Town of Winfred v. Scholl

HENDERSON, Justice

(concurring).

Scholl has not been, business-wise, destroyed hereby. He has 12 lots, known as the “home place,” to conduct his business.

In the scenario before us, Scholl deposited these car bodies and scrap materials on other lots in this little town, population 54. Thereby, small children, living in homes adjacent and contiguous thereto, are exposed to an attractive nuisance which could endanger their bodies and lives. As the trial court concluded, it was a “health hazard.”

There were extensive Findings of Fact entered (20 on October 9,1990) and Conclusions of Law (20 on the same date). Under In re Estate of Hobelsberger, 85 S.D. 282, 181 N.W.2d 455 (1970), these findings were not clearly erroneous. Under Permann v. Dept. of Labor, Unemp. Ins. D., 411 N.W.2d 113 (S.D.1987), the conclusions of law were not mistakes of law.

Municipalities have the right to regulate or prohibit junkyards within their corporate limits. Buhler v. Stone, 533 P.2d 292, 294 (Utah 1975). Buhler has been cited with approval in State v. Jones, 305 N.C. 520, 290 S.E.2d 675, 679-80 (1982).

Nor does our decision today, in any way, violate our most recent pronouncement on junkyards creating a public nuisance. State By and Through DOT v. Garvin, 456 N.W.2d 779, 782 (S.D.1990).