 421, 438 N.E.2d 159, 162 (1982). But see City of Philadelphia v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 277 F.3d 415, 421 (3d Cir.2002). We also conclude that a public nuisance may exist without an underlying independent tort, although some elements of the two may be indistinguishable in practical terms, as the allegations of this complaint demonstrate. Here the complaint does allege negligence and resulting predicable injury. But a nuisance claim may be predicated on a lawful activity conducted in such a manner that it imposes costs on others. [9] This is the case whether the actor intends the adverse consequences or merely is charged with knowledge of the reasonably predictable harm to others. In either case, the law of public nuisance is best viewed as shifting the resulting cost from the general public to the party who creates it. If the marketplace values the product sufficiently to accept that cost, the manufacturer can price it into the product. If the manufacturers and users of the offending activity conclude that the activity is not worthwhile after absorbing these costs, that is their choice. In either case, there is no injustice in requiring the activity to tailor itself to accept the costs imposed on others or cease generating them. Finally, as City of Chicago noted [o]ne is subject to liability for a nuisance caused by an activity, not only when he carries on the activity but also when he participates to a substantial extent in carrying it on. City of Chicago, 271 Ill.Dec. 365, 785 N.E.2d at 29 (quoting City of Bloomington v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 891 F.2d 611, 614 n. 5 (7th Cir.1989) (applying Indiana law)).