City of Laredo v. Villarreal

81 S.W.3d 865 (2002)

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City of Laredo v. Villarreal

Texas Court of Appeals
81 S.W.3d 865 (2002)

RW

Facts

The city of Laredo (city) (defendant) informed the Villarreals (plaintiffs) that the communications tower on their property constituted a nonconforming use under the city zoning code. The Villarreals obtained a nontransferable conditional-use permit (CUP), which allowed them to continue the nonconforming use if they brought the tower within the CUP’s specified conditions. The Villarreals found that they could not comply with all of the CUP’s conditions, so they decided to replace their tower with a second structure that would be CUP-compliant. The city told the Villarreals that their CUP was intended only to bring the current tower into code compliance and could not be transferred to the replacement tower. The Villarreals sued for a contrary declaratory judgment, arguing that the nontransferability clause barred only transfers from the Villarreals’ property to someone else’s property, not from one tower on their property to another on the same property. Although both parties could point to language in the CUP that arguably supported their respective positions, the trial court ruled for the Villarreals. The city appealed to the Texas Court of Appeals.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Angelini, J.)

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