State Ex Rel. George v. Hull

199 P.2d 832, 65 Wyo. 251, 1948 Wyo. LEXIS 26
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 23, 1948
Docket2413
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 199 P.2d 832 (State Ex Rel. George v. Hull) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. George v. Hull, 199 P.2d 832, 65 Wyo. 251, 1948 Wyo. LEXIS 26 (Wyo. 1948).

Opinion

*255 OPINION

Blume, Justice.

This case involves a petition for a writ of mandamus. The petitioners are P. T. George and Ann George, who are husband and wife and the owners of Lots 12 and 13 of Block 172, Hodgeman’s Addition to the City of Laramie, and who will be referred to herein as the petitioners. The defendants are A. J. Hull, City Engineer, and D. B. Willett, City Manager, of the City of Laramie, who will be referred to herein as the appellants. It appears from the petition that a business building has for many years occupied the west 59y% feet of that property and is located in the northwest corner of the block. The east 72 feet have been occupied by a frame building of little value and theretofore used as a garage, storage building, and chicken coop. Plaintiff sought to tear down the frame building and erect on the east portion of the lots a stran-steel, concrete-floored, fireproof and vermin proof building to be used as a warehouse and for storage in connection with the store and business situated on the west portion of the lots, and that no income is derived *256 by petitioners from the east portion of the lots. Petitioners, on October 13, 1947, applied to the City Engineer and City Manager for a building permit to construct such new building. The City Engineer and City Manager refused the permit on the ground that it was contrary to a zoning ordinance theretofore adopted by the city government. Petitioners thereupon took an appeal to the board of adjustment, and, on October 29, 1947, this board also denied the permit. It is alleged as follows:

“That the real property owned by Petitioners and hereinabove described, cannot be improved and used profitably except for business purposes; that said land is satisfactory for business purposes only and has practically no value for any other purpose than business; that Petitioners have received no income from the easterly portion of said lots; that the frame building thereon and shed used for a garage, storage purposes and chicken coop is of little value and Petitioners will lose the entire value of the easterly portion of said lots within a few years by being compelled to repair a disintegrating structure and to pay taxes on said property; that the unlawful refusal of the said building construction requested by Petitioners and the refusal of the building permit has seriously and irreparably injured and damaged Petitioners; that said lots are unsalable and practically useless for residence purposes and are of little value for business property, as limited by the said ordinance to non-conforming use, and under existing conditions and regulations- are worth less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) ; but the value of said lots is Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) as business property under provisions relating to Business ‘D’ Districts under said ordinance; that the failure and refusal of Respondents to grant said permit has materially reduced the value of Petitioners’ existing business conducted on said property; and that Petitioners are desirous of improving and remodeling the entire property on said lots for business use, but any application for such improvement and remodeling is futile under the present ruling of the Respondents and the City of Laramie;
*257 “That adjacent to and contiguous with Petitioners’ said lots above described, to the east thereof is a Business ‘D’ District occupied by various properties, including a saloon and a garage; that in the block immediately across the street to the north, there are two business buildings occupied respectively as a store and a restaurant; that diagonally across the street from the store building on the westerly Fifty-nine Feet Six Inches (W 59' 6") of Petitioners’ said lots, is a wood yard and furniture storehouse used as an operating base for general hauling, moving, storage and sale of wood; that in the block next south of Petitioners’ said property is located a school; that in the block immediately south of said school and also the fractional block across the street southwest thereof is a Business ‘D’ District, zoned and used for businesses; that approximately one-half block west of Petitioners’ said store is a large area, zoned by the City of Laramie as a Commercial District, in part restricted by deed covenants to business and commercial use, and occupied in part by various commercial and business enterprises, including all tracks, shops and buildings of the Laramie North Park and Western Railroad Company; the brick making plant of the Laramie Brick and Tile Company; the timber treating plant of Douglas Timber Company; and that the area of the City within several blocks of Petitioners’ said property is unsuitable as a residential district and largely devoted to businesses.
“That the area from which Petitioners have been unlawfully prevented from erecting and using a business building lies directly between—
“a. A business district on the east bordering a Commercial District containing the Union Pacific Railroad Company yards, and
“b. The Laramie North Park and Western Railroad Company, the Laramie Brick and Tile Company, the Douglas Timber Company properties and other businesses in Commercial Districts on the west.”

To clarify some of the facts, it appears from the petition and from the photographs before us that the property of petitioners is located on the west half of Block 172 above mentioned. This half block is zoned for *258 residence purposes as is also a half block west and across the street from Block 172, west of which is a commercial district and occupied by business property. The east half of Block 172 is zoned for business purposes as is also the block east of Block 172, east of which are located, as near as we can tell, the railroad tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which runs north and south through the City and which separates the main portion of the City of Laramie from the part situated west of the railroad tracks. Petitioners allege that the provisions of the zoning ordinance purporting to place the property of the petitioners in Residence District “B” are unreasonable, unfair, unjust, oppressive, invalid, unconstitutional and bear no substantial relation to the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the people, and that the City Engineer and City Manager and Board of Adjustment, in denying the permit, invaded the constitutional rights of the petitioners and acted arbitrarily, unreasonably and oppressively in doing so; that petitioners have no plain, speedy or adequate remedy in the courts of law and asked that an order be entered requiring the issuance of the permit.

The defendants demurred to the petition on the ground that the court has no jurisdiction of the subject matter of the action, and that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The demurrer was overruled on January 21, 1947.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 P.2d 832, 65 Wyo. 251, 1948 Wyo. LEXIS 26, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-george-v-hull-wyo-1948.