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Wreden v. Township of Lafayette

Wreden v. Township of Lafayette

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division

June 4, 2014, Argued; June 17, 2014, Decided

DOCKET NO. A-5422-12T3

Opinion

 [**683]  [*120]   The opinion of the court was delivered by

HAAS, J.A.D.

Plaintiffs appeal from a February 8, 2012 Law Division order dismissing their complaint against defendant Township of Lafayette (the Township), and the court's April 23, 2012 order denying their motion to amend their complaint to add an inverse condemnation claim against the Township. We reverse and remand.

We discern the following facts from the face of plaintiffs' June 28, 2011 complaint, giving plaintiffs the benefit of all reasonable factual inferences. Printing Mart-Morristown v. Sharp Elecs. Corp., 116 N.J. 739, 746, 563 A.2d 31 (1989). Plaintiffs own property in the Township, where they maintain their home, and a "horse barn and fields for grazing and other uses relating to the boarding of horses." In 2007, the Township contracted with defendants Finelli [***2]  Consulting Engineers, Inc. (Finelli) and Snook's Excavating, Inc. (Snook's) "to design and construct a retaining wall and provide water drainage along [a road] adjacent to Plaintiffs' property." Plaintiffs alleged

 [*121]  [t]he storm water drainage from the roadway and adjacent properties was designed in such a way as to direct water to come onto Plaintiffs' property, causing flooding conditions about Plaintiffs' land and structures, onto Plaintiffs' septic field, and in such a manner so as to cause damage to Plaintiffs' property and inhibit Plaintiffs' use of same.

Plaintiffs asserted "[t]he retaining wall designed and constructed by Defendants was defectively engineered and built, lacked appropriate foundation and support, [and] included defective materials and workmanship."

On January 28, 2008, plaintiffs served a Notice of Tort Claim upon the Township. In pertinent part, the notice stated:

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436 N.J. Super. 117 *; 92 A.3d 681 **; 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 86 ***; 2014 WL 2718155

HERBERT WREDEN AND KAREN WREDEN, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS, v. TOWNSHIP OF LAFAYETTE, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT, AND SNOOK'S EXCAVATING, INC., AND FINELLI CONSULTING ENGINEERS, INC., DEFENDANTS.

Subsequent History:  [***1] Approved for Publication June 17, 2014.

Prior History: On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Sussex County, Docket No. L-460-11.

CORE TERMS

plaintiffs', notice, continuing tort, collapse, retaining wall, two-year, tort claim, drainage, flooding, notice of claim, certification, nuisance, damages, inverse condemnation claim, cause of action, stormwater, runoff, entire controversy doctrine, public entity, new tort, constructed, structures, adjacent, accrued, amend

Civil Procedure, Appeals, Standards of Review, De Novo Review, Defenses, Demurrers & Objections, Motions to Dismiss, Failure to State Claim, Pleadings, Complaints, Requirements for Complaint, Torts, Statute of Limitations, Begins to Run, Continuing Violations, Actual Injury, Liability, State Tort Claims Acts, Procedural Matters, Prelitigation Notices, Summary Judgment, Entitlement as Matter of Law, Appropriateness, Pleading & Practice, Rule Application & Interpretation