WPI 380.02 Public/Private Nuisance—Definition
6A WAPRAC WPI 380.02Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
6A Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 380.02 (7th ed.)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
April 2022 Update
Part XXI. Nuisance
Chapter 380. Nuisance
WPI 380.02 Public/Private Nuisance—Definition
A public nuisance is one that affects equally the rights of an entire community or neighborhood, although the extent of the damage may be unequal. Every other nuisance is a private nuisance.
NOTE ON USE
Use this instruction when a private person brings an action for public nuisance.
COMMENT
This instruction incorporates the language of RCW 7.48.130 and 7.48.150, which define public and private nuisance. RCW 7.48.140 lists specific examples of public nuisances, e.g., depositing an animal carcass in a public area, obstructing a river or public highway, manufacturing gun powder, establishing powder magazines, creating obnoxious exhalations or smells, and selling intoxicating liquors in inappropriate areas.
Noise from a shooting range that affected the entire neighborhood was a public nuisance even though some individuals within the neighborhood were not bothered. Kitsap Cnty. v. Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club, 184 Wn.App. 252, 286–87, 337 P.3d 328 (2014).
Private parties must meet the threshold requirement of RCW 7.48.210 in order to maintain an action for public nuisance: “A private person may maintain a civil action for a public nuisance, if it is specifically injurious to himself or herself but not otherwise.” RCW 7.48.210; Hostetler v. Ward, 41 Wn.App. 343, 356–57, 704 P.2d 1193 (1985); see also State v. Grant, 156 Wash. 96, 286 P. 63 (1930); In re Hanford Nuclear Reservation Litig., 780 F.Supp. 1551, 1576 (E.D. Wash. 1991) (applying Grant).
[Current as of February 2021.]
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