Morris v. City of Catlettsburg
| Citation | 437 S.W.2d 753 |
| Parties | Barney MORRIS and Clarice Morris, his wife and Gay Hogan, Appellants, v. CITY OF CATLETTSBURG, Kentucky, a Municipal Corporation of Kentucky, et al., Appellees. |
| Decision Date | 24 January 1969 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
Paul C. Hobbs, Ashland, for appellants.
Claude Asbury, James E. Adkins, Catlettsburg, for appellees.
CULLEN, Commissioner.
The appeal is from a judgment of the Boyd Circuit Court upholding an order of the Board of Zoning Adjustment of the City of Catlettsburg which granted for a particular lot in a residential district a variance from the requirements of the zoning ordinance as to minimum square footage, lot width, front yard depth and rear yard depth. The appeal is by neighboring property owners who had opposed the granting of the variance before the board.
Catlettsburg is a city of the fourth class. The proceedings in this case, before the Board of Zoning Adjustment, took place early in 1966 and the statute then governing the authority to grant variances in fourth-class cities was KRS 100.580(1)(c). (This statute has since been superseded by the comprehensive zoning law of 1966, KRS 100.111 to 100.361.) The authority was to grant, 'in special cases, such variance from the terms of the ordinance as will not be contrary to the public interest, where a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship, and so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done.'
Prior to 1965 the lot here in question conformed to the zoning requirements and there was situated upon it a two-story residence. In 1965, in connection with a project for a new highway, the State Highway Department condemned and took the house and approximately two-thirds of the lot. This left the lot with only a little more than one-half of the minimum square footage and depth required by the zoning ordinance for a residential lot.
At the time of the condemnation the lot was owned by Thelma Childers. Subsequently Kathleen Bowling became interested in the lot and in the house, which the Highway Department had not yet moved from the lot. Mrs. Bowling purchased the house from the Highway Department and made a conditional agreement with Mrs. Childers for the purchase of the lot. Mrs Bowling then went before the Board of Zoning Adjustment with an application for a variance from the requirements of the zoning ordinance as to square footage, lot width, front yard depth and rear yard depth, which would enable her to move the house onto the remaining one-third of the lot, facing it sideways to the street, and use it for a residence. Neighboring property owners appeared in protest.
The board handled the matter on a strictly informal basis. No evidence was taken and no findings of fact were made. It appears that the board decided to grant the variance for the reasons (1) that variances had been granted for some other nearby property that was in a similar situation as a result of the highway...
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...v. Bently, Ky., 383 S.W.2d 677 (1964); Casey County Board of Education v. Luster, Ky., 282 S.W.2d 333 (1955). Cf. Morris v. City of Catlettsburg, Ky., 437 S.W.2d 753 (1969). 18 See Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 19 See West Virginia State Bo......
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