Leichtle v. Perssion

234 N.W. 732, 203 Wis. 584, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 247
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 10, 1931
StatusPublished

This text of 234 N.W. 732 (Leichtle v. Perssion) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leichtle v. Perssion, 234 N.W. 732, 203 Wis. 584, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 247 (Wis. 1931).

Opinion

Fritz, J.

Defendant Perssion owns a rectangular tract of land with sixty-three feet frontage on the east side of Eleventh street, which is a north-and-south street, in the city of Milwaukee. When originally platted, that tract was not subdivided into smaller lots, and there are no platted lot lines within its boundaries. The evidence establishes, without conflict, that when the lease upon which this action is based was executed on January 27, 1930, the following conditions existed: On that tract, adjacent to the north boundary, is a residential building known as 268 Eleventh .street, the front porch of which was nineteen feet from the street line. Near the north boundary a private walk extended from the public sidewalk to the porch and afforded means of ingress and egress to and from the building, and an iron fence extended southward along the street line from that private walk to a private driveway. That driveway extended eastward from the front sidewalk, parallel to and within a few feet of the south wall of the residence, to a public service garage which occupied the entire width of the rear of the tract. The driveway was eight feet wide and constituted the means of ingress and egress to and from the garage. Between the rear of the residential building and the garage there was a small area of vacant land which, during the two years that plaintiffs occupied the residential building under a prior lease from Perssion, had been used exclusively by the garage tenant in connection with his business. There was a lawn, with some shrubs and a small tree, on the vacant land, to the north of the driveway between the front porch and the iron fence. ■ To the south of the driveway the tract extended twenty feet, and was vacant from the street line to the garage at the rear.

Commencing on March 15, 1928, the plaintiffs occupied and used the building known as 268. Eleventh street under a two-year term lease dated March 7, 1928. That lease de[586]*586scribed the leased premises as “Building known as 268 Eleventh street,” and those words were accompanied by the provision, “This lease does not include garage, driveway to same. ...” On January 27, 1930, the parties executed a new two-year term lease, upon which this action is based, and in which there were the following provisions:

“Witnesseth, that the said lessor does hereby lease, demise, and let unto the said lessees the following described premises situated in the county of Milwaukee and state of Wisconsin, to wit:
“Building known as 268 Eleventh street, in the Second ward of the city and county of Milwaukee, state' of Wisconsin. This lease does not include garage, driveway to same, or vacant lots adjacent to building and (four pair portieres, drapes on front-room windows, rug in front room, runner on front stairs, are part of building leased).”
“It is mutually agreed and understood that the premises herein leased and every part thereof shall, during said term, be used only for family residence purposes and rooming house. . . .”

Shortly after that new lease was made, Perssion began to erect on the vacant land south of the driveway a filling station, and in front of it put in a crescent-shaped concrete driveway, which curved westward across the existing driveway and then curved northwesterly to and across the public sidewalk. That curved driveway cut off a somewhat triangular-shaped portion of the southwest corner of the lawn in front of the porch. The south line of that triangular piece of new driveway extended twenty feet eastward from the public sidewalk along the north line of the old driveway; and the west line of that triangular piece extended twelve feet northward from the driveway along the east line of the public sidewalk. Although the old driveway was only six feet south from the south edge of the front porch, and a projecting bay of the residence even extended up to that driveway, the nearest approach of the new triangular piece [587]*587of driveway left a vacant space of seven feet between it and the southwest corner of the front porch. The iron fence was relocated so as t© extend somewhat parallel to the northeasterly or hypothenuse side of the triangular piece of driveway. Some of the shrubs were transplanted SO' as to be within the fence, and the tree was removed. Although on commencing this-action plaintiffs sought to enjoin the erection of the filling station as well as the triangular piece of new driveway, subsequently, on the trial and on this appeal, plaintiffs’ objection was confined to the triangular piece of driveway.

The trial court found and concluded, in relation to the crucial matters in controversy: That on January 27, 1930, when the lease in suit was executed, the defendant

“contemplated the building of said filling station on said vacant lands and the building of a driveway from the street into said vacant lands in the shape of a crescent entering from the street at one side of said vacant lands and turning upon said vacant lands and going out to the street on the other side of said vacant lands. To build said driveway so as to give it proper curve and shape for public and convenient use and for the convenient use by the public, required that it be made and constructed as is shown by the conclusive evidence, and being so made and constructed it traversed and covered a small section of said vacant lands immediately in front of the southwest corner of said building, 268 Eleventh street. The exception stated in said new lease, ‘vacant lots adjacent to building,’ was stated in said lease for the express purpose of excepting all of the vacant land adjacent and adjoining to said building from the terms of said lease, excepting the right of the plaintiffs to ingress and egress to and from said building through the gateway provided theretofore and the walk provided theretofore to the front porch of said building, and said exception was stated for the express purpose of affording the defendant the clear right to occupy and build upon said adjacent and adjoining vacant lands the said filling station and the said driveway leading thereto as actually finally constructed.
[588]*588“The construction of the curved driveway does not interfere with the enjoyment and use of the building leased for the purposes for which it was let, to wit, for the purpose of conducting therein a rooming house.
“None of the said land occupied by said filling station or the said curved driveway was or is necessary to the complete enjoyment of the building, 268 Eleventh street, for the purposes for which it was let.
“The reasonable construction of the said instrument, Exhibit 2, is that the parties intended the term ‘vacant lots’ used therein to mean vacant lands or vacant land, and used the word ‘adjacent’ in respect to said lands as adjoining lands and meant to exclude from the terms and operation of said lease all of the lands adjoining said building, excepting the right of ingress and egress thereto over the usual way.”

The court dismissed the complaint upon the merits.

The evidence warrants the court’s findings.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
234 N.W. 732, 203 Wis. 584, 1931 Wisc. LEXIS 247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leichtle-v-perssion-wis-1931.