Hays v. City of Poplar Bluff

173 S.W. 676, 263 Mo. 516, 1915 Mo. LEXIS 167
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedFebruary 9, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 173 S.W. 676 (Hays v. City of Poplar Bluff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hays v. City of Poplar Bluff, 173 S.W. 676, 263 Mo. 516, 1915 Mo. LEXIS 167 (Mo. 1915).

Opinion

BROWN, C.

The petition was filed in the circuit court for Butler county, March 26, 1910, impleading with the city, as defendant, George Luther, its street commissioner. It states that on April 27, 1908, the defendant city, by its city council, granted plaintiff permission to erect a building of wood and iron on the west half of lot sixty-one in said city, of which he was seized as owner. That on. the 20th day of September, 1909, the mayor and council granted him the further permission to construct on said building, which had then been erected, an iron roof, which he constructed in accordance with such _permission. The plaintiff’s right to erect and maintain the building under the ordinances pleaded, as well as the acquiescence of the city therein and its continued and present use for business purposes by plaintiff and his tenants, are fully and particularly set forth, and the petition proceeds as follows:

“Plaintiff, however, states that notwithstanding all of the matters hereinbefore pleaded and set forth, the said city of Poplar Bluff, by and through its duly elected, qualified and acting mayor and city council, on the 21st day of February, 1910, caused to be passed and enacted, the following ordinance, to-wit:
a ‘ORDINANCE NO. 240. BILL NO. 264.
'“An ordinance declaring the building located on the west half of lot 61 of the original town (now city) of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to be a nuisance and ordering its abatement and removal.
“ ‘Be it ordained Toy the City Counoil of the city of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, as follows:
“ ‘Section 1. That the building located on the west half of lot 61 of the original town (now city) of Poplar Bluff, in Butler county, Missouri, be and the same is hereby condemned and ordered abated and removed within ninety days after the service of notice of the passage of this ordinance on the owner, or agent, in. charge of said building, for the reason that said building is constructed of combustible material and therefore a nuisance, and was built in violation of sections 313, 314 and 315 of the Revised Ordinances of the city of Poplar Bluff, of the revision of 1898, and ordinance No. 24.
[524]*524“ ‘Section 2. That if said building shall not be abated and removed within the time provided in this ordinance the street commissioner of the city of Poplar Bluff is hereby ordered and directed to abate and remove said building, after the lapse of the time provided in this ordinance.
“ ‘Section 3. That the owners, or agent in charge of said building, failing to abate and remove said building within the time specified by this ordinance, after notice herein provided for, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense.’ ”

It then alleges with particularity that the ordinance is void for' lack of power under the city charter to pass it; because the city is estopped to deny the plaintiff’s right to maintain the building; because it is in violation of that provision of section 10, article 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which forbids the States to pass any ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; also of the 5th and 14th amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and of sections 15, 20, 21 and 30, of article 2, and section 53 of article 4, of the Constitution of the State of Missouri. That the building is not constructed of combustible material, nor is it a nuisance as stated in the ordinance quoted, but, although the ordinance is void, the city and defendant Luther, its street commissioner, are threatening and preparing, under its provisions, to not only tear down and destroy said building, but to arrest and prosecute plaintiff under the provisions of the third section thereof, all to his irreparable damage and injury, for which he has no adequate remedy at law. That the building is worth ten thousand dollars, and is occupied by tenants of plaintiff engaged therein in lawful and proper lines of business. The prayer is as follows:

“Wherefore, plaintiff prays that a writ of injunction issue from this court enjoining and restraining said city of Poplar Bluff and its co-defendant, George Luther, the duly appointed, qualified and acting street [525]*525commissioner of said city, and all other officers, agents and employees of said city from further proceedings to enforce the provisions of said ordinance No. 240 hereinbefore sot forth, and from abating, tearing down, removing or destroying plaintiff’s building hereinbefore described, and from trespassing upon or in anywise interfering with plaintiff’s enjoyment of his said premises, and from interfering in any manner with the possession or title of plaintiff of, in or to said lot and tract of land and the building situate thereon, and for such other and further relief as to the court shall seem meet and just.”

A preliminary restraining order was granted, and the cause progressed so that on November 3rd the defendants filed an amended answer denying each and every allegation not therein expressly admitted and stating that defendant city is a city of the third class, and as such on March 6, 1899, passed a revision of its ordinances containing the following sections also set out in the petition:

“Section 313. All that part of the city of Poplar Bluff comprised within the following described boundaries shall he known as the ftre limits of said city: Beginning at the northeast corner of lot 21, in the city of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, running thence west with the south boundary line of Oak street to Fifth street; thence south along the east boundary line of Fifth street to Ash street; thence east along the north boundary line of Ash street to the main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railroad; thence northeasterly with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railroad to the western line of Water street; thence north along the west line of Water street to the northeast corner of lot 21, to the place of beginning.
“Section 314. Hereafter it shall be unlawful for any person, without obtaining a special permission from the mayor and city council, to construct, build or place, or cause to be constructed, built or placed, any edifice, building, structure or shed, the outer walls of which are in whole or in part made of wood, in that part of the city embraced within the fire limits, as described in the preceding section.
“Section 315. Whenever any person or persons shall desire to construct, build or place any wooden building within the fire limits of the city of Poplar Bluff as hereinbefore described, [526]*526such person or persons shall file with the mayor and council an application in writing, setting forth the location, size and manner of construction of the proposed building, and the purposes for which it is to be used. Such application, must be accompanied by the written consent of all' persons owning property within the block in which such proposed building is to be erected or placed.

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Bluebook (online)
173 S.W. 676, 263 Mo. 516, 1915 Mo. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hays-v-city-of-poplar-bluff-mo-1915.