Ingram v. Wirt

864 S.W.2d 237, 314 Ark. 553, 1993 Ark. LEXIS 730
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 1, 1993
Docket93-278
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 864 S.W.2d 237 (Ingram v. Wirt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ingram v. Wirt, 864 S.W.2d 237, 314 Ark. 553, 1993 Ark. LEXIS 730 (Ark. 1993).

Opinions

Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice.

This is an appeal of the chancery court’s finding that a restrictive covenant prevents the appellants, Roy, Norma, Kenneth and Kathy Ingram, from placing two homes on their property, Lot 3, Block 5, Kellogg Addition of Pulaski County, Arkansas. We affirm.

The portion of the Kellogg Subdivision at issue is owned and divided as follows: appellees, Sedric Wirt and his wife, Phyllis, live on Lot 4 and Mr. Wirt’s son lives on Lot 5. Appellees, the Henleys, live on Lot 6, and the Wirts’ daughter’s home is located on Lot 7. Each of the lots in blocks 5 and 6 of this addition are approximately 100 feet wide and 1300 feet deep as evidenced by a plat which was placed in evidence as appellants’ Exhibit 4, and reproduced as follows:

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Included on the plat and Bill of Assurance for Lot 3 is a restrictive covenant that reads:

Said lot shall be restricted to one family residence only and no business or amusement houses may be built or maintained at any time upon any part of said lot, and this clause shall be taken to include boarding houses, tenement houses, inns, hotels, eating houses, clubs and restaurants.

A similarly worded, though not duplicate, version of this covenant is included in the plats and Bills of Assurance for Lots 4,7,8,9,12 and 13 (although Lots 12 and 13 are listed as being in the Sylvan Acres subdivision rather than in Kellogg). According to these documents, all of these lots were developed by Metropolitan Trust Company.

Mrs. Bessie Rea, Roy Ingram’s mother, owned Lot 3 in Kellogg Addition. Her frame home was located on the north one-third of the lot. In October of 1973, she deeded the south two-thirds of Lot 3, Block 5 (3B) to her son and daughter-in-law, Roy and Norma.

In 1975 the neighbors, the Wirts and the Henleys, gave Mr. and Mrs. Ingram permission to move a house onto the south end of Lot 3 so that Roy Ingram could, take care of his ailing mother. This approval was given despite the existence of the restrictive covenant forbidding more than one home per lot in the subdivision. As Sedric Wirt explained during his testimony at the trial, “We agreed to do this because we were trying to be good neighbors.” The Ingrams moved a house on a transport trailer across the Wirt property onto the south end of Lot 3 in 1975 — the house was later remodeled with brick veneer, and a swimming pool was placed behind the house some time later.

In May 1983 the Ingrams purchased the north one-third of Lot 3 from Mrs. Bessie Rea. Mrs. Rea subsequently died, and on April 1, 1989 her frame home burned beyond use and was later torn down. Shortly after the home burned, Mr. Wirt approached Mr. Roy Ingram concerning buying the north one-third of Lot 3 where the house had been situated, but Mr. Ingram refused. In May 1989, the Roy Ingrams sold the north one-third of Lot 3 to their son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth and Kathy Ingram.

Mrs. Roy Ingram mentioned to Ms. Wirt that her son would be putting a manufactured home on the north end of the property in place of the house which had burned down. The Wirts objected to this arrangement as did the Henleys, and as a result, they filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Chancery Court asking that an injunction be issued against the Ingrams to prevent them from violating the restrictive covenant by placing a second residence on Lot 3. Two days before the trial, the Ingrams filed a replat and new Bill of Assurance as to this lot, replatting it into Lots 3A and 3B and amending the Bill of Assurance to allow one residence per each subdivided lot.

Mr. Basil Shoptaw, a civil engineer and land surveyor with Thomas Engineering Company, testified for the Ingrams. He stated that he had been involved in the replatting of their property. In order to accomplish this task, he had to go to the City of Sherwood for permission — an approval hearing was held on this issue, and the replatting was approved. A new Bill of Assurance was issued allowing two single-family residences on the original Lot 3.

After hearing Mr. Shoptaw’s testimony as well as that of the parties, the chancellor determined that there was a common scheme of development at the time that the Kellogg Addition was formed that mandated only one single family residence per lot. In her final order, the chancellor provides an explanation for her decision:.

3. Neither the doctrines of laches or estoppel were successfully shown by Defendants. The evidence at trial showed the Plaintiffs had previously acquiesced to two residences on the Defendants’ lot, one of which burned, however, this did not constitute laches which would bar the Plaintiffs from seeking removal of the mobile home presently on the lot. The Court finds that the Plaintiffs delay in resorting to court action was not unreasonable under the circumstances and the Defendants did not suffer a detrimental change in position necessary to sustain the defense of laches.
4. The evidence presented at trial supports a finding that there exists a general plan of development in Kellogg Addition that, at the time Kellogg Addition was formed, a common scheme existed for one single family residence per lot.
5. The Court finds there are two residences located on Defendants’ lots.
6. The Court finds the Plaintiffs are entitled to enforcement of the restrictive covenants in the Bill of Assurance which restricts one single family residence per lot in Kellogg Addition.
7. The Defendants cannot defeat the restrictive covenants by simply obtaining a replat from the planning commission subdividing their lot. Constant v. Hodges, 292 Ark. 439, 730 S.W.2d 892 (1987). The Court finds the facts in Constant v. Hodges are virtually identical to this case and, further, that Constant is controlling.
8. The Defendants are, therefore, hereby enjoined from further violations of restrictive covenants contained in the Bill of Assurance by Metropolitan Trust Company, Grantor, to the Public, filed for record.....and ordered to remove the second home from their lot within 30 days of entry of this Final Order.

As a result of this order, the Ingrams filed a Motion for Reconsideration.

Thereafter, the Ingrams filed a motion, pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. Pro. 60 (b), to vacate judgment. In a hearing on this motion, they attempted to introduce aerial photographs of the Kellogg Subdivision, one of which was made in 1974. These photographs were obtained from the Highway Department. The court refused admission of this evidence but did allow the Ingrams to proffer it.

On appeal, we consider the evidence in a light most favorable to the appellee. Constant v. Hodges, 292 Ark. 439, 730 S.W.2d 892 (1987). This court tries chancery cases de novo on the record and does not reverse a finding of fact made by the chancellor unless it is clearly erroneous. Merchants & Planters Bank & Trust Co. v. Massey, 302 Ark. 421, 790 S.W.2d 889 (1990).

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Ingram v. Wirt
864 S.W.2d 237 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
864 S.W.2d 237, 314 Ark. 553, 1993 Ark. LEXIS 730, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ingram-v-wirt-ark-1993.