City of Russellville v. Hodges

• Decision Date: 11 December 1997
• Docket Number: No. 97-152,97-152
• Citation: 957 S.W.2d 690,330 Ark. 716
• Parties: CITY OF RUSSELLVILLE, Appellant, v. Sharon (Renolds) HODGES, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 690

957 S.W.2d 690

330 Ark. 716

CITY OF RUSSELLVILLE, Appellant, v. Sharon (Renolds) HODGES, Appellee.

No. 97-152.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Dec. 11, 1997.

James Dunham, Russellville, for Appellant.

Dale W. Finley, Russellville, for Appellee.

ARNOLD, Chief Justice.

This is a zoning case. The appellant, the City of Russellville, appeals the decision of the Pope County Chancery Court that it was estopped from enforcing its zoning ordinance due to the actions of its building official. Because we agree with the City that the building official was not authorized to waive the zoning requirements, we reverse and the chancellor's decision remand.

The City of Russellville annexed the Bishop Addition residential subdivision in 1985. On January 23, 1986, it amended Ordinance No. 859, thereby rezoning the area R-2, a classification that prohibits mobile homes or trailers. At that time, there were no mobile homes on lots 13, 14, 15, and 16 of Block G or East Sixth Street, the subject of this dispute. Sometime after annexation and rezoning, appellees Sharon Reynolds Hodges, Tom Reynolds, Billy Bowman, Roy Turner, and others placed mobile homes on the lots at issue. On May 9, 1995, the City filed suit for injunctive relief to enforce its zoning ordinance. Though it named eleven defendants in its complaint, only five answered or appeared, which included the appellees, who affirmatively pleaded that the City was estopped from enforcing its zoning ordinance due to the conduct of its building official, Gearl Cooper, who had issued electrical permits and power tags for the mobile homes.

At trial, Mr. Cooper testified that he had issued electrical and other types of inspection permits to the structures. However, as building official, he stated that he was not authorized to alter the City's zoning classifications. According to Mr. Cooper, he had been aware that there had been mobile homes in the Bishop Addition "since the first one moved in." It was his testimony that, Joe Vinson, the chairman of the planning commission, had told him that he was going to allow mobile homes to be placed in the area.

City Clerk Helen Price testified that she served on the planning commission. According to Ms. Price, an individual member of the commission did not possess the authority to make a decision for the group. It was her testimony that if Mr. Vinson told Mr. Cooper in 1985 or 1986 that mobile homes would be allowed in Bishop Addition, he would have done so without proper authorization, as there had been no vote by the planning commission and city council making such an allowance.

Mayor Phil Carruth testified that neither the building official, his employees, nor the city engineer had authority to change zoning laws or to allow the placement of structures that are in violation of the city's zoning laws. It was his testimony that, if there were any actions taken by city employees to allow the placement of mobile homes in the Bishop Addition, they were not official authorized acts of the City.

After hearing all the evidence, the chancellor issued written findings of fact. These findings included that the city's building official, Mr. Cooper, along with his assistants, had at times issued permits for electrical power hookups and had inspected and tagged the hookups for the mobile homes while knowing that the placement of these homes in the area might be improper. According to the chancellor, Mr. Cooper's acts were authorized acts of the city. The chancellor further found that the chairman of the planning commission, Joe Vinson, was also aware that some mobile homes had been placed in Bishop Addition...