Urban Renewal Agency of San Antonio v. Bridges Signs, Inc.

717 S.W.2d 701
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 29, 1986
DocketNo. 04-85-00473-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 717 S.W.2d 701 (Urban Renewal Agency of San Antonio v. Bridges Signs, Inc.) 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
Urban Renewal Agency of San Antonio v. Bridges Signs, Inc., 717 S.W.2d 701 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

DIAL, Justice.

Appellant, the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of San Antonio, appeals the grant of a judgment non obstante veredicto in favor of appellees, Bridges Signs, Inc., Donald W. Engelhardt, and Engel-Mart, Inc. We find the trial court erred in entering the judgment non obstante veredicto and reverse the judgment and remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings.

Appellee Engelhardt purchased a plot of land from appellant Urban Renewal Agency. A warranty deed was issued for the property in the name of Engel-Mart, Inc., a Texas corporation. The property is part of the city’s urban renewal project in an area called Vista Verde and is designated for light industrial use. The deed contained a covenant that the property be devoted only to the uses specified in the Urban Renewal Plan. The Urban Renewal Plan prohibited new billboards. A building was erected pursuant to plans approved by the Urban Renewal Agency.

Engel-Mart, Inc., entered into a lease agreement with Duke-Keller & Associates (Bridges Signs, Inc.) for a period of twelve years for the construction and maintenance of a commercial billboard. Appellees completed applications to obtain billboard permits from the City of San Antonio and the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation. Personnel at the city and state offices inspected maps provided them by the Urban Renewal Agency and determined the property was not within an area restricted by the Agency. No one contacted the Urban Renewal Agency. The maps the Urban Renewal Agency sent to the city and state offices were inaccurate in that they failed to include the property in the boundaries of the restricted area, though the property always had been designated as part of the Urban Renewal Agency Vista Verde Project. The city and state issued appellees permits to erect their billboard. Appellees built the billboard, and the Urban Renewal Agency brought this suit for injunctive relief against appellees’ violation of the restrictive covenant prohibiting the erection of billboards in this area.

The jury found Bridges Signs, Inc., and Engelhardt acting on behalf of Engel-Mart, Inc., knew or should have known about the restrictions. The jury failed to find appel-lees were excused from the restrictions because of the conduct of the Urban Renewal Agency. The trial court disregarded the jury findings and entered judgment in favor of appellees. The Urban Renewal Agency prosecuted this appeal.

A judgment non obstante veredicto may be entered pursuant to TEX.R.CIV.P. 301 when a directed verdict would have been proper, there is no evidence upon which the jury could have made the findings relied upon, or the special issue which is supported by the evidence is immaterial. Trenholm v. Ratcliff, 646 S.W.2d 927, 931 (Tex.1983); Leyva v. Pacheco, 163 Tex. 638, 358 S.W.2d 547, 550 (1962); Carr v. Galvan, 650 S.W.2d 864, 867 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1983, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The proof offered must amount to more than a mere scintilla of the evidence and do more than raise a mere suspicion or surmise. Rigsby v. Pitner, 334 S.W.2d 837, 842 (Tex. Civ.App. — Houston 1960, writ ref’d n.r.e.). We must consider the evidence in the light most favorable in support of the jury findings and indulge every reasonable inference deducible from the evidence in favor of the findings. Trenholm v. Ratcliff, 646 S.W.2d at 931.

In order for a restrictive covenant to be enforceable against the grantee of realty, the grantee must have had notice, either [703]*703actual or constructive, of the restriction when he purchased the property. Davis v. Huey, 620 S.W.2d 561, 567 (Tex.1981). If the restrictons do not appear in the grantee’s chain of title, he is not charged with constructive notice of the existence of any restrictions. See Cambridge Shores Homeowners Assoc. v. Spring Valley Lodge Co., 422 S.W.2d 10, 12 (Tex.Civ.App.Dallas 1967, no writ). However, the purchaser is charged with notice of equities or interests of third persons which are recited or revealed in a conveyance through which he claims or in another instrument to which the conveyance refers. Further, when facts are recited which are sufficient to put a prudent man on inquiry, the purchaser is charged with notice of facts which might have been determined by a proper inquiry. This is so regardless of whether the instrument is recorded or whether he has actually seen or read it. Gulf Production Co. v. Continental Oil Co., 139 Tex. 183, 132 S.W.2d 553, 568 (1939).

The following special issues were submitted to the jury:

Question No. 1: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that Bridges Signs, Inc., knew or should have known about the Urban Renewal Agency’s restrictions concerning billboards prior to the erection of the billboard in question?
Answer “We do” or “We do not.”
We, the jury, answer: We do.
Question No. 2: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that Donald W. Engelhardt acting on behalf of Engel-Mart, Inc., knew or should have known about the Urban Renewal Agency’s restrictions concerning billboards prior to the erection of the billboard in question?
Answer “We do” or “We do not.”
We, the jury, answer: We do.
Question No. 3: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the defendants, Bridges Signs, Inc., and Donald w. Engelhardt acting on behalf of Engel-Mart, Inc., are excused from the restrictions in question re billboards because of the conduct, if any, of the Urban Renewal Agency under the facts made the basis of this suit?
Answer “We do” or “We do not.”
We, the jury, answer: We do not.

The trial court stated there was no evidence of probative force to sustain the jury findings in special issues 1, 2, and 3, and that an instructed verdict in favor of appel-lees would have been proper.

Appelleee Engelhardt admitted signing that he received a copy of the Urban Renewal Plan, but said he did not receive or read it. Appellees admitted they knew billboards are prohibited within an Urban Renewal project. There is evidence to support the jury findings in special issues number 1 and 2.

Special issue number 3 deals with an estoppel defense which the jury failed to find in favor of appellees. Appellees respond to appellant’s contention that the trial court erred in disregarding special issue number 3 by claiming that the evidence proves the Urban Renewal Agency failed to provide the city and state with accurate maps. However, there is no evidence the Urban Renewal Agency had a duty to provide these agencies with maps.

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Bluebook (online)
717 S.W.2d 701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/urban-renewal-agency-of-san-antonio-v-bridges-signs-inc-texapp-1986.