Lemmon v. Town of Guthrie Center

84 N.W. 986, 113 Iowa 36
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 21, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 84 N.W. 986 (Lemmon v. Town of Guthrie Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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

Opinion

Ladd, J.

3 [39]*394 [38]*38If 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]*39ordinances 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]*40tion 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.

6 III. But it is said a trespass merely Avas threatened, and that for this the laiv affords ample remedy. It appears that plaintiff was about to make use of the building in which to store tools and materials during the construction of an addition to a brick block near by, that there was no other accessible shelter, and that the defendants proposed to remove it beyond the fire limits. The rule that equity will not interfere with a threatened trespass save to prevent irreparable injury has been too often declared for repetition. What Avill constitute such an injurv is sometimes difficult to determine. The general grounds for such relief are enumerated in Cowles v. Shaw, 2 Iowa, 496; City of Council Bluffs v. Stewart, 51 Ioiva, 385, and other cases. The entire question seems to hinge on whether the damages actually recoverable at laAv will, in the nature of things, afford adequate compensation; and the rule resulting from all the. cases is. perhaps more clearly stated by Pearson, .T.r [41]*41in Gause v. Perkins, 3 Jones, Eq. 177 (69 Am- Dec. 728),. than elsewhere: “The words mean that which cannot In-repaired, put back again, atoned. * * * The injury must be of a peculiar nature, so that compensation in money cannot atone for it. Where, from its nature, it may thus-be atoned for, if in the particular case the party be insolvent, and on that account unable to atone for it, it will be considered irreparable.” Mr. Freeman, in a note to Jerome v. Boss, found in 11 Am. Dec. 501, thus enumerates the reasons why “an injury resulting from trespass may be incapable of compensation”: “(1) It may be destructive of the very substance of the estate; (2) it may not be capable of estimation in terms of money; (3) it may be so continuous and permanent that there is no instant of time when it can be said to be complete, so that its extent may be computed; (4) it may be vexatiously persisted in, in spite of repeated verdicts at law; (5) it may be committed by one who is wholly irresponsible, so that a verdict against him for damages-would be entirely valueless; (6) it may be committed against one who is legally incapacitated from a beneficial use of the remedy at law. Generally, however, in cases where equitable relief is granted, the injury will be found to include several of these features.” It needs no argument to show that the mere deprivation of the use of this building-as a storehouse would not be an irreparable injury. If any there could have been, it was because the mischief threatened reached to the substance and value of the estate, and went to the destruction of it in the character in which it was enjoyed. Thus a party may be enjoined from cutting down-trees Musch v. Burkhart, 83 Iowa, 301; Shipley v. Ritter, 7 Md 408 (61 Am. Dec. 371). And see, generally, cases collected in which tire injury threatened has been adjudged of such a character as would tend to destroy the estate or its-enjoyment in note to Dudley v. Hurst, 1 Am. St. Rep. 368 (s. c. 8 Atl. Rep. 901). This building appears to have been permanently located, and a part of the land. Was its re[42]

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Bluebook (online)
84 N.W. 986, 113 Iowa 36, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lemmon-v-town-of-guthrie-center-iowa-1901.