Bailey v. Pres. Rural Roads of Madison Cnty., Inc.

• Citation: 394 S.W.3d 350
• Decision Date: 22 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2009–SC–000417–DG.,2009–SC–000417–DG.
• Parties: Reubin BAILEY, Appellant v. PRESERVE RURAL ROADS OF MADISON COUNTY, INC., AND CURTIS TATE, Appellees.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)

394 S.W.3d 350

Reubin BAILEY, Appellant

v.PRESERVE RURAL ROADS OF MADISON COUNTY, INC., AND CURTIS TATE, Appellees.

No. 2009–SC–000417–DG.

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

Dec. 22, 2011.

David Michael Ward, Nanci Marian House, White, McCann & Stewart, PLLC, Winchester, KY, for appellant.

Jerry William Gilbert, Coy, Gilbert & Gilbert, Richmond, KY, for appellees.

Opinion of the Court by Justice VENTERS.

Appellant, Reubin Bailey, appeals from an opinion of the Court of Appeals affirming a summary judgment entered by the Madison Circuit Court that enjoined him from blocking a discontinued county road with a gate. Appellant argues that we should reverse the Court of Appeals because: 1) Appellees, Curtis Tate and an association known as Preserve Rural Roads of Madison County, Inc. (hereinafter “Rural Roads”), have no standing to file suit against him; 2) the discontinuation of county maintenance on the road by the Madison Fiscal Court terminated any public easement across his property; and 3) the Madison Circuit Court and the Court of Appeals rulings against him constitute an unlawful taking of his property and violate his constitutional rights. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the Court of Appeals.

I. FACTS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On August 23, 2005, the Madison Fiscal Court voted to discontinue maintenance on the county road known as Dunbar Branch Road pursuant to KRS 178.070 due to high maintenance costs. Appellant owns property and lives on Dunbar Branch Road. About the time that the fiscal court voted to discontinue its maintenance of Dunbar Branch Road, Appellant erected a locked gate blocking the road at its intersection with Doylesville Road, and he provided a key to each property owner on the road.¹

Appellees want to keep the road open and unobstructed. They filed suit against the Madison Fiscal Court to challenge its decision to discontinue maintenance on Dunbar Branch Road as inconsistent with KRS Chapter 178, and against Appellant to force him to remove the gates. Appellees consist of an individual resident of Madison County, Curtis Tate, who does not live or own property along Dunbar Branch Road, and a non-profit organization, Rural Roads, which consists of various Madison County residents, including Tate, who serves as director. Rural Roads claims only one member, Ida Wall, that owns property exclusively accessed by Dunbar Branch Road. Wall did not testify, provide an affidavit in this matter, or otherwise appear in this action. Affidavits from Rural Roads members, filed in supportof summary judgment, stated that they want Dunbar Branch Road to remain open because it provides them a shortcut to other destinations and it provides access to several sites on Dunbar Branch Road that are important to their families' history.

All parties moved for summary judgment. The Circuit Court granted summary judgment to the Madison Fiscal Court, finding that it “properly and legally utilized and [followed] the procedures set forth in KRS 178.070” to discontinue maintenance of Dunbar Branch Road. Thus, the suit against the Madison Fiscal Court was dismissed. No appeal was taken from the judgment dismissing the claim against the fiscal court, and the county is not a party to this appeal.

In a subsequent order, the Circuit Court granted Appellees' motion for summary judgment and denied Appellant's motion for summary judgment. The Circuit Court found that “Dunbar Branch Road is a county road that traverses through land owned by [Appellant]. [Appellant] has erected gates across the road and has maintained them since.” The court also found that “KRS 178.116 provides for the initiation of formal proceedings for the reversion to adjoining land owners of a roadway formerly maintained by the county ... as no such proceeding has been initiated, [Appellant] is without legal right or ownership to prohibit others from using the county road.” Finally, the court ordered that “[Appellant] shall forthwith remove any obstruction or barrier placed or maintained by him on or across Dunbar Branch Road and is permanently enjoined from any action that restricts or impedes access of others to or over [Dunbar Branch Road].”

On direct appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's finding that Appellees had standing and that no unlawful taking occurred. The Court of Appeals found that Warren County Citizens for Managed Growth, Inc. v. Bd. Of Comm'rs of Bowling Green, 207 S.W.3d 7, 13 (Ky.App.2006) conferred standing upon Appellees since they were aggrieved by the obstruction of Dunbar Branch Road. Appellant filed for discretionary review with this Court and we granted his motion.

“Because summary judgment involves only legal questions and the existence of any disputed material issues of fact, an appellate court need not defer to the trial court's decision and will review the issue de novo.” Lewis v. B & R Corp., 56 S.W.3d 432, 436 (Ky.App.2001). Summary judgment is only appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, stipulations, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” CR 56.03. “The record must be viewed in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion for summary judgment and all doubts are to be resolved in his favor.” Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Serv. Ctr., Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 480 (Ky.1991). Summary judgment should not be granted unless it appears to be impossible ² for the non-movant to prevail at trial. Id. at 483.

II. RURAL ROADS HAS ASSOCIATIONAL STANDING TO SUE APPELLANT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Appellant first argues that Tate and Rural Roads have no cause of action against him because they lack standing. Appellant asserts that only landowners and residents whose only access to their property is Dunbar Branch Road have standing to complain about the gates, and therefore Tate lacks standing. Appellant also argues that Rural Roads lacks standing because it has failed to conclusively prove that any of its members own property along Dunbar Branch Road.

A. Curtis Tate's Standing

To have standing to sue, one must have a judicially cognizable interest in the subject matter of the suit. “The interest may not be ‘remote and speculative,’ but must be a present and substantial interest in the subject matter.” City of Louisville v. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co., 843 S.W.2d 327, 328–329 (Ky.1992) (quoting HealthAmerica Corporation of Kentucky v. Humana Health Plan, Inc., 697 S.W.2d 946 (Ky.1985)). The determination of a party's standing requires consideration of the facts of each individual case. Rose v. Council for Better Education, Inc., 790 S.W.2d 186, 202 (Ky.1989).

Tate admits that he neither owns, leases, nor resides on any property which is accessed by Dunbar Branch Road. Instead, he argues that he has standing because the road meets a public need, provides a shortcut for him, and gives him access to many sites important to his family history. In his deposition Tate stated that Dunbar Branch Road should remain open:

not only for my own personal use [since] my parents and grandparents were raised up and down that road, that my family cannot go back to see the bridges that [their ancestors] built and have their name on, but also for work. There's a lot of times that if you're working in Doylesville and you need to go to Red House, you can go through that way and cut across and save ten miles ... we've got farms that we rent [and] ... it's easier for us to cut through [Dunbar Branch to] go to another farm.

While having Dunbar Branch Road open to the public might be a convenience for Tate and others, their wishes for access to ancestral sites and a convenient short-cut do not constitute the “present and substantial interest” required for standing.³

This matter is analogous to the facts of Kemper v. Cooke, 576 S.W.2d 263 (Ky.App.1979), wherein Kemper sought a mandatory injunction against a group of homeowners who blocked their street to prevent it from becoming a shortcut between two major roads. The street in question was a public way, but was not incorporated into the county road system. Kemper sought the injunction to force the removal of the obstruction, arguing that he had standing because the blocking of the street forced him to take a circuitous route to his church, which added approximately one mile to his trip. The court held that:

[i]n order for Kemper to have standing, he must be able to show that the damages he suffered because of the obstruction were different from those suffered by the public as a whole. The difference must not only be in degree, but also in kind. Husband v. Cotton, 171 Ky. 177, 188 S.W. 380 (1916). Kemper contends that Husband should apply in his favor, because his injury is no different from an injury suffered by others who have to take a more circuitous route to their own property. The facts in Husband are distinguishable from those in this case, however. In Husband the plaintiff's injury was the obstruction of ingress and egress from his own property. The injury was special and peculiar to that property owner. Kemper does not own any property abutting the obstructed street, and his ingress and egress from his own property is not affected. He has access to his church....

Kemper, 576 S.W.2d at 266. The court concluded that “in order to force a removal of the obstruction, [plaintiff] will need the cooperation of either an abutting property owner or the county fiscal court.” Id.

Like Kemper, Tate argues that Appellant's blocking of Dunbar Branch Road forces him to take a longer route when he travels between certain locations. Yet, Tate does not and cannot argue that the blocking of Dunbar Branch Road has obstructed his access to his own property. He still has “reasonable access” to the county road system despite the potentially longer route he must take to certain locations. See Commonwealth,...