AN Collision Center of Addison, Inc. v. Town of Addison

In AN Collision Center of Addison, Inc. v. Town of Addison, 310 S.W.3d 191 (Tex.App.--Dallas 2010, no pet.), Collision Center purchased real property near the Addison Airport and began operating a vehicle paint and body repair shop on that location. Id. at 192. It filed suit against Addison alleging that its premises had flooded numerous times because Addison diverted or impounded rainwater from the airport. Id. The petition alleged that because Addison intentionally diverted the water and with knowledge that the flooding of Collision Center's property would occur, the damage to the property constituted a taking in violation of Article I, Section 17. Id. Collision Center further argued that Addison's diversion of water was a compensable nuisance under Article I, Section 17. Id. Addison filed a traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. Id. The trial court granted the motion without specify the basis for the ruling. Id. at 192-93. On appeal, Collision Center did not challenge every ground on which summary judgment could have been granted and only challenged the summary judgment on its request for abatement of the nuisance. Id. at 193. Consequently, the Dallas Court of Appeals considered whether any of the unchallenged grounds supported summary judgment on Collision Center's request for abatement of the nuisance. Id. at 193-94. The court addressed whether the trial court properly granted summary judgment under Rule 166a(i) on the ground that the Collision Center did not have any evidence that Addison performed any intentional act that damaged Collision Center. Id. at 194. The opinion does not state what Collision Center alleged in its pleadings, but Collision Center argued that Addison had knowledge that the development and alteration of the natural landscape of the airport caused the flood on Collision Center's property. Id. at 194. It also argued that Addison knew that the flooding was substantially certain to continue unless Addison acted to alleviate the diversion of rainwater. Id. The evidence showed that private parties built the Addison Airport in 1956 and Addison purchased it in 1976. Id. at 192. There was evidence that the flooding occurred as the result of the original construction of the airport twenty years before Addison purchased it. Id. at 194. The appellate court noted there was no evidence that an act by Addison caused the flooding on Collision Center's property. Id. Further, Collision Center produced no evidence that the maintenance and operation of the airport caused the flooding of its property. Id. at 194-95.