Lemmon v. Town of Guthrie Center

84 N.W. 986, 113 Iowa 36
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided January 21, 1901·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

Ladd, J.

3 [39]*394 [38] If the admonition of the judge in the notice of the hearing, not to interfere with the building, be regarded as a restraining order, no ruling was ever entered on the motions to dissolve. These appear to be undisposed of, and, until some ruling by the trial judge or coux*t is had, the propriety of making such an order without notice canxxot be questioned in this court. Even were it unauthorized, that fact would furnish no reason for not issuing the temporary writ after a full hearing- Nor did the pendency of the proceedings before the mayor of Guthrie Cefi-' tei’, in which a writ of execution directing the marshal to remove the building beyond the fire limit was sought, interpose any obstacle to granting the relief prayed. Neither the [39] ordinances of the town nor the statutes of the state'confer jurisdiction on the mayor’s court to issue such a writ. Nor was any such action necessary. The ordinance empowered the mayor or marshal, in virtue of his office, in event of the ■owner’s failure to desist or remove on two days’ notice, “to ■enter on said premises, and abate or remove the same.” No order or writ of execution was essential. A building erected in violation of an ordinance fixing fire limits may be torn dtown or removed without any judicial proceedings whatever. Eichenlaub v. City of St. Joseph, 113 Mo. 395 (21 S. W. Rep. 8, 18 L. R. A. 590) ; Hine v. City of New Haven, 40 Conn 478; King v. Davenport, 98 Ill. 305; Baumgartner v. Hasty, 100 Ind. 575; Klingler v. Bickel, 117 Pa. St. 328 (11 Atl. Rep. 556) ; McKibben v. Ft. Smith, 35 Ark. 352. Delays of that character miaht endanger the public safety, and ought not to be tolerated. As the mayor was without jurisdiction, there was no occasion for postponing the hearing until he had rendered a decision.

5 II. The statute confers the power on towns and cities “to establish fire limits, and to prohibit within such limits the erection of any building or addition thereto” unless the ■outer walls be of a material named; and, as the plaintiff declared his intention to veneer the building, the order merely gave him an opportunity to do so, without deciding whether a removal from one lot to- another or a different part of the same lot within the prescribed limits constituted an erection thereof within the meaning of section- 711 of the Code. That question, then, is not before us. Rut see Wadleigh v. Gilman, 12 Me. 403 (28 Am. Dec. 138) ; Brady v. Insurance Co., 11 Mich. 451; Kaufman v. Stein, 138 Ind. 49 (37 N. E. Rep. 333) ; Brown v. Hunn, 27 Conn. 332 (71 Am. Dec. 71). Whatever the conclusion on that point, it does not follow that removals may not be prohibited by an ordinance of the town or city, under a statute like ours, as a regulation against the danger by fire. The or-’ dinance in this case contained no provision requiring the procurement of a permit preliminary to.the éréc* [40] tion or removal of a building, but it stipulated that “any frame building with four-inch veneer of the outer Avails” and a roof of non-combustible material should be construed as-complying with its conditions. Of necessity, the superstructure must be erected or located in some situation before the brick may be placed, and the owner is entitled “to a reasonable time within which to -accomplish this. The plaintiff appears to have contracted for a sheet-iron covering prior to the removal, but, upon discovering this did not comply with the ordinance, arranged to put on a brick veneer. The order allowed him eight days Avithin which to accomplish this, and it cannot be thought an unreasonable time. The two days notice to desist or remove does not limit the time of completion; otherwise, the ordinance in effect, because of the brevity of period fixed, would prohibit„ the very structures it authorizes. Until the plaintiff had a reasonable time within which to put his building in the condition exacted by the ordinance, the officers had no right to tear down or remove it.

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Lemmon v. Town of Guthrie Center, 84 N.W. 986, 113 Iowa 36 (iowa 1901).

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