Attorney General Opinion WW-0844

- . E GENERAL OF EXAS Mr. Ii. R, Nieman, Jr. Executive Director State Building Commission State Office Building Austin ,l, Texas Opinion No. W-844 Re: Location of Boundaries of the State Capitol Grounds as outlined by S.B. 437, Ch. 313, Dear Mr. Nieman: 55th Deg., R.S. You have requested an opinion of this office con- cerning a clarification and deflnitlon of the boundaries of the Capitol grounds as outlined by Section 1 of Senate Bill 437, Acts of the 55th Legislature, Regular Session, 1957, Chapter 313, page 758, codified as Article 86lb, Vernon's Penal Code. As stated by you, the purpose of the request is to avoid encroachment on the Capitol grounds, as defined by Ar- ticle 86lb, when the State Building Commission undertakes to landscape the area north of the Capitol and located between the Supreme Court Building and the State Office Building. The "landscaping" is to consist of "walks, planting, sprinkler systems, ,lights, etc." Section 1 of Article 86lb, Vernon's Penal Code, provides: 'Section 1. It shall be unlawful, without the prior express consent of the Legislature, for any officer of this state or any employee thereof or any other person to construct, build, erect or maintain any building, structure, memori- al, monument, statue, concession or any other structure including creation of parking areas or the laying of additional paving on any of the grounds that surrounded the State Capitol on January 1, 1955, and which grounds were then bounded by Eleventh, Brazos, Thirteenth and Colo- rado Streets, in the City of Austin, Texas, whether such land lay inside or outside the fence enclosing part of the grounds; provided, however, that paved access and underground utility installations may Mr. H. R. Nieman, Jr., page 2 (~~-844) be constructed and maintalned; provided further, that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to the Supreme Court Bulld- ing, according to the approved plans dated October 29, 1956, nor to the State Office Building, according to the approved plans dated November, 1956. ” The work contemplated in your request necessitates the definite location of the boundary line of the area bounded by Thirteenth Street In order to comply with the purpose of the subject statute. We are aware of the decisions which hold that there Is a presumption that title extends to the center line of a street when the description calls for a boundary by street name. As indicated, these decisions involved title ques- tions, an issue not present In this situation. In addition, the purpose behind the presumption, i.e., to avoid and discourage separate ownership of narrow strips of land, State v. Arnlm, 173 S.W.2d 503 (Tex.Civ.App., error refused, w.o.m. 19431 has no application here. We therefore do not feel that this’presump- tion is controlling in answering your request. It is our opinion that when the Legislature used the phrase “bounded by” they intended to describe the land up to the named streets. It manifestly was the purpose of the Legls- lature to prohibit further construction upon the grounds which were then landscaped and being maintained. Section 6 of Article 861b of Vernon’s Penal Code provides : “Sec. 6. The fact that the Capitol grounds were planned to furnish a landscaped area suffi- cient to set off the massive granite building and that this attractive setting would be destroyed by conversion of the grounds to parking lots, or erection of structures of any kind that would nec- essarily result in reducing the space needed to surround a building of the size of the Capitol, and the further fact that this building is not simply an office building, to be closely surrounded and hemmed in and obscured by brick and concrete, but a symbol of and the habitation of the state govern- ment which should remain In its green setting of native trees and flowers so that the.,,citlzens of Texas can take pride in their Capitol when they visit it, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the Constitutional Rule re- quiring bills to be read on three several days in each House be suspended; and said Rule is hereby Mr. H. R. Nieman, Jr., page 3 (~~-844) suspended, and this Act shall be in effect f;om and after its passage, and It Is so enacted. (Emphasis added.) This section indicates that the Legislature was con- cerned with, and Intended to prevent, a reduction of the Capitol grounds then landscaped, and not with land which subsequently might come within the control of the State. SUMMARY The boundaries of the Capitol grounds as defined,in Section 1 of Article 861b of Vernon's Penal Code consist of the South line of Thirteenth Street, the West line of Brazes Street, the North line of Eleventh Street, and the East line of Colorado Street. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas RHW:bh APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Thomas Burrus James R. Irlon III REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Leonard Passmore By @yxuA Robert H. Walls Assistant