158 Mo. App. 426 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1911
This is a suit wherein an injunction is sought to restrain defendants from the violation of certain building restrictions, to which lots in city block 3894, that block fronting on Lindell and Maryland avenues, are subject. It was admitted at the trial that every conveyance of the lots contained in this block and in which is situate lot 33, fronting on Maryland avenue, the lot involved here, contained similar provisions to thosé contained in the deed which was attached as an exhibit to the answer of defendants, that deed being in evidence. It is recited in this deed, that the grantor has laid out this block 3894 into lots, designating the block as "Welles’ Subdivision, with a view of making the subdivision suitable and desirable for first-class residences, and has, in order that said subdivision may remain a residence district exclu-* sively, imposed upon each lot in the subdivision, for the benefit of every other lot therein, certain conditions and restrictions in the use thereof, the easement thus created and made appurtenant to each lot being an inducement to the grantee to make the purchase evidenced by the deed. The restrictions imposed on the Maryland avenue lots are, first, that the building line on Maryland avenue shall be thirty feet south of the south line of Maryland avenue and that no building or any part or portion thereof, nor any projection thereof shall at any time be erected or placed upon the space between the building line and Maryland avenue. Second, but one residence building shall be erected upon the lot, such building never to be used or occupied for any purpose except for that of a private residence, “nor shall said lot or any portion thereof ever be used for trade, manufactures, or business of any kind whatever.” The third permits the erection of stables, etc., necessary to the use of the building. The fourth prescribes the minimum cost of a building erected on a lot and provides that no fence or inclosure of any kind shall be put upon the lines of the lot
The petition upon which the case was tried alleges that-defendants Roland Hill, St. Louis Bill Posting Company and St. Louis Cunning Advertising Company erected or caused to be erected and are ■ now maintaining on this lot 33, a large and unsightly wooden structure, extending from near the northeast corner of the lot, southwestwardly to near the southwest corner thereof, the structure being about 150 feet long, eighteen feet high and constructed of wooden planks fastened to wooden posts driven into the ground on the lot, and that defendants are employing the structure for advertising purposes, the exterior for signs and advertisements of various businesses and callings painted and posted thereon, and the lot thereby used and employed for the purpose of carrying on the business of renting space .upon the exterior of this wooden structure to persons and corporations for advertising their business and calling, for hire and rent charged, demanded and received by defendants, the companies defendant being engaged in the advertising and hill-posting business, and that the exterior of the structure is now covered by large advertisements and announcements of the various firms and corporations' who have rented or bought space from the defendant corporations for the purpose of displaying their signs and advertisements on the structure, and that defendants have been employing this structure for a lengthy period,the exact duration of which is unknown to plaintiffs, and the lot is thereby being used for trade and business in defiance and violation of the restrictions under which the same was conveyed to and is owned by the defendant Hill, and particularly in violation of the second paragraph of the restrictions prohibiting the lot or any portion thereof from being “used for
Defendant Hill, answering, denies generally all the averments in the amended petition, excepting those expressly admitted, qualified or explained. He admits that at the time of filing the petition he was and still is the owner and in possession of lot 33 in the block named, and that plaintiffs áre the owners of lots described in their petition, all of these lots being on Maryland avenue except one which fronts on the north side of Lindell avenue and is in this same block 3894. Defendant further pleads that there is a misjoinder of parties plaintiff and that the parties plaintiff residing on Lindell avenue have no legal capacity to sue and are unnecessary parties plaintiff. It is denied that plaintiffs have .correctly set out in their petition the true conditions and restrictions affecting the lot. (We have in this statement followed the restrictions as contained in the deed; while the petition does not set out the restrictions verbatim, we remark
By way of cross-bill defendant Hill sets out the restrictions contained in the" deed in extenso and then avers that in so far as they affect his lot they are “obsolete, inoperative, useless and void in that the neighborhood and surroundings wherein said lot is situated has so changed, and the conditions of said neighborhood since said restrictions were imposed has so changed that it is entirely a different character of neighborhood now than when said restrictions were imposed.” This cross-bill goes on to describe the changed condition at great length, particularly averring that Euclid avenue, which is the west line of the block, has changed to a business street, with flats, apartment houses and stores; that billboards have been maintained on lots 30, 31, 32 and 33, which are the lots of three of the plaintiffs and of the defendant Hill, for many years; that the original deed creating the restrictions was made many years ago, date blank; that the deed from defendant’s grantor to him is dated November 12, 1892, and contains the conditions and restrictions above set forth; that defendant’s lot is a corner lot situated on the southeast corner of Maryland and Euclid avenues to the alley and that neither of the other corners on Maryland and Euclid are restricted nor is Euclid avenue; that paralleling the lot on Euclid avenue is a double track of street railway; that in front of the lot, on Maryland avenue, is a double track of street railway; that the Euclid avenue tracks have been laid since the lot was acquired by defendant and since the property was conveyed by the original grantor, who placed the restrictions .on it; that immediately adjacent to the corner of the lot on Maryland and Euclid avenues is a double street railway crossing with switches forming the terminus of the Maryland ave
The reply was a general denial.
It may be said that the trial of the case developed practically the facts set out in the petition. Photo
At the conclusion of the evidence the court entered up a decree, finding that the lot of defendant Hill was
The points of contention of counsel for appellant are practically those set out in the cross-bill which they filed, and we have set them out so fully in giving a summary of -that cross-bill that it is unnecessary to repeat them. It may be conceded that each party gave in evidence the facts they relied on, and that the evidence as to the depreciation of the value of the property, as well as to its enhancement in value if the restrictions were removed, is conflicting. That conflict was determined by the trial court in favor of plaintiffs and we accept that finding as supported by the weight of the evidence, remarking however, that we do not consider the question of value as of any importance.
The matter of building restrictions is pne that has been before this court and the Supreme Court of our State so many times that it may be said that the law governing it is clearly and firmly established. Counsel for appellant claim that building restrictions in conveyances of the fee are regarded unfavorably and are strictly construed, citing among' other authorities in support of this, Scharer v. Pantler, 127 Mo.
Nor is it true, as contended by • counsel for appellant, that these covenants create a perpetuity or are perpetual restrictions either against the use or occupation. There is no restraint whatever on the right of alienation. The deed, in terms, provides that after the expiration of twenty-five years from date of the deed, by consent of a majority of the then owners of the lots, all of the restrictions specified and enumerated may be removed. Irrespective of this, there is nothing in the deed restricting the owners of all these lots from at any time, by consent of all, removing them. Hence an estate in perpetuity is not created by the deed. It is only when
One of the principal contentions of counsel for appellant is, that these restrictions are invalid and void in that they are not imposed in conformity to a general, uniform, plan of improvement and affect only a single block and only one side of the street of that block, and those counsel contend that in order to be valid and binding these building restrictions must conform to a general and uniform plan of improvement, designed and adapted for dwelling houses, “and must affect both sides of the street and the street and the neighborhood adjacent in conformity to said general plan and design of improvement. ” We are unable to appreciate this argument or, speaking frankly, to understand exactly what counsel mean. We are cited
It is argued that the plan of making this a residence district, has failed and that in consequence thereof the restrictions have fallen and become inoperative. The testimony in the case is the 'best answer to this proposition. The whole block, save two or three vacant lots, one of these that here involved, is built up and occupied with private dwellings, both on Maryland and Lindell, in precise conformity to the general plan upon which the subdivision was laid out. No attempt was made by the party who laid out this subdivision, or the owners of the lots other than appellant, to remove or change or abandon the general plan. No pretense was ever made by any one that the restrictions
We have heretofore held in Spahr v. Cape, 143 Mo. App. 114, 122 S. W. 379, that the mere fact that lots subject to building restrictions created by covenants in the deed by which they were limited to use for residence purposes only, became more valuable or suitable for business than for residence purposes, is not in itself any ground justifying a court of equity in overturning and annulling such covenants.
We furthermore held in that case that the mere presence of street railway tracks in a street will not turn it from a residence into a business thoroughfare.
We furthermore there held that it was beyond the power, even of the grantors of the subdivision or the owners of lots therein, to change the building restrictions on lots without the consent of all who had pur
In point of fact, we have so thoroughly covered practically all of the points now made in this case and have there so fully referred to the controlling authorities on the subject of building restrictions, that it is unnecessary to further elaborate them here. The decision in that case practically meets every substantial point made in this.
That the erection of these billboards, authority to do which was granted by the appellant Hill to the advertising companies for a consideration paid him, and the sale or letting out of space on these billboards for hire, the space occupied with advertising matter, was carrying on business on the lot, using it for business purposes, is beyond question. This much more clearly and distinctly than was the case of Semple v. Schwarz, 130 Mo. App. 65, 109 S. W. 633, where it was held that the placing of a physician’s sign on the outside of a building, in connection with the reception of patients for treatment in the house, was carrying on business.
In the recent case of Gunning Advertising Company v. City of St. Louis,-Mo.-,-S. W.(not yet officially.reported), our Supreme Court has held that it was within the power of the city of St. Louis, by ordinance, to regulate the construction and erection of these signboards. Erecting and maintaining and using such billboards is distinctly recognized as a business. The court throughout its opinion treats these sign boards and their use as a business; as involving the doing of business; treats them as erections made for the purpose of carrying on business. The¡ great contention of the advertising company in that case was that the city ordinance regulating the size of these, was an improper interference by the city, with- its lawful business. Our Supreme Court there held, that while advertising, as carried on on these
We are told that the court committed error in dismissing the cross-bill which the appellant interposed, wherein he asked for cancellation of these restrictions with reference to building. From what we have said, it is apparent that no such relief should have been granted. Parties owning these lots in this subdivision are entitled to the protection of these restrictions in their deeds. The appellant here bought with full knowledge and notice of these restrictions; he had actual notice, personal knowledge when he accepted his deed. Our Supreme Court, in the case of King v. Trust Co., supra, holds that where the deed to plaintiff’s grantor recites the building restrictions and recites that they are imposed upon each lot in the subdivision for the benefit of every other lot therein, the defendant, claiming through the same common grantor and who took a deed for other lots in the subdivision subsequent to the time the deed to plaintiff’s grantor was recorded, containing no such recitals, still, under our statute, is chargeable with constructive notice that his lots were burthened with the restrictions imposed by the deed to plaintiff’s grantor. This is a more extreme case than the one before us, and certainly dis
Counsel argue with great strenuousness that these restrictions are hurtful to business and restrict the business area, one or more of his witnesses going so far as to say that Vandeventer Place in the city of St. Louis, for instance, would be much more valuable for business purposes than for private residences. That may be, but it is a kind of utilitarianism with which we have no concern. Judge Woodson, writing the opinion of our Supreme . Court in the Gunning case, supra, the decision concurred in by all but one member of that court, there says that in his individual opinion “this class of advertising as now conducted is not only subject to control and regulation by the police power of the State (as a business), but that it might be entirely suppressed by statute, and that, too, without offending against either the State or the Federal Constitution.” The money or commercial value of a thing is not always a test of its worth. There are some things in the life of a city and of men that are not to be measured by mere money. The man who looks at Niagara Falls, or the Yellowstone, or Yosemite Parks, with the mere idea of measuring the value of the one by its water power and of the others by the number of feet, board measure, in the grand trees there found, has lost a good deal out of life.
It is to the glory of St. Louis that she is pre-eminently not only a city of homes, but “a city of homes beautiful.” No- factor- has so much contributed to this, not only in reputation but as a fact, as has the great number of restricted blocks, restricted residence districts. They are scattered all over this great city. This court, as well as our Supreme Court, has at all times recognized that while these restrictions may be, to some extent, a restraint on the use of private property, they are, considered in their larger aspect, of;
We can conceive of nothing that would be more evasive and contrary to the spirit of these deeds, which is to make all this block suitable, sightly and pleasant for residence purposes, than to permit the erection of these large advertising fences or boards along, over and across them.
Our attention is - called to the fact that there is here a perpetual injunction against infringement upon the building restrictions contained in these deeds. We would not reverse- for this even if we held it error but could take the same course that was taken by this court in Semple v. Schwarz, supra, by modifying the injunction. We prefer, however, to have the injunction amended by the circuit court, by adding to it, after the words “and are further enjoined from carrying on the business of advertising upon said lot,” these words: “Subject to the right of the owners of a majority of greater part of the frontage on Maryland avenue within city block 3894, by written consent, signed and acknowledged by them, to alter, modify or repeal the restrictions in the deeds under which they now hold, at any time after twenty-five years from the date specified in the deed, so far as concerns the lots-in said block fronting on Maryland avenue.” The judgment of the court, otherwise than as above being affirmed. The cause is remanded with directions as above and at the costs of the appellant.