United States: Limitation On Liability For Recreational Property Recently More Defined

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has given counties and other owners of land and waterways used for recreational purposes a lift, limiting their liability.

The Recreational Use of Land and Water Act, 68 P.S. § 477-1 et seq. (RULWA), which places a limitation on liability for owners of land, is defined to include waterways, to persons entering that land for recreational purposes. The purpose of the RULWA is to give property owners immunity from negligence so long as the land or water area is provided to the public for recreational purposes free of charge, and any injuries occurring on the land or water are not the result of a willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use or activity. The intent behind this limited liability is to encourage the use of largely undeveloped land for public purposes but not to require maintenance by the owner which could be impractical or unnecessarily burdensome. Thus, land devoted to recreational purposes which has been improved in a way to require regular maintenance for it to be used and enjoyed safely requires the owner of that land to maintain the improvements on the land to avoid liability.

The courts are asked to review the question of whether or not property is considered to be unimproved and used for recreational purposes so as to allow the landowner to maintain immunity versus determining whether the land is improved in such a way that the landowner has a duty to see that the property remains safe. The RULWA was not intended to insulate owners of fully developed recreational facilities from the duty of maintaining that property.

Counties could be impacted by the RULWA in regard to parks and waterways. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Stone v. York Haven Power Company, et al., 749 A.2d 452 (2000) relates to a lake created by the damming of a waterway, a common occurrence in counties in Pennsylvania. A boating accident occurred on Lake Frederick, a body of water formed when the Susquehanna River was dammed to service the Three Mile Island Power Plant. The lake is used for public purposes like boating and other water sports. The boating accident occurred after two men who were on the lake encountered difficulty near a dam, resulting in their drowning, with their boat found lodged at the dam. Suit filed by the estates of these men alleged a failure to warn of the dam’s location and attempted to place liability on the property owners. While the underlying court had denied the property owners’ Motions for Summary Judgment and held that the dam and resultant created lake represented an improvement to the natural state of the property, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled this decision and felt the RULWA was applicable to provide some immunity to the landowner.

The Supreme Court determined that the lake only existed because the dam was built. Therefore, while the dam could be considered improved property and would have to be maintained, the lake was not improved and was considered available to the public for recreational purposes as defined under the RULWA. The court then found that the immunity and limitation on liability under the RULWA applied to the lake. Ultimately, the court remanded the case for further factual findings as to whether the accident giving rise to the deaths related to the condition of the lake or to the dam itself.

This opinion provides guidance to counties in regard to the availability of immunity for claims which occur on recreational property. Natural waterways located in undeveloped portions of parks will clearly be subject to the limitations on liability under the RULWA as would, for example, snow covered tree stumps in a state forest that cause snowmobile accidents. However, a drowning in a park pool or an accident on a regulation basketball court in a county park may result in liability as no immunity under the RULWA will apply.

A lesson then to be learned from the Court’s decision under the RULWA is to ensure proper maintenance of improved land for safety to members of the public.