Troth v. City of Dallas

667 S.W.2d 152, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5046
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 16, 1984
Docket13-83-191-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 667 S.W.2d 152 (Troth v. City of Dallas) 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
Troth v. City of Dallas, 667 S.W.2d 152, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5046 (Tex. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

UTTER, Justice.

The original opinion of the Court issued on December 29, 1983, is hereby withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

This is an appeal from the judgment of the trial court which granted appellees, City of Dallas and Board of Adjustment of the City of Dallas, a summary judgment and a permanent injunction requiring appellant to remove a fence on his property which was allegedly in violation of the zoning ordinances of the City of Dallas.

On November 17, 1981, appellees, City of Dallas and Board of Adjustment of the City of Dallas, filed suit against appellant, seeking a permanent injunction and an order which would compel appellant to remove the chainlink fence structure from the property. The City filed a motion for summary judgment, and appellant filed a response to the motion. The trial court granted the City’s motion for summary judgment and permanently enjoined appellant, ordering him to remove the chainlink fence structure from the property.

Appellant contends on appeal that the trial court erred in granting the City’s motion for summary judgment because there were fact issues present which precluded the disposition of the case by summary judgment and that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment because the City’s motion for summary judgment was insufficient as a matter of law to support a summary judgment.

The City’s motion for summary judgment sets forth the following specific ground as its basis for summary judgment: that the appellant did not appeal the decision of the Board of Adjustment denying the height variance to District Court within ten days *154 after the filing of the decision in the office of the Board of Adjustment as required by TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 1011g(j) (Vernon Supp.1982-83). The City’s motion, also, stated that it was “based on the pleadings on file, and the affidavits and exhibits attached hereto.”

Along with the City’s motion for summary judgment, an affidavit of Ray Couch, Chief Zoning Inspector for the City of Dallas, a certified copy of § 51-4.410 of the Dallas Development Code, a certified copy of minutes of the Board of Adjustment and stipulations of fact were filed in support of the City’s motion for summary judgment. In his affidavit, Couch stated (1) that he was the Chief Zoning Inspector of the City of Dallas, the authorized representative of the building official of the City of Dallas, who was in charge of enforcing and administering the Dallas Development Code; (2) that William T. Troth was the owner of the subject property located at 6827 Willow Lane, Dallas, Texas; (3) that, pursuant to the issuance of a July 3, 1973 building permit, Troth had constructed four iron tennis courts on said property including four concrete walls which were 23.55 feet in height and, at some unknown time and not in accordance with the building permit, had constructed (on top of the concrete walls) a wire mesh fence which is 7.8 feet in height, making the tennis structure 31.-35 feet in height; (4) that the property was located in a Residential-16,000 square feet (R-16) zoning district, as defined by the Dallas Development Code, and that the tennis structure was in violation of Section 51-4.410 of the Dallas Development Code, which restricts the maximum height of structures to 24 feet in an R-16 zoning district; (5) that, from September 11, 1974 to September 26, 1978, eight citations were issued to Troth for violation of the 24 foot height limitation for which appellant was either found guilty or forfeited bond in Municipal Court on all of the citations issued to him and that appellant subsequently appealed to the Board of Adjustment for a variance from the height restriction; (6) that, on September 26, 1978, the Board of Adjustment denied the height variance but granted appellant a temporary certificate of occupancy for a two year period in order for appellant to obtain the zoning changes necessary for the tennis structure as it then existed and, subsequently, that appellant never obtained the necessary zoning changes to allow the fence to remain on top of the tennis structure; (7) that, on August 11, 1981, appellant again appealed to the Board of Adjustment for height variance to place a six foot clear plastic netting on top of the tennis structure and that the Board denied the height variance because it did not find an unnecessary hardship related to the size, shape, or slope of the property; and, (8) that appellant has refused and continues to refuse to remove the wire fencing atop the tennis structure which constitutes a violation of the height restriction for a R-16 zoning district and that appellant did not appeal the decision of the Board of Adjustment denying the height variance to district court within 10 days after the filing of the decision in the office of the Board as required by Article 1011g(j). Couch’s sworn statements were well-supported by the other summary judgment proof (i.e., certified copies and stipulations) that was filed. The certified copy of minutes of the Board of Adjustment reflects that not only did appellant seek a height variance for the chainlink fence atop the tennis structure on September 26, 1978 for which a variance was denied, but that, on August 11, 1981, appellant sought a height variance for the proposed clear plastic netting atop the tennis structure for which a variance was denied. The minutes further reflect that, at the hearing on the application for the proposed clear plastic netting, “the question as to whether the iron tennis courts are a permitted use will also be considered by the Board.”

The City’s motion for summary judgment and summary judgment proof do not specify from which variance hearing appeal has not been timely made; however, this fact was not controverted by appellant either in the trial court or on appeal.

In his first response to the City’s motion for summary judgment, appellant present *155 ed to the trial court the following reasons for seeking to avoid movant’s entitlement to a summary judgment: (1) that the fence which the subject of this suit is a non-conforming structure and is not an illegal structure; therefore, the City of Dallas is not entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law; and, (2) “that because defendant’s first original answer has shown the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is untenable plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment should be denied.” In his second written response to the City’s motion for summary judgment, appellant presented to the trial court the following reasons for seeking to avoid movant’s entitlement to a summary judgment: (1) that the construction of the subject fence was not a wilful action in violation of the height restrictions of the Dallas zoning ordinances and that Texas case law has clearly held that, unless a zoning violation is wilful, a City is not entitled to an injunction as a matter of law but upon the sound discretion of the trial court; and, (2) that Texas case law has also clearly held that an injunction requiring the removal or destruction of property is to be granted only with extreme care, after a full and complete review of all facts, and that such facts have not been developed by the summary judgment proof before the trial court.

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Bluebook (online)
667 S.W.2d 152, 1984 Tex. App. LEXIS 5046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/troth-v-city-of-dallas-texapp-1984.