Parker v. City of Fort Worth

281 S.W.2d 721, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2003
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 17, 1955
Docket15632
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 281 S.W.2d 721 (Parker v. City of Fort Worth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parker v. City of Fort Worth, 281 S.W.2d 721, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2003 (Tex. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinions

PER CURIAM

A district court rendered judgment permanently enjoining Irvin Parker and his wife, Helen Parker, and W. C. Hutchens “from storing, threatening to store or causing to be stored, possessing, threatening to possess or causing to be possessed, offering for sale, threatening to offer for sale or causing to be offered for sale, selling, threatening to sell or causing to be sold and the defendant Irvin Parker only from transporting, threatening to transport or causing to be transported any-fireworks of any description within the limits of an área described as being the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth and the area immediately adjacent and contiguous to the City Limits of the City of Fort Worth and extending for a distance outside the City Limits for a total of 5000 feet.”

The petition filed by the City of Fort Worth alleged that the - defendants will store, transport, keep, use, possess, sell or offer for sale fireworks, and/or will cause to be stored, transported, kept, used, possessed, sold or offered for sale fireworks in violation of ordinance No. 3099 unless restrained; that the acts occurred and will occur within the jurisdiction of the City of Fort Worth as defined in ordinance No. 3099 and section 19 of Article 1175, R.C.S., in that the acts occurred and/or will occur at certain designated places within Tarrant County, and prayed that the defendants be enjoined from doing or threatening to do the above acts within the city limits of the City of Fort Worth or within the area immediately adjacent and contiguous to the city limits of the City of Fort Worth and extending for a distance outside the city limits for a total of 5000 feet.

The City of Fort Worth pleaded that it had, on July 29, 1953, enacted ordinance No. 3099, as authorized by section 19 of Article 1175, R.C.S., and made the ordinance a part of its petition. Said ordinance makes it unlawful for any person to have, keep, store, use, manufacture, assemble, sell, handle, transport, receive, offer for sale, or have in his possession with intent to sell, use, discharge, cause to be discharged, ignite, detonate, fire or otherwise set in action any fireworks of any description.

The Parkers have appealed and will be referred to. as appellants.

By their first three points of error appellants contend the court erred in overruling certain special exceptions to appellee’s petition.

The material : portions- of' the petition have been set out above, and are not, we think, subject to the exceptions raised.

By other points of error appellants contend the appellee failed to show the ■ proposed sale of fireworks outside the city limits would be subversive of public order or be an obstruction of public rights or be a public injury;- appellee failed to show-that criminal provisions of the law would not afford adequate remedy; the court erred in holding that possession of one sparkler, etc., constituted a nuisance per se so as to authorize the court to enjoin possession of such outside the city limits; the court had no legal authority under the law to grant the injunction.

In response to requests for admissions, appellants answered they were engaged in fireworks business; prior to and at the time of filing of appellee’s petition they were storing, keeping and possessing fireworks within an area described as being bounded by a line located 5000 feet beyond the city limits; and were, prior to and at the time of the filing of the petition, transporting and selling fireworks within the 5000 foot area, and would continue to do all the above acts unless restrained.

[723]*723In C. V. Stoughton v. City of Fort Forth, Tex.Civ.App., 277 S.W.2d 150, 152, we affirmed a like judgment in a similar case. After a careful study of the record and appellants’ brief, we have concluded that the questions presented in the instant case are essentially the same as decided in the Stoughton case. We, therefore, adopt the following portion of the opinion in the Stoughton case:

“Section 19, of Article 1175, provides that ‘Each city shall have the power to define all nuisances and prohibit the same within the city and outside the city limits for a distance of five thousand feet; * *
“The ordinance in question was introduced in evidence. It defines the term ‘fireworks’ and provides: that ‘It shall.be unlawful for any person to have, keep, store, use, manufacture, assemble, sell, handle, transport, receive, offer for sale, or have in his possession with intent to sell, * * * any fireworks of any description;’ that the presence of any fireworks within the jurisdiction of the City ,of Fort Worth in violation of the ordinance is declared to be a nuisance; that any person who violates the ordinance shall he fined not to exceed $200 for each offense, and that each day a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense; that the City may file Suit for injunction to prevent the storing, keeping, and transportation of fireworks in violation of the ordinance; that the ordinance shall be in force in the city limits and within the area immediately adjacent and contiguous to the city limits and extending for a distance outside the city limits for a total of 5,000 feet, and that it shall be unlawful to do or perform any act in violation of the ordinance within such area of 5,000 feet outside the city limits.
“Although it is only in clear cases that courts are warranted in going behind the findings of a legislative body that a certain thing is a nuisance and determining the contrary, nevertheless, a city cannot by ordinance make that a nuisance which is not one in fact. Crossman v. City of Galveston, 112 Tex. 303, 247 S.W. 810 [26 A.L.R. 1210]; Spann v. City of Dallas, 111 Tex. 350, 235 S.W. 513 [19 A.L.R. 1387]; Stockwell v. State, 110 Tex. 550, 221 S.W. 932, 12 A.L.R. 1116; Murphy v. Wright, Tex.Civ.App., 115 S.W.2d 448; 20 R.C.L., p. 389, sec. 12. The controlling .question, therefore, seems to be whether the transporting, storing, selling, and hauling of fireworks within 5,000 feet of appellee’s city limits constitute a public nuisance per se.
“In a broad sense, a nuisance is anything that works injury, harm or prejudice to an individual or' the public. 20 R.C.L., p. 380, sec. 1. A nuisance has also been defined as anything that ‘obstructs, impairs, or destroys the reasonable, peaceful, and comfortable use of property.’ Trueheart v. Parker, Tex.Civ.App., 257 S.W. 640, 641. ‘Even that which does but cause a well-founded apprehension of danger may be a nuisance. Thus, in Cheatham v. Shear(o)n [1 Swan, Tenn., 213, 216] it was held that a powder house located in a city and containing, stored therein, large quantities of gunpowder, was a nuisance. “When we know (said Judge Green) that the electric fluid, the irresistible effects of which are disclosed in every thunderstorm, may, in defiance of every precaution, cause it to explode, it cannot be doubted that if five hundred kegs of powder were stored in a magazine in this city, every thunderstorm would awaken an universal alarm and consternation in the minds of the inhabitants.” (1 Swan 213, 216.) And the court pronounced it, per se, a nuisance.’ Burditt v. Swenson, 17 Tex. 489.
“ ‘A nuisance per se is generally defined as an act, occupation, or structure which is a nuisance at all times and under any circumstances, regard[724]

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Parker v. City of Fort Worth
281 S.W.2d 721 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1955)

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Bluebook (online)
281 S.W.2d 721, 1955 Tex. App. LEXIS 2003, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-v-city-of-fort-worth-texapp-1955.