Causey v. Williams

398 S.W.2d 190, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 531
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 16, 1965
Docket31825
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 398 S.W.2d 190 (Causey v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Causey v. Williams, 398 S.W.2d 190, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 531 (Mo. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

RUDDY, Judge.

Plaintiffs contend they have an easement over that portion of an alleged concrete common driveway located on the property of defendants and through this action they seek to have a mandatory injunction requiring defendants to remove a concrete dividing curb and woven wire fence which have been placed on said driveway by defendants and which plaintiffs claim are obstructing their use of said driveway. Plaintiffs seek to establish an easement by implication over the entire portion of the alleged concrete common driveway located on the property of defendants. In addition, they seek actual and punitive damages against the defendants. The trial court denied the mandatory injunction and the other relief sought by plaintiffs and dismissed plaintiffs’ petition. Plaintiffs have appealed from this decree and judgment.

Plaintiffs are the owners of improved real property known as 1459 Laclede Station Road in the city of Richmond Heights, Missouri. Their property, which shall be referred to hereinafter as Lot A, is the north half of Lot 67 of Rannell’s Home Farm Subdivision and consists of a tract of land fronting 50 feet on the west line of Laclede Station Road with a depth westwardly of 120 feet. The north line of said Lot A is parallel to and 100 feet south of the south line of Hicks Avenue, which is the first intersecting street north of said lot. Defendants are the owners of the south half of said Lot 67, together with improvements thereon, known as No. 1463 Laclede Station Road and said lot fronts 50 feet on the west line of Laclede Station Road with a depth westwardly of 120 feet. Defendants’ property will be referred to as Lot B.

Defendants’ lot is improved with a brick residence 37 feet wide and 28 feet deep, set back 35 feet from the east line of said lot and 7.01 feet from the north line thereof. Plaintiffs’ Lot A consists of a similar improvement and the brick residence on said lot of plaintiffs is 7 feet from the south line of said lot. Between plaintiffs’ residence and defendants’ residence is a concrete driveway running west from said Laclede Station Road to the rear of the two residences and approximately 40 feet beyond. The driveway occupies the entire space between the two residences.

The evidence shows that Lots A and B were originally 'owned by the St. Louis County Realty Company. At the time of their ownership there were no improvements on either of said lots. About May of 1959 the St. Louis County Realty Company commenced the construction of two houses, one on Lot B for the defendants herein and one on Lot A for Margaret M. Brown. In the construction of said houses the St. Louis County Realty Company built the driveway referred to between the two houses. There was no right-of-way by which either defendants or Margaret M. Brown could get into their lots from the rear.

On October 9, 1959, the St. Louis County Realty Company conveyed Lot B by warranty deed to the defendants herein. Said warranty deed contained the following reservation: “Subject to reservation of St. Louis County Realty Co., its successor and assigns for driveway purposes over the *193 North one (1) foot of the above described property, for the use and benefit of the property adjoining on the North.”

On the same day, namely, October 9, 1959, the St. Louis County Realty Company conveyed Lot A by warranty deed to Margaret M. Brown. Said warranty deed contained the following reservation: “Subject to reservation of St. Louis County Realty Co., its successors and assigns for driveway purposes over the South one (1) foot of the above described property, for the use and benefit of the property adjoining on the South.” On April 27, 1960, Margaret M. Brown conveyed Lot A by warranty deed to Calvin E. Causey and Sudie M. Causey, his wife, the plaintiffs herein. Said warranty deed conveyed said Lot A “subject to restrictions, conditions, easements, reservations etc. now of record, if any.”

The warranty deed executed by the St. Louis County Realty Company conveying Lot A to Margaret M. Brown was recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds, County of St. Louis, Missouri, on October 13, 1959, at 11:37 A.M., and the warranty deed executed by the St; Louis County Realty Company conveying Lot B to defendants herein was recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds, St. Louis County, Missouri, on October 13, 1959, at 11:39 A.M. We mention the time of these recordings because of a point raised by plaintiffs which we will discuss later.

We summarize the evidence we think pertinent to the contention of plaintiffs. We pause to comment that the record in this case is extensive and contains much testimony of witnesses, offered by plaintiffs, that we find is immaterial and irrelevant to the issue and contention sought to be established by plaintiffs. Thus, we limit our summation to the relevant and pertinent evidence that relates to the contention of plaintiffs, namely, that they have an easement by implication over the entire portion of the alleged common driveway located on the property of defendants.

One of the defendants, Alvertis Williams, called as a witness by plaintiffs, testified that he purchased Lot B and the improvements thereon in 1959 and that thereafter he and his wife moved into the property. At the time he moved into the property Margaret M. Brown resided in and owned the house to the north of his property, which house was an improvement on Lot A. He said he did not use that part of the driveway north of his property line and on the property owned by Mrs. Brown and stated that he only used the driveway on his side, namely, to the south of his north line. He said there was no mark or line on the driveway that indicated his northern boundary or the southern boundary of Lot A. He remembered when the plaintiffs moved into the property formerly owned by Margaret M. Brown and said that he and Mr. Causey, one of the plaintiffs, undertook to extend the driveway to the rear of their respective lots. He stated there was no discussion with reference to a common use carport and that he had no idea of building a common use carport or garage with the Causeys. Witness engaged Max Platzelman to bring the material for the extended driveway and paid him his (Williams) portion of the cost, which he thought was “approximately $100 or better.” At the same time that witness extended the driveway to the rear of his house he built a concrete patio or slab on his property at the back of his house, which he said was built for the benefit of the family. He further stated that he used the front portion of his driveway to park his car and did not use the portion to the rear of his house because he reserved that as a playground for the children.

In August of 1962 he (Williams) built a fence on his property and, as he described it, a dividing or separating curb, which he said was approximately 6 inches or 9 inches in width and about 6 to 9 inches in height. He engaged a contractor to do this work. He said his purpose in building the fence and curb was to “be able to have access to my property without coming in *194 conflict with anyone else.” The fence and the curb were built one foot south of his north line, which limited his driveway to “six feet between the curb and the house.” Building the fence and curb at this location left the width of plaintiffs’ driveway at 8 feet, which included the southern 7 feet of plaintiffs’ lot and the northern one foot of defendants’ lot. Witness further testified that he and Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
398 S.W.2d 190, 1965 Mo. App. LEXIS 531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/causey-v-williams-moctapp-1965.