City Not Estopped

Applying City of White Settlement v. Super Wash, Inc., 198 S.W.3d 770 (Tex. 2006), the Fifth Court rejected the application of equitable estoppel to bar the City of Dallas’s enforcement of a zoning ordinance. The issue involved the acceptable height for a “parapet wall” of a duplex townhome; the estoppel argument involved communications with a building inspector during construction. The Court noted:

• “While we do not endorse the City’s erroneous issuance of two permits, the errors cannot properly be characterized as affirmative misrepresentations or deliberate actions calculated to induce PDT’s reliance.”
• “PDT’s argument that it reasonably relief on the City’s erroneous permits is similarly unpersuasive. The RPS ordinance is a matter of public record and PDT is charged with notice of its provisions.”
• PDT showed no benefit to the City (contrasting another case involving a direct land conveyance to the municipality)

No. 05-22-00730-CV (June 16, 2023). Interestingly, the opinion notes that the precedent in this area involves equitable estoppel rather than quasi-estoppel (which does not require detrimental reliance)–a potential area for future litigation.