City of San Antonio v. Robert Thompson & Co.

30 S.W.2d 339, 1930 Tex. App. LEXIS 678
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 18, 1930·No. No. 8482.·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

FRY, C. J.

This suit is one seeking a permanent injunction restraining the city of San Antonio, C. M. Chambers, its mayor, and Frank Bush-ick, Jake Rubiola, Paul Steffler, and Phil Wright, its commissioners, C. T. Fincham, its building inspector, and Edward Wolfe, its fire-marshal, from revoking a certain building pei'mit issued on January 8, 1930; said permit being given for the erection of a building on lot 1 in block 8, at the corner of San Pedro avenue and Summit avenue in San Antonio. The court decreed that “said defendants, and each of them, together with their servants, agents and employees, are hereby restrained from interfering with plaintiff in the construction of its said building, at the north-east corner of Summit and San Pedro avenues in the City of San Antonio, Texas, in accordance with the permit which was duly issued on January 7, 1939, under the provisions of the building ordinance of the City of San Antonio, Texas.” The appellants were also specifically enjoined and restrained mandatorily from revoking the building permit issued to plaintiff on January 7, 1939, authorizing it to erect its building on the property described.

The petition is full and elaborate, setting forth facts and circumstances claimed to be connected with the issuance and revocation of the permit to build. It shows the existence of a valid ordinance passed by the city of San Antonio and a strict compliance therewith to the time of granting the permit, but attacks the power of the city to revoke a permit when once granted. The revocation of the permit is alleged to have been made arbitrarily by the mayor on the next day after it had been issued. It was alleged that the building code of San Antonio provides for a board of appeals, to which any one feeling aggrieved at a decision of the building inspector could appeal. The ordinance provided *340 for the selection of an arbiter-by the aggrieved party, another by the inspector, and a third to be chosen by the two arbiters first chosen. Appellee appealed to that board, and followed the provisions of the ordinance in constituting the board. The cause was regularly submitted to the board. According to the ordinance, as alleged by appellee and as proved, “The Building Inspector shall pass on all questions arising under this ordinance; in case of dissatisfaction with his decision, except in respect to unsecured and unsafe buildings requiring immediate action, the question in dispute may be referred to Board of Appeals and a decision of the majority of the board shall determine the issue.” Appellee herein took that appeal to the board and presented the following issues to be decided by the board;

“First: (a) Whether said building permit was in fact regularly granted and issued on January 7th, 19801,
“(b) and thereafter, on January 8th, 1930, declared revoked.
“Second: Whether any cause existed to justify the revocation of said building permit; if so, what that cause was.
“Third: Should said building permit so granted on January 7th, 1930, be continued in full operation and effect.”
“To question 1-a: We answer Yes.
“To question 1-b: We answer Yes.
“To question 2: We answer Yes;- the signed petition submitted us by property owners in said addition.
“To question 3: We answer No.”

No appeal was taken fx-om the decision of the board of appeals, and no complaint has been made of such decision. The ordinance did not require appellee to submit to a hearing before the board, but appellee voluntarily went before the board and submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the board. After the revocation of the building permit, appellee did not seek through another application for a permit to obtain the authority to erect its desired buildings.

Appellee unreservedly submitted its claim and grievance to a board not alleged to have been unfair, or which acted fraudulently or with prejudice or bias. It was presumably a fair-minded, just board, partly formed by ap-pellee, fo whom appellee presented its own issues, and against whose decision no appeal was reserved. Appellee gambled with the decision of the board, submitted to its jurisdiction, and then without one word of complaint of its decision it simply ignores the decision and enters another tribunal to set aside and destroy the action of appellants. No right of appeal from the award of the board was reserved or attempted. In article 233, Revised Statutes, it is provided: “If a right of appeal is not expressly reserved in the original agreement to arbitrate, no such right shall exist, but the decision of the arbitrators shall be final.” It is true that provision is found in title 10, devoted to statutory arbitrations, but in article 238 of the same title other arbitra-tions not under the statute are recognized. The ordinance furnished the basis for the agreement, the parties acted upon that agreement, each furnishing a member of the board and the two selecting the third, and an admittedly upright and just board decided unanimously against appellee. It was a legal and binding arbitration of the differences between the parties, and they should be bound by it. Ridgill Bros. v. Dupree (Tex. Civ. App.) 85 S. W. 1166. As said in Myers v. Easterwood, 60 Tex. 107: “The award of the arbitrator is substantially thei agreement of the parties, for they each empowered the arbitrator to ascertain and declare the terms of the agreement, and by his award, when fairly made, they ought to be as much bound as though they had made an agreement directly between themselves, embracing the terms of the award.” See, also, Faggard v. Williamson, 4 Tex. Civ. App. 337, 23 S. W. 557.

We copy with appi-oval the following excerpt from an opinion of this court delivered through Associate Justice Edward W. Smith, in the case of Panhandle Grain & Elevator Co. v. Dorsey, 242 S. W. 255, 257:

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City of San Antonio v. Robert Thompson & Co., 30 S.W.2d 339, 1930 Tex. App. LEXIS 678 (Tex. Ct. App. 1930).

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