Court Opinion

ID: 9549150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:14:10.353993+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:19:55.586410
License: Public Domain

CONNOR, Justice,
with whom BOO-CHEVER, Justice, joins, dissenting.
I disagree with the result.
I think that the state did benefit from the placement of gravel on the premises, and that the state has a sufficient relation to the project that unjust enrichment will occur if Frontier’s claim is disallowed in its entirety.
It appears that the provision calling for construction of employee living quarters and gravel fill was beneficial to the state.
*369While it may be true that the specific use provided for in the lease was that contemplated by Griswold, the lessee, it is also true that the state would only authorize those uses which would be of benefit to the development of the airport. To say that the state “was merely willing to lease the property to anyone who could make responsible, productive use of it,” is not the whole picture. Rather, the state was willing to lease to anyone who would make use of the property which would benefit the Division of Aviation.
Moreover, the work that was actually done, gravel and excavation work, was specifics lly required for the benefit of the state. The lease provides that the lessee must “place at least five (5) feet of gravel fill on the leased premises without disturbing the existing surface cover of the land . and fine grade shall be subject to the approval of the Lessor.” The state admits that the gravel fill would be essential to any construction at the site, and so if the benefit had not been conferred by Frontier Rock the gravel would still have to be purchased by someone before the use could be made of the site. Thus, it appears that the purpose of this lease provision was not only to benefit the lessee, but also to improve the lessor’s existing land.
In conclusion, I believe this is the type of situation that was intended to fall within the interested party exception applied by some courts and referred to by Professor Dawson in his article The Self-Serving Intermeddler, 87 Harv.L.Rev. 1409, 1455-56 (1974). The work was ordered, authorized and ratified by the state in such a manner that it can fairly be said that the contract was executed for the benefit of the landlord as well as the lessee.
Given the record, I think we should reverse and direct the entry of judgment for the plaintiff.