City of Corpus Christi v. Missouri Improvement Co.
City of Corpus Christi v. Missouri Improvement Co.
Opinion of the Court
This suit was brought by appellee, Missouri Improvement Company, against appellant, City of Corpus Christi, Texas, in statutory form of trespass to try title, seeking to recover title to a strip of land 60 feet wide and approximately 1,100 feet long, which land is now a portion of Lipan Street, one of the main streets of the City of Corpus Christi. Appellee’s suit is based upon the provisions of a deed dated November 8, 1950, wherein Missouri Improvement Company conveyed to the City of Corpus Christi that strip of land for street purposes, subject to the following conditions :
“(a) That the said premises be used solely and exclusively as a public street, and for no other purpose ;
“(b) That no assessment shall be levied, for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of these presents, upon any property abutting the property hereby conveyed, to cover any portion of the cost of grading, paving, curbing, or drainage (including storm sewers and gutters placed on, upon and along or under the property so conveyed) or any part of the cost of the maintenance of the said property as a public street.”
These conditions were followed by a provision for forfeiture and reversion of the land in the event of a breach thereof. It was upon an alleged breach of the conditions that appellee sought recovery of the title to said strip of land.
The appellant answered by plea of not guilty and various defenses not material to this appeal, and by cross-action sought to recover judgment upon two certificates of special assessment for street improvement of Lipan Street, assessed against ap-pellee as an abutting property owner.
Both parties presented motion for summary judgment. The trial court had before it on the hearing of the motions, the pleadings of the parties, a map of Lipan Street prepared by the City Public Works Department, showing the property involved, the abutting property, and certain improvements hereinafter discussed, the “paving assessment” rolls, and the affidavits of Sam Davidson, Engineer of the City Public Works Department, and Drahn Jones, Director of the City Public Works Department. The trial court overruled appellant’s motion and sustained appellee’s motion,
The following undisputed facts are shown by the record in this cause: Shortly after the execution of the deed from appellee to appellant, the appellant entered upon the strip and installed storm sewers and constructed a paved street 40 feet wide in the center of the strip, leaving a strip 10 feet wide on each side of the street. The record does not reflect what was done with the two narrow strips, except that Sam Davidson, in his affidavit, said that the entire sixty-foot strip had been used for no other purpose than for street purposes. About the month of August, 1958, appellant repaired Lipan Street, including the strip involved herein, by repaving the forty-foot center strip, and constructed a concrete sidewalk adjacent to the property line on each side of the street, together with driveways into the various properties, including that of appellee, on each side of the street, leaving a six-foot strip between the sidewalk and the paved street. In connection with said improvements, appellant by ordinance dated August 27, 1958, levied a paving assessment against abutting property owners, including appellee, to pay a part of the cost of such improvements. On the 29th day of April, 1959, appellant issued two paving certificates against ap-pellee’s abutting property, one against the property on the north side of the street for the sum of $2,036.22, and one against the property on the south side for the sum of $1,940.17. Appellee filed this suit within fifteen days after the adoption of the above mentioned ordinance.
Appellant makes but two main contentions on this appeal. The first contention is that inasmuch as appellant levied the assessment in accordance with the provisions of Article 1105b, Vernon’s Tex.Civ. Stats.,, and appellee did not appeal from its action within fifteen days after the adoption of the City ordinance, as provided in Sec. 9 of said Article, appellee is barred and estopped from making any attack on the validity of the paving certificates. We overrule that contention. Sec. 9 of Article 1105b, provides:
“Anyone owning or claiming any property assessed, or any interest therein, or any railway, street railway, or interurban assessed, or any interest therein, who shall desire to contest any such assessment on account of the amount thereof, or any inaccuracy, irregularity, invalidity, or insufficiency of the proceedings or contract with reference thereto, or with reference to such improvements, or on. account of any matter or thing not in the discretion of the governing body, shall have the right to appeal therefrom and from such hearing by instituting suit for that purpose in any court having jurisdiction within fifteen (15) days from the time such assessment is levied; * * (Emphasis added.)
The section then provides that anyone who shall fail to so appeal shall be barred and estopped from contesting or questioning said assessment. The statute is broad in its terms and does not attempt to prescribe the type or manner of suit, so long as the nature of the suit brings into question the right of the City to make such assessment. It is not questioned that appellee’s suit was filed within the fifteen-day period, but appellant contends that it is not an appeal as provided by Sec. 9, supra. We do not agree. The suit is in statutory form of trespass to try title. It is broad in scope, and in this case it places in issue the question of whether or not there has been a breach of the express condition in the deed, so as to revert title in appellee, and therefore directly places in issue appellant’s right to make the assessment involved. See, Article 7364, Vernon’s Tex.Civ.Stats., and Rule 783 et seq., Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Undoubtedly, the issue of the validity of the assessment was raised in this suit.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.