Bray v. City of Meridian

723 So. 2d 1200, 1998 Miss. App. LEXIS 972, 1998 WL 812312
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 24, 1998
Docket97-CA-00259 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 723 So. 2d 1200 (Bray v. City of Meridian) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bray v. City of Meridian, 723 So. 2d 1200, 1998 Miss. App. LEXIS 972, 1998 WL 812312 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

723 So.2d 1200 (1998)

Samuel BRAY, Appellant,
v.
CITY OF MERIDIAN, Appellee.

No. 97-CA-00259 COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 24, 1998.

*1201 Rogers J. Druhet III, Meridian, Attorney for Appellant.

F.E. McRae, III, West Point, J.L. Prichard, Meridian, Attorneys for Appellee.

Before BRIDGES, C.J., HINKEBEIN, and KING, JJ.

BRIDGES, C.J., for the Court:

¶ 1. The Circuit Court of Lauderdale County denied Samuel Bray's request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the City of Meridian from demolishing the condemned structure located at 1916 20th Street. Bray asserts he was denied due process and the City of Meridian should be directed to grant Bray an extension of time in which to make the necessary repairs to the substandard structure. Finding Bray's assignments of error to be without merit, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On May 9, 1990, the City of Meridian condemned the remains of a brick structure located at 1916 20th Street for failing to meet the minimum standards of housing adopted by the City Council on July 19, 1967. Eleven violations were noted by the building inspector during her initial inspection on April 25, 1990.

¶ 3. The property owners, Samuel and Dorothy Bray, were notified by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the hearing scheduled for May 23, 1990, to give the Brays an opportunity to show cause why the specified repairs and/or demolition should not be completed. A waiver of the hearing and a lis pendens notice were mailed with the complaint. The certified mail receipt was signed by Dorothy Bray on May 16, 1990.

¶ 4. The city building official found the Brays had waived their right to a hearing and entered an order on May 24, 1990, whereby Samuel and Dorothy Bray were directed to repair the structural defects to meet the minimum standards of housing or demolish the structure on or before June 24, 1990. The order further stated, in the event the Brays failed to do so, the City of Meridian could demolish and remove the building at the expense of the Brays, and a lien would be impressed on the real property to secure the payment of all expenses of removal. The Brays received a copy of the order as evidenced by the certified mail receipt signed by Dorothy Bray on May 25, 1990.

¶ 5. The Brays did not repair or demolish the structure by the deadline set in the order.

¶ 6. The record shows the City took no further action with regard to the property until 1992, when the City issued Samuel Bray a building permit to repair the subject structure. On November 30, 1992, a stop work letter was hand delivered to Bray stating that the repair work did not meet the minimum standards of the Southern Standard Housing Code. On December 1, 1992, Bobby Vance, a building inspector, told Steve Phillips, Bray's contractor, what corrections were necessary to the repair work for the structure to comply with the code. On December 3, 1992, Vance and Ward Ford met with Bray and Phillips to discuss the roof on the house. According to the notations in the City's file, Bray also was asked "to clean out house so [the city building inspectors] could get inside the house to inspect for [sic] what needs to be done." The building permit expired without the necessary repairs being made to the structure.

¶ 7. On October 25, 1994, the City notified Bray that unless he showed "earnest intent" to demolish the condemned building or to correct the deficiencies of the building to meet the minimum requirements of the standard housing code of the City by November 15, 1994, the City would advertise for bids for the demolition work to the structure. Samuel Bray received this "last notice" letter on *1202 October 27, 1994, as evidenced by his signature on the certified mail return receipt.

¶ 8. The City's case file indicated on October 10, 1995, there had been "no change since LPN [lis pendens notice]."

¶ 9. Bray testified he requested and received a second building permit for the structure at 1916 20th Street in May or June 1996. Again, Bray allowed the permit to lapse without making the necessary repairs when he "got busy and just couldn't get to it."

¶ 10. Samuel Bray testified that his wife, Dorothy, dealt with the contractors hired to make the repairs. Bray worked on out-of-state projects for three or four months at a time, returning to Meridian for infrequent visits during the course of a job. Bray testified he expended about $2,000 for materials to repair the house and $600 to prepare the site for the repair work.

¶ 11. Bray stipulated the gutted house was uninhabitable and in need of repair. The record revealed the house, vacant for about six or seven years, had no roof, no flooring, no interior walls, and only one brick wall which was supported by timber to keep it from falling.

¶ 12. Mary Ruth Sharp, a city building official, testified she verbally notified Samuel Bray on October 23, 1996, that the City Council would consider the demolition of the structure at its November 5, 1996 meeting, and that the City planned "to demo (sic) house [at 1916 20th Street] this fall." The demolition was approved by the City Council at its January 1997 meeting.

¶ 13. On January 28, 1997, Bray requested a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the City of Meridian from razing the structure located at 1916 20th Street. The City agreed to refrain from taking any action to destroy the property until the matter could be heard.

¶ 14. After considering the evidence presented at the hearing on the merits, the trial court dissolved the temporary restraining order previously entered, denied Bray's request for a preliminary injunction, and dismissed the case finding:

(1) The City had notified Bray of the necessary repairs to the structure located at 1916 20th Street by certified mail on May 9, 1990, May 24, 1990, and October 25, 1994, and through personal conversations with representatives of the City on November 30, 1992, December 1, 1992, and December 3, 1992. Therefore, Bray had proper notice of the City's intention to demolish the structure unless the necessary repairs were made.

(2) The dilapidated structure had not been repaired despite repeated requests and the issuance of two building permits to Bray during the six-year period between the condemnation hearing and Bray's request for a preliminary injunction.

(3) Bray failed to show good cause for his failure to repair or demolish the building during the time given by the City. As reasons for his inaction, Bray stated he had been hospitalized for one or two days, maybe up to a week on several occasions; he had hired two different contractors to make the repairs, but both left town taking his money without making the repairs; he was too busy on out-of-state projects; and the repairs to the structure at 1916 20th Street were not a priority.

¶ 15. On appeal, Bray argues he was not served with a copy of the initial complaint condemning his property, the hearing on the condemnation of the structure was held without notice, and the trial judge improperly denied him equitable relief.

LEGAL ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

¶ 16. On appeal, this Court will respect the factual findings of a circuit judge trying a cause without a jury when the findings are supported by reasonable evidence in the record and are not manifestly wrong. Newsom v. Newsom, 557 So.2d 511, 514 (Miss.1990); Kight v. Sheppard Building Supply, 537 So.2d 1355, 1358 (Miss.1989); Rives v. Peterson, 493 So.2d 316, 317 (Miss. 1986).

¶ 17.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Linda Lee v. The City of Pascagoula, Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2024
Michael B. Gaffney v. City of Richland, Mississippi
202 So. 3d 238 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Scarborough v. City of Petal
60 So. 3d 193 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Knight v. State
14 So. 3d 76 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Ouzts v. State
947 So. 2d 1005 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)
Morrison v. MISS. DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES
863 So. 2d 948 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Christian v. State
859 So. 2d 1068 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Morrison v. Mississippi Department of Human Services
852 So. 2d 578 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
Vice v. Hinton
811 So. 2d 335 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2001)
Jones v. Jones
760 So. 2d 828 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Mississippi Gaming Commission v. Baker
755 So. 2d 1129 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
723 So. 2d 1200, 1998 Miss. App. LEXIS 972, 1998 WL 812312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bray-v-city-of-meridian-missctapp-1998.