Geneva Inv. Co. v. City of St. Louis, Mo.

87 F.2d 83, 1937 U.S. App. LEXIS 2452
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 8, 1937
Docket10588
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 87 F.2d 83 (Geneva Inv. Co. v. City of St. Louis, Mo.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Geneva Inv. Co. v. City of St. Louis, Mo., 87 F.2d 83, 1937 U.S. App. LEXIS 2452 (8th Cir. 1937).

Opinion

GARDNER, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a decree dismissing appellant’s bill of complaint by which it sought to enjoin appellee from enforcing an amended zoning ordinance.

Appellant, a corporation, on September 4, 1925, purchased property known in the record as lot 50, city block 5419, located at the northeast corner of the intersection 'of Skinker boulevard and Kingsbury avenue, fronting south on Kingsbury avenue, in the City of St. Louis. In 1907, a deed to this and adjoining property had placed restrictions on its use, but these restrictions expired January 1, 1923.

In 1925, the Legislature of the state of Missouri passed an act. (Laws Mo. 1925, p. 307 [Mo.St.Ann. § 7259 et seq., p. 5855 et seq.]), which authorized the creation of building or use zones or districts in certain cities, which included' the City of St. Louis. It empowered such cities to regulate and restrict, among other things, the use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purpose. To that end the legislative "body of the city was authorized to divide the municipality into districts of such number, shape, and area as might be best suited to carry out the purposes of the act, and to regulate and restrict the erection, construction, and use of buildings, structures, and land within such districts. Such regulations were required to be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district, and they were also required to be made “with reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, and with a view to conserving the values of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout such municipality.”

Sections 4 and 5 of the act (Mo.St. Ann. §§ 7262, 7263, pp. 5857, 5858) are as follows:

“Sec. 4. Powers and limitations of legislative body in city — hearings, notice to be given. The legislative body of such municipality shall provide for the manner in which such regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of such districts shall be determined, established, and enforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented, or changed. However, no such regulation, restriction, or boundary shall become effective until after a public hearing in relation thereto, at' which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least 15 days’ notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in an official paper or a paper of general circulation in such municipality.

“Sec. 5. Regulations, restrictions and boundaries may be changed — procedure. Such regulations, restrictions, and boundaries may from time to time be amended, supplemented, changed, modified or repealed. In case, however, of a protest against such change duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of ten per cent *85 or more, either of the areas of the land (exclusive of streets and alleys) included in such proposed change or within an area determined by lines drawn parallel to and one hundred and eighty-five (185') feet distant from the boundaries of the district proposed to be changed, such amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all the members of the legislative body of such municipality. The provisions of the previous section relative to public hearing and official notice shall apply equally to all changes or amendments.”

Pursuant to the authority granted by this statute, the board of aldermen of the City of St. Louis, on April 26, 1926, enacted Ordinance No. 35,003, which divided the city into “use” districts, and limited and defined the use to which property in the several districts might be put. There were five “use” districts created, viz: (1) Residence; (2) multiple dwelling; (3) commercial; (4) industrial; and (5) unrestricted.

Section 21 of this original zoning ordinance is as follows:

“The Board of Aldermen may from time to time, on its own motion or on petition, after public notice and hearings as provided by law, amend, supplement or change the boundaries or regulations herein or subsequently established. In case, however, of a protest against such changes duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of ten (10) per cent or more, either of the areas of the land (exclusive of streets and alleys) included in such proposed change or within an area determined by lines drawn parallel to and one hundred and eighty five (185') feet distant from the boundaries proposed to be changed, such amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of a majority of all the members of the Board of Aider-men.”

By the provisions of this ordinance, a strip of land 90 feet in width, abutting on and adjoining the east side of Skinker boulevard, was zoned as being in the commercial district. Appellant’s property lies within this area. That section of the city lying between Rosedale avenue on the east, Delmar boulevard on the north, Skinker boulevard on the west, and the railroad tracks on the south, constitutes a subdivision called Washington Heights. All of this territory except that lying between Delmar boulevard and the alley immediately south thereof was divided into lots which fronted on the avenues running east and west. In addition to the 90-foot strip placed in the commercial district by the original zoning ordinance, other parts of Washington Heights were zoned as follows, commencing with the railroad tracks on the west: (1) From the right of way of the railway north to the alley south of McPherson avenue, a multiple dwelling district; (2) from this alley to the alley south of Delmar boulevard, a residential district; (3) all the property north of the alley, south of Delmar boulevard and east of Skinker boulevard, an industrial district. As has already been observed, the 90-foot strip placed by the zoning ordinance in the commercial district embraced appellant’s property.

On November 18, 1930, appellant’s property being in the commercial district as established by this ordinance, it applied to the proper officers of the city for a permit to install gasoline tanks and pumps on its property, and a permit so to do was issued on that date. On November 25, 1930, it was granted a building permit to erect a gasoline filling station on its property. Each permit by its terms expired one year from date. In the meantime, appellant entered into a contract to sell its property for $72,000, dependent upon the erection of the filling station. On October 6, 1931, before it had done any substantial work toward erecting the gasoline filling station, both permits were revoked on the ground that the property was then located in a multiple dwelling district. It ‘should be observed in passing that appellant was delayed in erecting its filling station by an injunction issued by a state court restraining the erection. This cause has not been tried, but by consent of the parties has been continued from time to time. When its permits were revoked, appellant applied to the Supreme Court of Missouri, at its October, 1931, term, for a writ of mandamus to compel the officers of the city to reinstate the permits, asserting that Ordinance No. 38,758, hereinafter referred to, was invalid, and as its reason for not having proceeded with the construction of its gasoline filling station and the installation of gasoline tanks, the pendency of the injunction suit was pleaded. The Supreme Court of Missouri denied this application.

Ordinance No.

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

Related

Robinson v. City of Raytown
606 S.W.2d 460 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1980)
Stephen T. Burns v. City of Des Peres
534 F.2d 103 (Eighth Circuit, 1976)
Dahman v. City of Ballwin
483 S.W.2d 605 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1972)
McDermott v. Village of Calverton Park
454 S.W.2d 577 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1970)
Richmond Corp. v. Board of County Commissioners
255 A.2d 398 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1969)
Ross v. Montgomery County
250 A.2d 635 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1969)
Cline v. City of Boulder
450 P.2d 335 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1969)
Shellburne, Inc. v. Roberts
224 A.2d 250 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1966)
Schneider v. Lazarov
390 S.W.2d 197 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1965)
Hermann v. City of Des Moines
97 N.W.2d 893 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1959)
State Ex Rel. Sims v. Eckhardt
322 S.W.2d 903 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1959)
George Vincent McMahon v. City of Dubuque, Iowa
255 F.2d 154 (Eighth Circuit, 1958)
Deacon v. City of Ladue
294 S.W.2d 616 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1956)
Brackett v. City of Des Moines
67 N.W.2d 542 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1954)
Kellog v. Joint Council of Women's Auxiliaries Welfare Ass'n
265 S.W.2d 374 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1954)
Mayor C.C. of Balto. v. Shapiro
51 A.2d 273 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1947)
Dennis v. Village of Tonka Bay
156 F.2d 672 (Eighth Circuit, 1946)
Board of County Commissioners v. Snyder
46 A.2d 689 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1946)
Howe Realty Co. v. City of Nashville
141 S.W.2d 904 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 F.2d 83, 1937 U.S. App. LEXIS 2452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/geneva-inv-co-v-city-of-st-louis-mo-ca8-1937.