Pine Crest Memorial Park v. Burton

312 S.W.2d 919, 229 Ark. 1, 1958 Ark. LEXIS 696
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided May 12, 1958·No. 5-1530·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

Carleton Harris, Chief Justice.

Pine Crest Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery, organized and operated under the terms of a certain declaration of trust, dated January 30, 1930. The management of the cemetery is the responsibility of a board of trustees. Under the authority of the Declaration, the trustees are empowered to make rules and regulations for the operation of the property, and rule 42 provides that only bronze markers shall be used.1 In 1936, appellee’s mother purchased from appellant a cemetery lot having four grave spaces. Appellee’s father was buried on this lot in 1936, and in 1955, the mother was buried in one of the spaces. Appellee, M. P. Burton, decided to purchase a double marker for the graves of his father and mother, and found a satisfactory marker at the WyattMonahan Monument Company for the installed price of $173.40. Appellant refused to permit the installation of this marker, contending that certain rules of Pine Crest had not been complied with. Upon hearing the case, the Chancellor held that the rules in question were unreasonable and arbitrary, and perpetually enjoined and restrained appellant and its board of trustees from enforcing or attempting to enforce such regulations. Prom such decree of the court, comes this appeal.

The deed conveying the cemetery lot to Mrs. Burton provides as follows:

“It is expressly agreed and understood that this conveyance is made subject to the provisions and restrictions specified in the Rules and Regulations of said Memorial Park at the present time, and which are made a part of this conveyance or which said Trust may hereafter make in conformity with the laws of the State of Arkansas, one of which Rules and Regulations, among other things, reserves to the Trust the exclusive right to control, regulate, install or have installed, all markers, and further reserves to the Trust the right to approve and supervise all construction, care and up-lceep of all lots, burial spaces and graves in said PINE CREST MEMORIAL PARK.

Tbe said Trust hereby covenants and agrees with the said grantee to set aside ten per cent of the gross sale price of this and all other deeds by it issued for lots and burial spaces in said PINE CREST MEMORIAL PARK, said fund so constituted to be known as the PERPETUAL CARE FUND, the principal of which shall remain intact and the income of which shall be applied toward the cost of the care, up-keep, and maintenance of said PINE CREST MEMORIAL PARK forever. ’ ’

It is admitted by appellee that appellant has the right to make reasonable rules and regulations. It is, on the other hand, admitted by appellant that appellee would not be bound by an arbitrary or unreasonable rule. The issue therefore, in this case, is whether the particular rules and regulations of Pine Crest Memorial Park, herein under attack, are arbitrary and unreasonable.

The controversial regulations, applying to grave markers, are as follows:

“48. (b) The Bronze Alloy shall consist of:2

Not less than....................................................................................87% Copper

Not less than................................................................................................5% Tin

Not more than....................................................................................2%% Lead

Not more than.............................................................................................5% Zinc

All other elements in total not to exceed..............................1%

49. With all bronze markers or memorials not purchased through the Park, the Owner offering such marker or memorial for installation must furnish the Park an affidavit of analysis from an independent laboratory made on a test bar run from the heat from which the specific memorial or marker offered for acceptance by the Park was east. Analysis of smelter of ingot supplied to the manufacturer is not acceptable.

52. All markers or memorials shall be installed by the Park, on foundations built by the Park, at the cost of the Owner, and the Park shall assume responsibility for the proper construction of the foundation and the proper installation of such marker or memorial; but the Park shall not be liable for any defective materials or defective workmanship beyond replacement or repair of such defective materials as have been furnished by the Park. All foundations shall be of the size and material specified by the Park.

54. If the marker or memorial is purchased from an outside agent and is approved by the Park as herein-before more particularly set forth, the charge for service and installation shall be on the basis of seven cents (7c) per square inch of the size of the marker and an additional charge or contribution of seven cents (7c) per square inch of the size of the marker to the Perpetual Care Fund, to be used for the maintenance and operation of the Park. No installation shall be made until both the service charge and the contribution to the Perpetual Care Fund have been paid in cash in advance.” We proceed to a discussion of each regulation.

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Pine Crest Memorial Park v. Burton, 312 S.W.2d 919, 229 Ark. 1, 1958 Ark. LEXIS 696 (Ark. 1958).

312 S.W.2d 919 (Pine Crest Memorial Park v. Burton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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