Court Opinion

ID: 9565592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:24:08.823887+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:46.542952
License: Public Domain

HOWE, Justice
(dissenting):
I dissent from the action of the majority deciding a controversial factual issue which was not determined in the trial court. We have in previous cases almost unanimously refused to do so, stating that the trial court with the witnesses before it is in a much better position to determine factual issues than we are from the cold record. The evidence is far from “evident from the record” (as claimed by the majority) that plaintiffs sustained special damages. As I pointed out in my dissenting opinion when this case was originally before us:
*192The plaintiffs produced evidence that noise emanated from the refrigeration plant and from large trucks coming to and from the plant during both day and night hours. However, the defendant presented evidence that the noise was not perceptible to most people in the neighborhood, that the level of noise was not offensive even to those who could hear it, and that the plaintiffs were unreasonable in their sensitivity to any noise.
While the trial court made no finding as to whether the plaintiffs sustained any special damages as required by Padjen v. Shipley, Utah, 553 P.2d 938 (1976), the court did find that the ice manufacturing plant did not constitute a nuisance and that there was no “increase in the scope of the preexisting nonconforming use.” These findings certainly are not favorable to plaintiffs’ claim of special damages.
Since the evidence was conflicting as to the noise, and the special damages to the plaintiffs, if any, fell far short of being “evident from the record,” the injunction cannot be sustained. I would remand this case for findings as to the particular damage, if any, sustained by the plaintiffs.