BD. OF ADJUST. OF CITY OF SAN ANTONIO v. Nelson

577 S.W.2d 783, 1979 Tex. App. LEXIS 3218
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 14, 1979
Docket16133
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 577 S.W.2d 783 (BD. OF ADJUST. OF CITY OF SAN ANTONIO v. Nelson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BD. OF ADJUST. OF CITY OF SAN ANTONIO v. Nelson, 577 S.W.2d 783, 1979 Tex. App. LEXIS 3218 (Tex. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

The appellees, Robert F. Nelson and Sally Nelson, brought this suit by writ of certio-rari in district court against appellant, Board of Adjustment of the City of San Antonio, challenging the legality of a decision of the Board of Adjustment in granting the right to a nonconforming use of a lot in the city of San Antonio. Appellant, Mrs. Gladys Jones, owns the lot in question, which is within an area that was annexed by the city of San Antonio in 1972. On annexation, this lot was zoned R-l, single family residential.

Appellant, Jones, applied to the Board of Adjustment for a permit to establish nonconforming rights to a sign manufacturing shop on said lot. This permit was granted by the Board despite opposition by appel-lees, who subsequently brought suit in district court. The district court reversed the decision of the Board of Adjustment by granting appellees’ motion for summary judgment, and appellants then perfected their appeal to this court.

In their motion for summary judgment, appellees contended that the evidence shows as a matter of law that the admitted nonconforming use was abandoned by Mrs. Jones. Their motion also stated that since Mrs. Jones had failed to register the non *785 conforming use in accordance with section 42-35 of the City Code of San Antonio, this nonconforming use was terminated by the provisions of section 42-37(b) of the City Code of San Antonio, hereinafter referred to as City Code.

Section 42-35 of the City Code provides in part as follows:

(a) Registration. The owner or owners of the land and/or structure or structures in which nonconforming use is located shall register such nonconforming use by filing with the department of building and planning administration a registration statement for such nonconforming use within three (3) years from the effective date hereof [June 28,1965]. Nonconforming uses and structures in newly annexed territory shall be registered within one (1) year of their annexation.

Section 42-37(b) provides that failure to comply with the registration requirement terminates the right to operate the nonconforming use.

We agree with appellees that the right to the nonconforming use has been terminated. It is undisputed that appellant, Mrs. Jones, did not register her nonconforming use. Under section 42 — 45.3 of the City Code, the powers of the Board of Adjustment are strictly construed and limited to the strict enforcement of the zoning ordinances, and the Board has no discretion to grant a nonconforming use where none exists. See Board of Adjustment of City of San Antonio v. Willie, 511 S.W.2d 591 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1974, writ ref’d n. r. e.); Swain v. Board of Adjustment of City of University Park, 433 S.W.2d 727 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1968, writ ref’d n. r. e.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 277, 90 S.Ct. 563, 24 L.Ed.2d 465 (1970). In Willie, this court upheld the trial court’s rendition of a summary judgment, which reversed a decision of the Board of Adjustment on the basis that the evidence did not support the decision of the Board. In discussing the limitations on the power of the Board of Adjustment, this Court held:

A Board of Adjustment acts as a quasi-judicial body, having no statutory power to legislate. It is restricted in its decisions to the powers vested in it by the legislature and city council. It may not materially alter the specific intent and extent of the zoning ordinance as this power is within the province of the city council.

511 S.W.2d at 593. Any judgment in excess of an ordinance under which a Board of Adjustment operates is void. City of Lufkin v. McVicker, 510 S.W.2d 141 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1973, no writ). When the Board of Adjustment allowed the nonconforming use to continue in direct contravention of section 42-37(b), which requires automatic termination of the right to operate a nonconforming use that is not registered in accordance with section 42-35, it exceeded its authority; therefore, its judgment is void.

In response, appellant, Mrs. Jones, contends that section 42-35 of the City Code is unconstitutional when applied to the facts of this case because it deprives her of property without due process of law. We disagree. The purpose of this registration ordinance is to provide San Antonio with sufficient knowledge of the nature and extent of nonconforming uses claimed within the City so that the City can consider these nonconforming uses in planning and can monitor their abandonment. Without a registration scheme it would be impossible for San Antonio to begin to implement the plan for the fair and reasonable return of the property to the character of the surrounding neighborhood. This ordinance was enacted to promote the need, health, safety, and general welfare of the public. Since the ordinance bears a reasonable relationship to the object sought to be obtained, it is constitutional. City of University Park v. Benners, 485 S.W.2d 773 (Tex.1972), appeal dismissed, 411 U.S. 901, 93 S.Ct. 1530, 36 L.Ed.2d 191 (1973); Lombardo v. City of Dallas, 124 Tex. 1, 73 S.W.2d 475 (1934).

This scheme of registration set out in section 42-35 would not benefit San Antonio in carrying out a comprehensive zoning plan without the sanction contained in section 42-37(b). It is well established that *786 a reasonable termination of nonconforming use is within the scope of municipal police power. City of University Park v. Benners, 485 S.W.2d at 778; White v. City of Dallas, 517 S.W.2d 344, 349 (Tex.Civ.App. — Dallas 1974, no writ). In discussing nonconforming uses, the Supreme Court stated in Ben-ners :

There are strong policy arguments and a demonstrable public need for the fair and reasonable termination of nonconforming property uses which most often do not disappear but tend to thrive in monopolistic positions in the community. We are in accord with the principle that municipal zoning ordinances requiring the termination of nonconforming uses under reasonable conditions are within the scope of municipal police power; and that property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested right in property uses once commenced or in zoning classification once made. Otherwise, a lawful exercise of the police power by the governing body of the City would be precluded.

485 S.W.2d at 778. As the sanction for nonregistration, section 42-37(b) also provides for the return of the nonconforming uses of property to that of the surrounding neighborhood.

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Bluebook (online)
577 S.W.2d 783, 1979 Tex. App. LEXIS 3218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bd-of-adjust-of-city-of-san-antonio-v-nelson-texapp-1979.