Court Opinion

ID: 9717621
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:07:17.60741+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:54.320483
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HARRISON, dissenting: I must respectfully dissent. As the majority opinion stated, a landowner is under no obligation to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice from his property. (Hankla v. Burger Chef Systems, Inc. (1981), 93 Ill. App. 3d 909, 910.) Likewise, the mere removal of snow and the exposing of a natural ice surface beneath does not itself constitute negligence. (Timmons v. Turski (1981), 103 Ill. App. 3d 36.) Nevertheless, property owners are charged with negligence when the ice upon which plaintiff falls accumulates either as a result of the owner’s aggravating a natural condition or because of his engaging in conduct which gives rise .to a new, unnatural or artificial condition. For example, in cases where fallen snow was plowed into formations which melted, drained, and then refroze, the new frozen accumulation was termed unnatural. See Fitzsimons v. National Tea Co. (1961), 29 Ill. App. 2d 306. However, it is not always clear which accumulations are natural and which are unnatural. As the Fourth District observed in Hankla when it refused to impose liability on the landowner for injuries sustained in a fall from a snow-covered curb: “The parties have not cited, nor have we found, an Illinois court which has detailed the differences between natural and unnatural accumulations.” (Hankla v. Burger Chef Systems, Inc. (1981), 93 Ill. App. 3d 909, 911.) Likewise in Timmons, a parking lot case factually similar to the present case, we specifically declined to “determine whether such compaction by motor vehicles constitutes a natural or an unnatural accumulation * * *." This court, instead, set aside plaintiff’s $20,000 verdict because he failed to introduce evidence showing that defendant caused an unnatural accumulation of snow and ice at the place where plaintiff fell. (Timmons v. Turski (1981), 103 Ill. App. 3d 36, 38, 430 N.E.2d 1135, 1137.) Therefore, the issue presented for our determination, previously unaddressed, is whether this type of formation on a business owner’s parking lot could constitute an unnatural accumulation. The icy ridges and ruts on the parking lot surface were allegedly formed by automobiles driving on the lot after a snowfall. The automobile traffic occurred because of defendant’s implied invitation to enter onto the premises for business purposes. Thus, the character of the initial natural accumulation changed as a result of defendant’s use of the area concerned. Under such circumstances, the icy ridges and ruts in the parking lot would constitute unnatural accumulations of ice and snow, in effect created by defendant. Summary judgment should be granted only where pleadings, depositions, affidavits, and other documents demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Erasmus v. Chicago Housing Authority (1980), 86 Ill. App. 3d 142, 144.) Because I feel that frozen ruts and ridges caused by automobile traffic would constitute an unnatural accumulation, I believe there remain genuine issues of material fact as to whether this condition existed on the parking lot surface on the evening of January 26, how the condition developed, and whether, in fact, it was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s alleged injuries. Consequently, the judge’s decision to grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment was in error. I would reverse the court’s order and remand this cause for further proceedings.