City of Fort Worth v. Ryan Properties, Inc.

284 S.W.2d 211, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2184
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 28, 1955
Docket15647
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 284 S.W.2d 211 (City of Fort Worth v. Ryan Properties, Inc.) 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
City of Fort Worth v. Ryan Properties, Inc., 284 S.W.2d 211, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2184 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinion

RENFRO, Justice.

The City of Fort Worth brought suit in- a district court of Tarrant' County against Ryan' Properties, Inc., praying for a declaratory judgment, in which it asked, in substance, for a decree declaring it had the right to remove certain ornamental stone columns at the intersections of (a) Elizabeth Boulevard and Eighth Avenue, (b) Elizabeth Boulevard and College Avenue, and (c) Sixth Avenue and West Jessamine Street, all within the city limits of the City of Fort Worth.

Prior thereto, on the 30th of June, 1954, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth had passed a resolution declaring said structures to be public nuisances per se and directing the City Manager to cause said structures to be removed.

In March of 1911, John C. Ryan Land Company, predecessor of appellee Ryan Properties, Inc., filed a dedication and plat of “Ryan Place.” Elizabeth Boulevard and Sixth Avenue were among the dedicated streets. Elizabeth Boulevard intersects College Avenue on the east and Eighth Avenue on the west. Sixth Avenue crosses Elizabeth Boulevard and intersects Jessamine at the northern extremity of Ryan Place.

The granting clause of the dedication reads in part: “* * * John C. Ryan Land Company, * * * has subdivided and does hereby subdivide said tracts of land into blocks and lots and provide streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, and grass plots shown on said plat of said Subdivision, ‡ ‡ »

The instrument of dedication is rather long and we refer to only one other provision in it, namely, “John C. Ryan Land Company expressly reserves in itself the title in fee simple to all the land designated as Blocks ‘A’, ‘C, ‘E’, ‘F’, ‘H’, 7, ‘K’, ‘L’, ‘M’, ‘N’, ‘S’, T, ‘V’, ‘W’/'Z’, and ‘Y’ on said plat'and further expressly reserves in itselves the right to erect and maintain on the street parks between the streets and sidewalks and on the grass plots between the sidewalks and lot lines ornamental columns at the entrances * *

The rectangular lettered Blocks A (6x 10 feet in size) and C (10 x 26 feet) are on the south side of Elizabeth Boulevard at its *213 intersection with College, and Blocks E (10x26 feet) and F (6x10 feet) are on the north side of Elizabeth Boulevard at the same intersection. Blocks L and K and J and H correspond to the above blocks in size and position and are at the intersection of Elizabeth Boulevard and Eighth Avenue.

There are no “reserved” blocks at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Jessamine.

At each of the intersections heretofore mentioned, appellee’s predecessor erected stone or concrete columns. Tall columns were erected at the intersection of Elizabeth' Boulevard and College on Blocks C and E, and at the intersection of Eighth Avenue on Blocks K and J, which were between 14' feet and 25 feet in length and from 20 feet to 25 feet in height. Similar columns were erected at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Jessamine. Smaller columns, varying in height up to 4 feet or more, were located on Blocks A and F on the College end of Elizabeth Boulevard and on Blocks L and H on the Eighth Avenue end of Elizabeth Boulevard, and at Sixth Avenue and Jessamine.

The filed plat shows Elizabeth Boulevard to be 95 feet in width, of which 35 feet is shown as a paved section thereof. On each side of the paved portion of the street is shown a 20 foot wide parkway, with a 5 foot walk and a 5 foot grass plot between the parkway and the lot lines.

The plat shows Sixth Avenue with a total width of 70 feet, of which 30 feet is paved.

The trial court found the tall columns at all three intersections constitute visual and physical obstructions to the use of said streets and are a danger and a menace to the public’s safety, are a public nuisance and cannot be permitted to remain; that the columns are owned by Ryan Properties, Inc., and are on real property owned by Ryan-Properties, Inc. The court found that'the small columns on Blocks A, F, L, and H are not nuisances, that they are owned by Ryan Properties, Inc., and must be permitted to remain; whereupon the court decreed that Ryan Properties, Inc., has a real interest in all the blocks hereinabove referred to; that Ryan Properties, Inc., has no real interest in the property between the property lines of Sixth Avenue at its intersection with Jessamine Street, but that the low columns are not a danger and menace to the public’s safety and must be permitted to remain.

Ryan .Properties, Inc., has not appealed from that portion of the judgment fixing the right of the City of Fort Worth to remove the tall columns; hence, that portion of the judgment is affirmed without discussion;

The City has appealed from that portion of the judgment denying its right to remove the small columns at each intersection.

The main question to be determined is whether or not Elizabeth Boulevard as dedicated and platted extended the entire distance from its intersection with College. Avenue to its intersection with Eighth Avenue as a 95 foot area dedicated to public use.

The right of the public to the use of the street for the purpose of travel extends to the portion set apart and used for sidewalks, as well as to the way for travel, and in short to the entire width of the street upon which the land of the lot owner abuts; Chase v. City of Oshkosh, 81 Wis. 313, 51 N.W. 560, 15 L.R.A. 553. This use, of course, includes parkways between the traveled portion of the street and the lot lines. Village of Grosse Pointe Shores v. Ayres, 254 Mich. 58, 235 N.W. 829; City of Holdenville v. Talley, 205 Okl. 693, 240 P.2d 761; Kupelian v. Andrews, 233 N.Y. 278, 135 N.E. 502.

If ’ it was the intent of the dedicator to dedicate to public úse an area 95 feet in width from the intersection of College to the intersection of Eighth Avenue, then the attempted reservation of the right to erect stone columns 'within the boundaries of said dedicated 'area was inconsistent with the rights of the City , to control the streets and to protect the safety, health and convenience of the public.

The plat filed by the dedicator" shows Block C extending north of the curb line of Elizabeth Boulevard. However,, the curb line takes up on the east side of C and *214 joins with the curb line on College Avenue at a point where the curb line as shown on the east of C is even with the curb line as shown west of C.

The plat shows Block E to extend south of the curb line, with the curb line going on east and even with the curb line west of E.

Block A begins at the north line of the private lot abutting on the south line of Elizabeth Boulevard and extends slightly over what is shown on the plat as a S foot sidewalk.

Block F begins at the property line on the north side of Elizabeth Boulevard and extends southward slightly over what is designated a 5 foot sidewalk on the north side of Elizabeth Boulevard, while the plat shows sidewalks on both sides of the street extending to an intersection with the sidewalks on College Avenue.

Both Blocks C and E jut from the curb line toward each other, with the result that the traveled portion of Elizabeth Boulevard is reduced from 35 feet to approximately 25 feet between the columns erected on Blocks C and E.

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284 S.W.2d 211, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-fort-worth-v-ryan-properties-inc-texapp-1955.