City of Galveston v. Galveston County

159 S.W.2d 976
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 19, 1942
DocketNo. 11359.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 159 S.W.2d 976 (City of Galveston v. Galveston County) 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 Galveston v. Galveston County, 159 S.W.2d 976 (Tex. Ct. App. 1942).

Opinion

CODY, Justice.

This appeal involves a conflict of jurisdiction between the City of Galveston and the County of Galveston over the Seawall Boulevard, and the sidewalks adjacent thereto — insofar as the same is situated within the corporate limits of the City. It is, as we view it, a case of the first impression, and comes before us in the form of an appeal from an order granting to the County a temporary injunction restraining the City, and its co-defendant, Dual Parking Meter Company, “from installing, placing or erecting parking meters on the land and premises known as the seawall and Seawall Boulevard and sidewalks, and from drilling and boring holes in or tearing up portion or part of the surface of said seawall and Seawall Boulevard and sidewalks thereof.” If there is any substantial evidence to support the exercise of the court’s discretion in granting the temporary injunction, such discretion will not, of course, be disturbed on appeal.

The seawall, the Seawall Boulevard, its flanking sidewalks, and the containing-wall, form component parts of the defensive barrier erected against the storm waters of the Gulf. They were erected by the County Commissioners’ Court of Galveston County under authority of R.S. Articles 6830 and 6831, which Articles were enacted in virtue of Sections 7 and 8 of Article 11 of the Texas Constitution, Vernon’s Ann. St. empowering counties and cities bordering on the Gulf of Mexico to construct seawalls, etc. Article 6830, so far as here relevant, reads: “The county commissioners’ court of all counties * * * bordering on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, shall have the power and are authorized from time to time to establish, locate, erect, construct, extend, protect, strengthen, maintain, and keep in repair and otherwise improve any sea wall or breakwater, levees, dikes, floodways -and drainways, and to improve, maintain and beautify any boulevard erected in connection with such sea wall * * And Article 6831, so far as here relevant, reads: “Said county commissioners’ court * * * shall have the power to impose such additional uses and burdens upon all streets, alleys, public highways and other public grounds as they may deem necessary for the location, erection, construction and maintenance of seawalls, breakwaters, levees, dikes, floodways and drainways, and to license, regulate or grant such additional uses of said seawalls, breakwaters, levees, dikes, floodways or drainways as will not impair their efficiency.” The greater part of the seawall, the Boulevard, and its flanking sidewalks, was, under a proper exercise of the jurisdiction thus conferred upon the Commissioners’ Court, constructed within the corporate limits of the City. Johnston v. Galveston County, Tex.Civ.App., 85 S.W. 511; Galveston *978 County v. Gresham, Tex.Civ.App., 220 S.W. 560.

For purposes of this appeal it is not necessary to go into detail in describing the way in which the seawall, Boulevard, and the sidewalks are constructed. The trial court filed conclusions of fact and law. The greater part of the seawall proper, of course, fronts on the Gulf, and the containing-wall parallels the seawall, and the space between the seawall and the containing wall is filled in with sand. Over the top of this sand-fill is constructed the pavement of the Seawall Boulevard, with its flanking sidewalks. The pavement of the Boulevard, and the sidewalks, protect the sand-fill from the action of the storm-waters which are cast up over the seawall. Anything that happened to the pavement of the Boulevard or sidewalks, such as breaking holes in them, which would have the effect of subjecting the sand-fill to the action of the storm waters, and its consequent washing away, and undermining of the pavement, would not only result in great expense to repair and restore the Boulevard, but it would interfere with the efficiency of the barricade as planned and constructed. The jurisdiction to protect and maintain the seawall, the Boulevard and its flanking sidewalks is thus expressly committed to the Commissioners’ Court; and this duty and function to so protect and maintain is a governmental one.

On the other hand, the Boulevard, though the land upon which it is erected belongs in fee simple to the County, and though it be not depicted upon any map as a street of the City of Galveston, is unquestionably (so far as here involved) a street within the City of Galveston, and a heavily travelled one. The County makes no contention that the City hasn’t jurisdiction to police the vehicular traffic upon the Boulevard, or the pedestrian use of the adjacent sidewalks.

In the exercise of its police jurisdiction over the traffic upon a part of the Boulevard, the City proposed to install parking meters, whereupon the County brought suit to restrain it from so doing. Upon the trial, the City introduced evidence from which it could have been reasonably inferred that the parking meters as installed would not endanger the efficiency of the seawall or the supporting Boulevard with its sidewalks which protect against the storm waters of the Gulf. The parking meters if permitted to be installed were to be placed upon rust-proof standards welded to circular bases about six inches in diameter, which were in turn to be fastened upon the sidewalks by four lag screws, each one-half inch in width, and were to be inserted in a malleable iron expansion shield extending into the pavements and above such base there was to be placed a decorative flange secured by a specially designed lock screw, through which the standards would extend upwards, the standards being about forty inches in height, and the meters to be placed on their tops to be about twelve inches in height, cup grease to be used on both the lag screws and the set screws when they were installed, — the lag screws to be only two inches in length. The City contended that the meters thus installed would not constitute hazards to the strength of the seawall, or the sand-fill, etc., first because they were readily removable in the event of an approaching hurricane; and when removed would leave only four small holes of about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and about two and a half inches in depth, with the metal shields in them to prevent the entry of water to the sand-fill, and second, that if a standard could not be readily detached it could be knocked down by pulling the lag screws from the holes without tearing up the pavement, and the holes would be too small to allow water to the sand-fill, and thus undermine the pavement. It was shown that it is always known pretty far in advance if a storm is approaching in the direction of Galveston; that it is usually known two or three days in advance if there is any danger of being struck by a storm. The evidence of the County was to the effect that logs and trees and other debris would be washed over the seawall by the storm waters which might be caught and held by the meters against the pavement, holes might be made in the pavement and allow the water to get to the sand-fill or the meters would be torn up by the debris being forced there against, and make holes in the pavement or walks and thus enable the storm waters to undermine the pavement and sidewalks.

The learned trial judge found that it was difficult to predict what objects would stand or be destroyed, or the manner in which destruction would be accomplished, by the pounding of wind and waves during a hurricane. He found that the County *979

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

Related

Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Texas Attorney General Reports, 1990
Payne v. City of Galveston
772 S.W.2d 473 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Opinion No.
Texas Attorney General Reports, 1982
City of Houston v. Houston Independent School District
436 S.W.2d 568 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Park v. Adams
289 S.W.2d 829 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1956)
Titus County v. City of Mt. Pleasant
229 S.W.2d 424 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1950)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 S.W.2d 976, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-galveston-v-galveston-county-texapp-1942.