Gavosto v. Town of Normandy

452 S.W.2d 308, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 668
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 24, 1970
DocketNo. 33624
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 452 S.W.2d 308 (Gavosto v. Town of Normandy) 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
Gavosto v. Town of Normandy, 452 S.W.2d 308, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 668 (Mo. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

DOWD, Judge.

This is a declaratory judgment suit in which plaintiffs, as owners of a tract of land in the Town of Normandy, sought to have the court declare Zoning Ordinance No. 66, which zoned and classified their property as “B” Single Family District for one-family dwellings, unreasonable, uncon[309]*309stitutional, unlawful and void as it applies to their property.

The court was further asked to direct the defendants to issue permits for the construction of multiple dwellings, streets, roads for ingress and egress, sewers and sanitary facilities.

The petition further alleges that because of the landlocked condition of the property, the topography, the cost of building a suitable road, the proximity to Interstate Highway 70 and the Wabash Railroad right-of-way the only suitable use is for multiple dwellings. The petition states that Ordinance No. 66 as it applies to their property is unconstitutional in that it deprives plaintiffs of their property without due process of law and amounts to a confiscation of their property.

The petition also states that on three separate occasions the plaintiffs made application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for rezoning of the property to multiple dwelling use and this commission recommended to the Board of Trustees that the property be rezoned but that the Board of Trustees refused to do so.

Plaintiffs in 1932 purchased about eight acres of land in the Town of Normandy, St. Louis County, Missouri. Later, the highway department purchased about two acres from plaintiffs for Interstate Highway 70. Plaintiffs are now owners of a pie-shaped tract of land of about five acres consisting of three undivided parcels. The southern parcel consists of about 2.35 acres of undeveloped ground leading to a natural drainage ditch. The northern parcel of about 1.33 acres is improved with two individual residences, single family homes occupied by the plaintiffs and their son and family. The third parcel of about 1.886 acres is located between the north and south parcels and plaintiffs seek to rezone this tract for multiple dwelling use in order to construct a townhouse multiple project of approximately 42 units. There are other multiple dwellings in the area.

In May of 1966 plaintiffs applied for rezoning of this 1.886 acres tract from single family to multiple dwellings. This rezoning was recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission but the Board of Trustees, which is the legislative body of Normandy, voted to deny the rezoning.

Plaintiffs’ expert witnesses testified to the following effect: It would be uneconomical to develop this tract for single family residential use. Because of the high cost of utility improvements and land development, which is estimated to be $92,-500, it would be a losing proposition to develop this tract for single family dwellings and that the best use of the tract would be multiple dwellings. If the property were rezonéd to multiple dwelling use it would have a value of $35,000 to $40,000. As it is presently zoned it has little or nominal value.

The only access to this property is by a one lane, unpaved road 20 feet wide, surfaced with rock chat, called Half Street, approximately 1600 feet long which leads to Bermuda Road. The plaintiffs do not have title to the ground on which Half Street is located nor do they have a written document establishing their right to use the street but they have used this street for over 30 years. Half Street has been dedicated but not accepted. It is not maintained by either St. Louis County or the Town of Normandy. It is maintained by the plaintiffs. Half Street is dusty when dry and during the winter months it becomes soggy making its use difficult for the plaintiffs. Additional ground would have to be purchased to widen the street. Plaintiffs’ son testified that the Town of Normandy required a twenty-six foot wide road, paved with six inches of concrete.

There are no storm or sanitary sewers or gas, water or utilities on this particular parcel. There were no sewer plans submitted to the Metropolitan Sewer District for approval.

After the plaintiffs closed their case, the defendants filed an oral motion to dismiss [310]*310and asked that no relief be granted “except to the issue of the constitutionality of the zoning” as it applied to this property. The court ruled: “Your motion will be sustained as put, your oral motion for directed verdict, with respect to the portion of the prayer, other than deciding the constitutionality of the zoning as applied to this particular parcel is sustained. * * * ” The opinion in State ex rel. Sheridan v. Hudson, Mo.App., 400 S.W.2d 425 which involved a prior attempt by plaintiffs to build multiple dwellings on this same tract, was then discussed by the trial court. The court in Hudson held that under the zoning ordinance in effect the Board of Adjustment of Normandy had no power to grant the Gavostos authority to use the property for a use other than for which it was zoned. However, the court in Hudson stated at l.c. 428, “ * * * we are of the opinion that from the factual standpoint the Board of Adjustment, and the court, were amply justified in granting the Ga-vostos the right to use their property for a non-conforming use, that is, a use other than that for which it was zoned. We reach this conclusion, as did both the Board and the court, because of the obvious practical difficulties which prevent them from economically using it for single family dwellings, and because to deny them the right to use it for multiple dwellings would be tantamount to a taking or confiscation in the constitutional sense. Huttig v. City of Richmond Heights, Mo., 372 S. W.2d 833.”

The court in Hudson at l.c. 430 then pointed out in passing that in Fairmount Inv. Co. v. Woermann, 357 Mo. 625, 210 S.W.2d 26, “ * * * a similar ordinance of the City of St. Louis was held void on the grounds that there were not prescribed therein uniform standards or tests which imposed proper restrictions on the exercise of the police power granted to the Board of Adjustment; and that the court’s view of the constitutional invalidity of the ordinance as expressed in Fairmount Inv. Co. v. Woermann, supra, was confirmed in the relatively recent case of State ex rel. Ludlow v. Guffey, Mo., 306 S.W.2d 552, an en banc decision.”

The trial court in explaining its dismissal stated: “ * * * And, as far as best use of the property in question would be multiple family rather than be resident single family. But, there is still the problem of ingress and egress to this particular tract of land. * * * I would not say to the Town of Normandy, now I have held this ordinance unconstitutional as to this particular parcel of ground. Now that I have done that, without any consideration of the road, now I am going to compel you to issue them a special permit to run a street in here with only a twenty foot wide paved street for the purposes of serving forty units of multiple. * * * Well, this time, there is no question whatsoever but the issue of constitutionality has been fully raised and tried in this issue. And, some of the ordinance is unconstitutional as applied to this 1.886 acres. * * * ” Plaintiffs appealed.

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Bluebook (online)
452 S.W.2d 308, 1970 Mo. App. LEXIS 668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gavosto-v-town-of-normandy-moctapp-1970.