Court Opinion

ID: 9538602
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:38:10.621395+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:59.998123
License: Public Domain

CAMERON, Justice,
dissenting.
I regret that I must dissent. I do so for the following reasons:
First, I believe the canal bank roads qualify as agricultural lands under the definition of “premises” in A.R.S. § 33-1551(B)(1).
Agricultural lands are lands that are used for or in connection with agriculture. The canals transport water so that land may be put to agricultural uses that our dry climate could not otherwise permit. The canals and their support roads are necessary to sustain our agricultural economy. The majority opinion is shortsighted. It exposes the canal owners to undue liability by too narrowly restricting the definition of “premises.”
Second, there is no reason not to apply the Salladay doctrine in the instant case. We do not find here the callous indifference which caused us not to apply the Salladay doctrine in Buckeye Irrigation. In that case, we stated:
The immunity given to irrigation districts in Salladay, supra, was based in sound public policy at the time. It is sound public policy today as far as the use of canals and canal banks are concerned. Unfortunately, this immunity sometimes leads to the callous “public be damned” policy exemplified by the testimony of the manager of the defendant irrigation company in the instant case. The statement of the manager that it was “not my responsibility to see that everything on our canal system is safe for anybody’s use” and that he is only concerned with the safety of his employees and not anyone else’s is the direct result of the belief by the irrigation company that because of Salladay, supra, it had absolute immunity from suit____ *267[U]nder the peculiar facts of this case public policy does not require the application of the Salladay immunity doctrine. This, it seems, is the only way that the defendants and others in like situations can be prevented from using a grant of immunity as an excuse not to exercise reasonable care to protect members of the public____
Buckeye Irrigation, 118 Ariz. 498, 502, 578 P.2d 177, 181 (1978).
The defendants in this case took reasonable steps to protect recreational users from dangerous conditions. They painted the cable with reflective paint, indicating their sensitivity to the users of the canal bank. They tried to warn canal bank users of the chains that were necessary to keep automobiles from entering the premises. Opening the canal banks to automobiles would have been more dangerous for the pedestrians and bicyclists. The Association took precautions to protect the safety and welfare of recreational users of the Salt River Canal.
Third and finally, I am fearful that the majority opinion will cause canal companies and owners of other properties to close their facilities to recreational use by the public.
I therefore dissent.