Court Opinion

ID: 9538134
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:31:06.749925+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:32.504028
License: Public Domain

BOOCHEVER, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent from the portion of the majority opinion which remands the case for a trial on the issue of damages. From the undisputed record before us, it appears to me that any damages are de minimus.
On August 1, 1974, Mr. Wickwire granted a perpetual easement to the City and Borough of Juneau for the sewer line buried within the 20-foot front yard setback portion1 of his undeveloped property. The agreed compensation was $100.00. Wick-wire now seeks damages under inverse condemnation for the use of his property between July 1973 and August 1, 1974.
It is undisputed that the sewer line was inadvertently placed on his property and that no improvements have been placed on the land by Mr. Wickwire. Moreover, Mr. Wickwire did not even know that the easement had been placed upon his property until the City ascertained his ownership and advised him of it in April 1974. He rqakes no contention that he would have made any use of the property prior to granting the easement. The easement provides that upon completion of any work under the easement which requires disturbing the surface area, the City shall restore the surface as nearly as may be possible to the original condition. No contention is made that the property was not returned to its prior condition, and there is further no allegation of damage to trees. Since Mr. Wickwire was unaware of the placement of the easement, his request for damages presents some of the same metaphysical problems raised by the question of the sound made when a tree falls in a forest with no one present.
In Scavenius v. City of Anchorage, 539 P.2d 1161 (Alaska 1975), we upheld a jury award of $0.00 in compensation for a sewer easement when there had been a failure to object to instructions permitting the jury to enter an award of no compensation. We held that the difference between an award of $0.00 compensation and a nominal sum is de minimus.2 Considering that the agreed value of the perpetual easement was $100.00, it appears to me that any damages for the use of that easement during the period prior to August 1, 1974 must be nominal.
This case has already resulted in great expenditure of time and effort by counsel and the Court System. Not only were extensive proceedings conducted at trial level, but briefs were filed and full arguments heard before this court. No principle of significance is involved, and it is inconceivable that a substantial sum of money could be awarded. This is of the genre of cases that Dickens must have had in mind when he had Mr. Bumble state, “the law is an ass — an idiot”.3
I would not remand the case for further proceedings at the trial level. The law should not be burdened with such trifles.

. Under the Juneau zoning ordinances, buildings may not be placed within 20 feet of the property line. Title 49, Juneau Municipal Code (1976).

. 539 P.2d at 1165.

. Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapt. 51.