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Pinnacle Bank v. Villa11/30/2004
[ ] This case comes before this court as two certified questions from the District Court, Fifth Judicial District, State of Wyoming. We are asked to consider whether a city ordinance addressing the removal of snow and ice establishes the applicable duty of care or whether Wyoming's common law regarding the natural accumulation of snow and ice applies. We are additionally asked to consider whether the State of Wyoming is to be included in the comparative fault analysis even though the State is immune from suit in these circumstances.
ISSUES
[ ] The certified questions are:
1. Is the following finding of the district court correct?
The City of Worland municipal ordinance establishes the duty of [Appellant Pinnacle] Bank under the circumstances of this case and it is the Court's intention to instruct the jury as to the standard of care pursuant to the City of Worland municipal ordinance, and not on the common law rules pertaining to natural accumulation of snow and ice. The Court finds that the city ordinance, which is a specifically enacted rule, controls over the general common law rules pertaining to natural accumulation.
2. Whether the Defendant is not entitled to compare the fault of the State of Wyoming for the purposes of W.S. ยง 1-1-109 because the State is, pursuant to the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act, absolutely immune from recovery under these circumstances.
FACTS
[ ] The district court's certification order sets forth a brief statement of facts relevant to the certified questions.
1. . . . Villa fell on the sidewalk in front of Pinnacle Bank on November 10, 1998. [Villa's] fall was caused by an accumulation of ice in front of the Pinnacle Bank Building. [Villa] contends that the ice was formed by improper drainage off the facade of the building. [Pinnacle Bank] contends that the ice formed as a natural accumulation of frozen water.
2. The City of Worland has a municipal ordinance governing sidewalks such as the one upon which [Villa] fell which reads as follows:
It shall be the duty of the occupant of any premises within the city limits or, in case the same are unoccupied, then the owner or his agent to keep the sidewalks in front of and adjoining his premises safe and clear for pedestrians and to repair the same from time to time. Such occupant, owner or agent shall, with all reasonable dispatch, remove snow, ice, slush, mud or other impediment to safe and convenient foot travel. Every person failing to comply with the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of committing a nuisance and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined.
3. . . . [Pinnacle] Bank owns the sidewalk.
Additionally, Pinnacle Bank claimed that the State negligently designed and constructed the sidewalk as part of a project on a state highway easement.
[ ] When making its ruling encompassed in the certified question, the district court noted that the reasoning for its ruling was more thoroughly set forth in its Order on Motions In Limine and Legal Trial Issues. That order stated:
3. The Court has been called upon to determine the governing standard under Wyoming law for [Pinnacle Bank's] duty to remove accumulations of snow, ice and the like. [Villa] asserts that a City of Worland ordinance concerning removal establishes [Pinnacle Bank's] duty, and that the common law rules pertaining to natural and unnatural accumulations of snow and ice do not therefore apply. [Pinnacle Bank] argues the opposite, that the rules of natural and unnatural accumulation control and the City of Worland ordinance has no role in establishing [Pinnacle Ban
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