| Long v Tingue |
| 2015 NY Slip Op 09487 [134 AD3d 1427] |
| December 23, 2015 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| Timothy C. Long, Appellant, v Gene C. Tingue, Respondent. |
Ward & Kutzuba, Arcade (Robert D. Strassel of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Cattaraugus County (Michael L. Nenno, A.J.), entered February 13, 2015. The judgment awarded plaintiff money damages.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by vacating the damages award except with respect to the $510 for "Damage to Realty," and as modified the judgment is affirmed without costs, and the matter is remitted to Supreme Court, Cattaraugus County, to determine the amount of damages to be awarded pursuant to RPAPL 861 (1) in accordance with the following memorandum: Plaintiff commenced this RPAPL 861 action seeking damages for, inter alia, defendant's cutting and removal of trees from a parcel of plaintiff's property. The complaint sought, among other damages, treble the stumpage value of the trees, as well as $250 per tree and damages for permanent and substantial damage to the land. Plaintiff appeals from a judgment awarding him the stumpage value of the trees and $510 for "Damage to Realty."
We conclude that Supreme Court properly awarded plaintiff the $510 for the
"Damage to Realty," but we agree with plaintiff that the court erred in limiting the
remainder of his damages to the stumpage value of the trees. "Damages pursuant to
RPAPL may be awarded 'equal to treble the stumpage value (as defined) of the trees or
timber, or $250 per tree, or both such treble value and amount per tree, and for any
permanent and substantial damage to land or improvements caused by such
violation' " (Vanderwerken v Bellinger, 72 AD3d 1473, 1476 [2010],
quoting Winter and Loeb, Practice Commentaries, McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book
49