MARIA JEANNE TREMBLAY, GUARDIAN FOR LYNE TREMBLAY, APPELLANT,
v.
SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-03-20
No. 89-802
Before BASKIN, COPE and LEVY, JJ.
560 So. 2d 1219 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990) Caution
Cited by 7 cases

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Synopsis

Maria Jeanne Tremblay, guardian for Lyne Tremblay, sued the South Florida Water Management District for negligence after Lyne was injured when her inner tube struck submerged cement blocks in Snake Creek Canal. The court affirmed summary judgment for the district, holding that property owners are not liable for naturally occurring debris in waterways unless the conditions constitute a trap or are unusually dangerous.


Holding

The district is not liable for the negligence claim. Property owners are generally not liable for dangerous conditions in waterways unless the conditions constitute a trap or are of an unusual nature not generally found in similar bodies of water. The accumulation of debris near waterway edges is a common phenomenon, and the circumstances here do not constitute an unusual danger.


Headnotes

[1] A property owner generally cannot be held liable for dangerous conditions in natural or artificial bodies of water unless the conditions constitute a trap or possess an u…

[2] The accumulation of debris near the edges of waterways is a common phenomenon and does not, in itself, constitute an unusual dangerous condition for which a property owne…

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Key Quotes

“a property owner generally cannot be held liable for dangerous conditions which exist in natural or artificial bodies of water unless they are so constructed as to constitute a trap or unless there is some unusual nature not generally existent in similar bodies of water.”

States the controlling legal standard for landowner liability regarding waterway conditions

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Facts & Procedural History

The South Florida Water Management District maintains Snake Creek Canal as a public recreational waterway with a boat launching facility. Lyne Trembla…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Maria Jeanne Tremblay, Guardian for Lyne Tremblay, who was plaintiff below, appeals an adverse summary judgment. We affirm.

Appellee South Florida Water Management District, defendant below, maintains the Snake Creek Canal as part of the district’s water management system. Pursuant to legislative policy, the waterways of the system, including the Snake Creek Canal, are made available to the public for recreational purposes. See §§ 373.-016(2)(h), 373.139(4), Fla.Stat. (1989). The district has built, and maintains, a boat launching facility on the canal which serves the public, as well as district employees.

The present litigation arose out of an accident which occurred on the canal. Lyne Tremblay was riding in an inner tube pulled by a motorboat on the canal, which had been launched at the boat launching facility. Ms. Tremblay’s companions, who were driving the boat, were experienced boaters and for purposes of the summary judgment motion are deemed to have been operating their boat non-negligently. Ms. Tremblay was somewhat inexperienced in riding an inner tube in a boat wake. As the boat turned, the inner tube strayed outside the wake and carried Ms. Tremblay into shallow water. She was thrown from the tube and her head struck one of a number of cement blocks lying two or three inches below the surface of the shallow water near the shore.

Ms. Tremblay brought suit against the district for negligence.1 Ms. Tremblay argued that the district should have known of the concrete blocks,2 and should have taken some remedial measures, such as prohibiting high-speed boating or posting a warning at the launching facility that no inspections of the area were being performed.

We conclude that the summary judgment was correctly entered. As said in Savig-nac v. Department of Transportation, 406 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981), “a property owner generally cannot be held liable for dangerous conditions which exist in natural or artificial bodies of water unless they are so constructed as to constitute a trap or unless there is some unusual nature not generally existent in similar bodies of water.” Id. at 1146 (citations omitted); accord Saga Bay Property Owners’ Ass'n v. Askew, 513 So. 2d 691, 693 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). As acknowledged by the opinion in Saga Bay, the accumulation of debris near the edges of waterways, is a common phenomenon, 513 So. 2d at 693-94, and the circumstances present here cannot be said to constitute an “unusual nature not generally existent in similar bodies of water.” 406 So. 2d at 1146. We therefore affirm the summary judgment.

. Claims were also brought against other defendants, which are not before us.

. There is no contention that the district had actual knowledge of the concrete blocks.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jones v. Country Vill. Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 596 So. 2d 165 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Allen v. William P. McDonald Corp., 42 So. 2d 706 (Fla.1949); Tremblay v. South Fla. Water Management Dist. 560 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 576 So. 2d 294 (Fla.1990); Scott v. Future Inv. of Miami, Inc., 559 So. 2d 726 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Saga Bay Property Owners Ass’n v. Askew, 513 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), review denied, 525 So. 2d 876 (Fla.1988).…
  • Brack Joseph Whitaker v. City OF Belle Glade, 638 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
    …boating and swimming in connection with their enjoyment of the campground facilities. Whitaker argues that the city had a duty to warn its guests and invitees of the danger posed by the submerged objects. Citing Tremblay v. S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist, 560 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 576 So. 2d 294 (Fla.1990), as its sole authority, the trial court entered final summary judgment in favor of the City Belle Glade and the City of Belle Glade Marina. We reverse. In Tremblay, the plaintiff was thrown fro…

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