Goodover v. Lindey's, Inc.

• Decision Date: 18 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 90-148,90-148
• Parties: Pat M. GOODOVER, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LINDEY'S, INC., and the Estate of William C. Forest, deceased, and the unknown heirs and unknown devisees of any Defendant, above-named, who may be deceased, et al., Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 1258

802 P.2d 1258

246 Mont. 80

Pat M. GOODOVER, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LINDEY'S, INC., and the Estate of William C. Forest,

deceased, and the unknown heirs and unknown

devisees of any Defendant, above-named,

who may be deceased, et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

No. 90-148.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs Aug. 9, 1990.

Decided Dec. 18, 1990.

Paul Neal Cooley, Skelton & Cooley, Missoula, for Lindey's.

Jerome T. Loendorf, Harrison, Loendorf & Posten, Helena, for Estate of Forest.

John W. Larson, Missoula, for Goodover.

HUNT, Justice.

Defendant and appellant, Lindey's, Inc., appeals from an order of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, requiring it to undertake efforts to locate underground fuel storage tanks and to remove a restroom facility encroaching upon property owned by plaintiff and respondent, Pat M. Goodover. We affirm.

We will address the following issue:

Did the District Court err in fashioning a remedy to enforce its earlier declaratory judgment that established the location of the north-south boundary line dividing the parties' property?

Plaintiff and respondent, Pat M. Goodover, is the owner of Lot 2 and defendant and appellant, Lindey's, Inc., is the owner of Lot 1 of the Seeley Lake Shores Sites in Missoula County. In order to resolve a boundary dispute between the parties, Goodover, on August 21, 1984, filed an action for declaratory judgment and quiet title. After a trial held on April 7, 1987, the District Court issued findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment in favor of Goodover, establishing the north-south boundary between the lots. The court specifically reserved the issue of damages for a later hearing.

Lindey's appealed to this Court, arguing that substantial credible evidence did not support the boundary line established by the District Court. In Goodover v. Lindey's, Inc., 232 Mont. 302, 757 P.2d 1290 (1988), we affirmed the judgment of the District Court.

After the complaint was filed but prior to trial, Lindey's constructed a restroom facility and installed two underground fuel storage tanks in the area of the disputed boundary. Once the boundary was established by the District Court, it was apparent that the restroom encroached upon Goodover's property. It was also possible that the fuel storage tanks encroached upon the property; however, it was impossible to determine the exact location of the tanks because they were buried.

Following this Court's affirmance of the boundary-line issue, Goodover petitioned the District Court to issue an order requiring Lindey's to show cause why it should not be required to remove the restroom facility from its encroachment and why it should not be required to determine the exact site of the underground fuel storage tanks. A hearing on the matter was held on November 13, 1989, after which the District Court entered an order requiring Lindey's to remove the encroaching restroom facility and to locate the buried fuel storage tanks. Lindey's appeals.

Lindey's raises a myriad of issues in an attempt to relitigate the boundary-line question. We refuse to examine these arguments, however, because the boundary-line issue was reviewed and finally decided during the first appeal to this Court. The District Court's determination of the boundary line is thus res judicata and cannot be reconsidered on this appeal.

The issue we will consider is whether the District Court erred in fashioning a remedy to enforce its declaratory judgment that established the north-south boundary dividing the parties' property. Lindey's argues that the District Court exceeded its...