Wieck v. Sterenbuch

• Decision Date: 16 January 1976
• Docket Number: No. 9168.,9168.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals
• Parties: Paul WIECK, Appellant, v. Martin STERENBUCH and Diane I. "Sterenbuch, Appellees.

350 A.2d 384

Paul WIECK, Appellant, v. Martin STERENBUCH and Diane I. "Sterenbuch, Appellees.

No. 9168.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued October 8, 1975.

Decided January 16, 1976.

Rehearing and Rehearing en Banc Denied February 25, 1976.

Alan S. Novins, Washington, D. C., with whom Alan S. Mark, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellant.

Herbert A. Rosenthal, Washington, D. C., for appellees.

Before HARRIS and MACK, Associate Judges, and McARDLE, Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.^*

HARRIS, Associate Judge :

This appeal challenges the granting of a preliminary injunction which directed appellant not to deny the use of part of his own property to his next-door neighbors.¹ We reverse.

I

Appellant and appellees reside in adjacent homes in Georgetown, at 3267 and 3265 P Street, N.W., respectively. Prior to November 24, 1950, the two properties were owned by one individual. On that date the owner conveyed 3267 to a purchaser who later deeded it to Mrs. Cecille de Rochefort. Mrs. de Rochefort sold her home to appellant on May 31, 1974. The premises at 3265 were sold in September of 1968 to a purchaser who later conveyed the property to appellees on August 3, 1970. On that date, appellees' neighbor to the west was Mrs. de Rochefort.

As is true of many homes in Georgetown, appellees' house extends to the east and west boundaries of their land. The eastern side of appellant's home, however, does not extend to his boundary line. The principal entrance to appellant's home is on the east side of his house, and there is a walkway extending alongside the house to his backyard. Appellees also have a backyard, which they readily can reach from the rear of their home. Prior to appellant's purchase of his property, and during the early part of his residence on P Street, appellees made somewhat regular use of their neighbor's side walkway to get to their backyard. They used that access route for both social purposes, e. g., parties in their backyard, and maintenance purposes, e. g., house painting and backyard landscaping. Mrs. de Rochefort had erected a gate with a lock to bar unlimited access to her property, but she gave appellees a key so that they could continue to use her side walkway.

In the summer of 1974, appellees had a large party in their backyard. Their guests gained access to the party through appellant's property. Thereafter, appellant changed the lock on the gate. He did not give appellees a key to the new lock. On October 8, 1974, he erected a fence between the two backyards. On October 9, appellees brought an action seeking to establish their right to access to their backyard via appellant's property. Claiming an easement by prescription, appellees requested both injunctive relief and damages. The court denied their request for a temporary restraining order, and scheduled a hearing on the question of a preliminary injunction.

At that hearing, appellees made basically four points. First, they contended that use of appellant's side walkway had been made by them during their four-year occupancy of the premises at 3265, and by their predecessors in interest for the 15-year limitation period established by D.C.Code 1973, § 12-301. Second, they claimed that their use had been adverse. Third, appellees cited their allegedly continuous use of the walkway, testifying that the path had been traversed on an average of once weekly by them, their guests, or by workmen. Fourth, appellees asserted irreparable harm. They alleged three deprivations caused by appellant's discontinuance of their use of his property: (1) a diminution in the value of their property; (2) the difficulty and inconvenience, and conceivably the impossibility, of having workmen gain access to their rear yard through their own house; and (3) the possibility that appellees might be trapped in their backyard, with no outside means of escape, by intruders, a fire, or some other calamity.

The trial court made brief oral findings of the existence of an easement and of irreparable injury, and granted the preliminary injunction. The court then signed (as slightly modified) a preliminary injunction order which was submitted by plaintiffs' counsel. The "Finding of Facts" contained therein included the following:

2. Plaintiffs and their predecessors in title have openly and adversely used the thoroughfare which is physically located on defendant's property. Such use has been continuous within the meaning of Kogod v. Cogito, 91 U.S.App.D.C. 284, , for a period in excess of 15 years prior to the filing of this action.

3. Plaintiffs need access to the rear of their property via this thoroughfare for themselves, their guests, workmen, contractors, and gardeners; because direct level access through their house does not exist.

4. The plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm pending the trial on the permanent injunction and have no adequate remedy at law.

5. The plaintiffs' interests in having continuous access to the rear of their property pendente lite exceeds any harm or inconvenience to the defendant.

II

When we review the granting of a preliminary injunction, it is not our task to resolve the overall merits of the dispute between the parties. See A Quaker Action Group v. Hickel, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 176, 180, 421 F.2d 1111, 1115 (1969). Rather, our role is confined to (1) examining the trial court's findings and conclusions to see if they are sufficiently supported by the record; (2) assuring that the trial court's analysis reflects a resolution of all the issues which necessarily underlie the issuance of an injunction; and (3) inquiring into any other claims of an abuse of discretion by the trial court. Our study of the record leads us to conclude that the trial court did abuse its discretion by failing to consider and find all of the necessary prerequisites to the issuance of a preliminary injunction.²

A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy, and the trial court's power to issue it should be exercised only after careful deliberation has persuaded it of the necessity for the relief. A proper exercise of discretion requires the trial court to consider whether the moving party has clearly demonstrated: (1) that there is a substantial likelihood he will prevail on the merits; (2) that he is in danger of suffering irreparable harm during the pendency of the action; (3) that more harm will result to him from the denial of the injunction than will result to the defendant from its grant; and, in appropriate cases, (4) that the public interest will not be disserved by the issuance of the requested order.³

While it is fundamental to the granting of an injunction that the court make specific findings on all prerequisites for such relief, the most important inquiry is that concerning irreparable injury. This is true because the primary justification for the issuance of a preliminary injunction "is always to prevent irreparable injury so as to preserve the court's ability to render a meaningful decision on the merits." Canal Authority v. Callaway, 489 F. 2d 567, 576 (5th Cir. 1974).⁴ An injunction should not be issued unless the threat of injury is imminent and well-founded, and unless the injury itself would be incapable of being redressed after a final hearing on the merits. See Canal Authority v. Callaway, supra, at 573; Holiday Inns of America v. B & B Corp., 409 F.2d 614, 618 (3rd Cir. 1969).

The harm alleged in this case took three forms: (1) a diminution in the value of appellees' property; (2) a degree of difficulty for workers' performing maintenance in the future; and (3) the possibility of appellees' being "trapped" in their backyard without means of escape (other than through their home) by some calamity. Such potential injuries are too nebulous to warrant the exercise of the trial court's equity power.

Regarding the allegation of decreased worth of their property, appellees presented no evidence of value, of any intent to sell, or of any potential buyer. Speculation as to a fall in the property's value, with no proof at all (and in the face of the steadily rising market value of homes in the neighborhood, a large percentage of which, like appellees', have no outside means of access to their backyards), is insufficient to demonstrate a need for immediate equitable relief.

Similarly, their allegation that maintenance personnel otherwise would be able to reach the backyard only by going through their house falls considerably short of exhibiting an immediate or impending deprivation. No evidence of needed (or even contemplated) repairs to the rear of appellees' home was introduced. The record also is devoid of any assertion that appellant, if requested, would deny appellees reasonable access to their backyard via his property. Obviously, some degree of refusal of access is implicit in the new lock on the gate and the construction of the fence. However, appellant's counsel stated that his client "would not be unreasonable" if, for example, appellees asked to use the walkway to take ladders to their backyard.

Appellees also relied upon purported fears of being imprisoned in their backyard if there were an occurrence such as a burglary or fire. However, there is nothing in the record to support a sense of urgency over such a hypothetical circumstance, and it is a basic demand of equity that before a preliminary injunction may issue, there must be ...