MDC Blackshear LLC v. Littell

Appellant MDC Blackshear, LLC, appeals the trial court’s order permanently enjoining its use of the portion of an alleyway that abuts appellee Robert Littell’s property. Having reviewed the record, we disagree with MDC Blackshear’s contention that it has private and public rights that entitle it to the exclusive use and enjoyment of the disputed portion of the alleyway. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s granting of injunctive relief in Littell’s favor. However, the record supports neither the trial court’s award of trespass damages to Littell nor the trial court’s assessment of punitive damages against MDC Blackshear. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

In 1994, appellee Littell purchased property on Main Street in Blackshear, Georgia. As described in the chain of title to Littell’s deed, his property is bounded on the southwest side by Warehouse Alley, a seventeen-foot wide alleyway that runs between Taylor and Main Streets in downtown Blackshear. In 1996, appellant MDC Blackshear bought nearby property called the ‘warehouse property,’ because it is the former site of a tobacco warehouse. The warehouse property sits across Warehouse Alley from Littell’s property. The chain of title to MDC Blackshear’s deed to the warehouse property makes no reference to the property being bounded by Warehouse Alley. There is no common grantor with regard to Littell’s property and MDC Blackshear’s warehouse property.