City of Lynchburg v. Peters

157 S.E. 769, 156 Va. 40, 1931 Va. LEXIS 177
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedMarch 19, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 157 S.E. 769 (City of Lynchburg v. Peters) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Lynchburg v. Peters, 157 S.E. 769, 156 Va. 40, 1931 Va. LEXIS 177 (Va. 1931).

Opinion

Holt, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

In this action of trespass on the case there was a* declaration, a demurrer thereto sustained and an amended declaration which also was demurred to. That demurrer was overruled and in due course, upon trial, plaintiff obtained a verdict and judgment for $2,500.00, now before us on a writ of error.

There are, in the city of Lynchburg, four city blocks bounded, roughly speaking, on the north by Twelfth street, [44]*44on the south by Washington street, on the east by Church street and on the west by Clay street. Court street, as laid off, runs parallel to Church street and to Clay street and half way between them. In like manner this plat of land is bisected by Thirteenth street which runs from Church street to Clay street. A plat showing all of this appears in City of Lynchburg v. Peters, 145 Va. 1, 133 S. E. 674, 677. It may be said in limine that this case is a sequent to that and is in a large measure controlled by it.

Washington street, at the intersection of Court street, is about sixty feet above the elevation of Twelfth street and Clay street, at the intersection of Thirteenth street, is sixty-seven feet above the elevation of Church street. Church street is well paved and generally used. Court street from Twelfth to Wash-. ington streets and Thirteenth street from Church to Clay streets were unpaved and relatively unimproved.. Territory which centers near the intersection of Court and Thirteenth streets had been for many years used as a common dump to which were attached those disagreeable features usually attendant upon places of like character. Across this dump was Court street, scarcely to be dignified by the name of street at all as is manifest from photographs made a part of the record.

The city conceived the idea of converting this land into a playground, athletic field and stadium. This purpose was carried out and those portions of Thirteenth street and Court street which lay within the boundaries of this athletic field were vacated and closed. Court street was closed to a line which extended across it as a continuation of the north boundary of the line of Dr. Peters’ lot, which for 132 feet, touches the athletic park, but his lot nowhere touches Thirteenth street.

In 1919, Dr. Peters bought a lot and residence to be converted into a private hospital. Substantial improvements were made, the necessary equipment was installed and this hospital was open for service in March, 1920, and was operated [45]*45until 1924, when it was closed because of the location of this municipal enterprise. The Peters’ lot fronts 148 feet on Church street and runs back 264 feet to Court street with a frontage there of 159 feet. No part of this lot as we have seen touched Thirteenth street and no part of it touched Court street where it has been closed. In other words, Dr. Peters is not an abutting landholder and has none of those special rights «which such landholders sometimes have in the streets which adjoin their property. He is not entitled to damages in that capacity and he is not entitled to damages for inconveniences shared with the general public and which differ in degree only and not in kind.

When the city’s purpose became known Dr. Peters sought to stay its hand and brought a suit in chancery to enjoin this public improvement. The issues in that suit, as stated by Chichester, J., were:

“ (1) The right of the city of Lynchburg to permanently close the streets referred to, and thereafter, under the facts presented by the record here, to use the vacated area together with the lots surrounding such area, which are owned by the city, for a public park.

“(2) Whether a park or stadium, such as is contemplated, is a nuisance per se.”

In it the court held that the city had authority to close these streets both under general law and under its charter and that no right rests in Dr. Peters as a member of the general public to complain. He had, as we have seen, no rights as an abutting lot holder. This was manifestly a sound conclusion. One who lived a mile away surely could not be heard to complain. The fact that another who lived nearer would be inconvenienced to a greater degree likewise affords no grounds for relief for the inconvenience would be in degree and not in kind. Not until it is made to appear that Dr. Peters has suffered therefrom some special wrong can the city be called upon to respond in damages.

[46]*46Judge Chichester, after noting the fact that some authorities hold that property owners whose lots abut on closed streets but not on closed portions thereof are entitled to special consideration, said that claim was against the weight of authority and quoted with approval this statement of the law from Gerhard v. Seekonk River Bridge Com’rs, 15 R. I. 334, 5 Atl. 199:

“The question is whether abutters upon a public street simply as abutters have any right of travel in the street, as against the State, which would entitle them to- compensation if the street be obstructed under the authority of the State, in a case where no portion of the street in front of their abutting estates is occupied or obstructed. We do not think that they have any such right. The easement o-f travel which they enjoy is a public easement, and they enjoy it simply as a' portion of the public. It is competent for the State, representing the public, to authorize the entire discontinuance of a street and a fortiori its partial obstruction, at least so long as the abutters have, as they have in the present case, access and egress to and from their estates by other ways.”

Dr. Peters’ hospital fronts on Church street, a paved and adequate thoroughfare. It abuts on Court street, and Court street, south, is still open. It is true that the approach to-Washington street is quite up grade but that in Lynchburg is not an unusual condition. Its northern extension was across a dump heap and unimproved. He has ample access to and egress from his estate by other ways.

On this issue we "are of opinion that this court has already held that Dr. Peters suffered no special damage by reason of the closing of these streets and could not complain. We are further of opinion that the conclusion which we have heretofore reached is, for reasons set forth in our first opinion, sound and is supported by a decided weight of authority in this country at large- and by decisions of our own court.

In Bowe v. Scott, 113 Va. 499, 75 S. E. 123, it was said:

[47]*47“The principal question presented by this appeal involves the right of individuals (owning real estate in the city of Richmond, but whose lots do not abut on the section of the public alley obstructed, and who have not suffered any peculiar damage therefrom) to have declared null' and void a city ordinance authorizing the closing,- for the period of thirty years, of a public alley reaching from Shafer street to Harrison street, to the extent to which it bisects the respective lots of the appellants, Elizabeth S. Scott and E. T. D. Myers, Jr.; also to enjoin the defendants from closing any portion of the alley, or from exercising any rights under ‘the void ordinance’.”

The ordinance there was sustained and the alley, closed.

The right of the city to close these streets to the extent that they were closed does not come to us as an open question.

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Bluebook (online)
157 S.E. 769, 156 Va. 40, 1931 Va. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-lynchburg-v-peters-va-1931.