City of Crystal City v. Crystal City Country Club, 7403
| Citation | 486 S.W.2d 887 |
| Decision Date | 02 November 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 7403,7403 |
| Parties | CITY OF CRYSTAL CITY, Appellant, v. CRYSTAL CITY COUNTRY CLUB, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Pat Maloney, San Antonio, for appellant.
Jack Ware, Uvalde, for appellee.
This is an action brought by the Crystal City Country Club, a corporation, to secure an injunction restraining the City of Crystal City from denying the members of Country Club access to the facility known as the Crystal City Country Club. The City filed a suit in trespass to try title and under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act for determination of its rights under a lease held by Country Club from the City. Trial was before the court and judgment was rendered granting Country Club a permanent injunction, finding a valid lease between the parties, and denying all other relief. The trial court made findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The City's first two points of error are that the trial court erred in concluding that the lease in question was supported by a valuable consideration and that City was estopped to deny the validity of the lease. The record in this case shows the land in question is a part of a larger tract acquired by City from the United States Government on March 24, 1949. On July 8, 1949, City passed an ordinance granting Country Club a three-year lease on a swimming pool, building, and a tract of land estimated to be about two acres. This ordinance recited a consideration of $35.00 per month. Then, on July 3, 1956, City adopted the ordinance in question authorizing the mayor to execute a thirty-year lease with Country Club covering a tract of land approximately 240 by 212 feet in size. The ordinance contained this recitation: '. . . and the consideration shall be that the Lessee shall occupy said premises and use the same, and at the termination of said lease to return the same to the City of Crystal City.'
A lease dated the ' day of July 1956' was executed which contained this provision:
'The Crystal City Country Club, Lessee, agrees to use and occupy said premises and keep the same in possession during the tenure of said lease, and at the termination of said agreement to return possession of said property to the City of Crystal City, it being understood that there is a building located on said property which has heretofore been purchased by the Lessee being understood that they shall have the right to remove said building, if in existence, at the termination of this lease contract.'
The testimony showed that the land in this second lease was a part of the land covered by the first lease and that the building mentioned above was a long barracks-type frame building that had been converted into a clubhouse which included a dining room and a ballroom. It was estimated that Country Club spent $25,000 getting the building in shape for club use. Country Club built a new swimming pool at a cost of $7,500 and built a nine-hole golf course on land surrounding this leased land at a cost of about $40,000. The golf course was open to the public for use by the paying of a green fee. The arrangement continued for a few years until Country Club ran into hard times and the golf course was turned over to City in its entirety. The clubhouse was closed down and a youth club began to use the facilities. In 1968, a fire almost completely destroyed the clubhouse and its contents. About eighteen months later, a concrete slab was roofed over as a cabana area with a room at the end for a golf shop, about 30 feet square in size. Those are the improvements now existing on the leased premises. The application for this injunction was precipitated when City put padlocks on the door to these premises.
It is elementary contract law that sufficient...
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