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Ehler v. B.T. Suppenas Ltd.

The covenant restricting alcohol sales on the servient estate meets the requirements for a covenant running with the land.

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This case concerns the enforceability of deed restrictions preventing alcohol sales on land adjacent to the area known as “the Strip” near the City of Lubbock. “The Strip” is a section of Highway 87 located in Lubbock County Precinct 2. Because Precinct 2 is the only precinct in Lubbock County in which off-premises alcohol sales are permitted, businesses on “the Strip” are primarily alcohol retailers. Appellees B.T. Suppenas, Ltd. and Patel & Dunlap are partnerships that own most of the property making up “the Strip.” Appellants Gary Michael Ehler and Suzanne Ehler (the Ehlers) brought the underlying suit seeking judgment that the restrictions preventing the sale of alcohol on their adjacent land were not enforceable. The trial court found the restrictions were enforceable. Hence, this appeal.

All of the property with which we are concerned was originally owned by J. T. Krueger, who died before the transactions at issue here. For clarity, we will refer to his heirs collectively as the Kruegers. The property was originally farm land. In 1984 and 1985, two tracts of the land were sold to James and Shirley Stuart (Stuarts). On June 18, 1989, the Kruegers sold 18.9 acres of the remaining land to B.T.

Suppenas, Ltd. (Suppenas) for $1,500,000 to build stores for alcohol sales. Contemporaneously, and to induce Suppenas to purchase the 18.9 acre tract, the Kruegers executed and filed a “Declaration of Restrictions” that defined the tract sold to Suppenas as the dominant estate and the remainder of the property as the servient estate. In relevant part, the declaration provided, “[n]o part, parcel, or lot of the real property described herein as the Servient Estate shall ever be used for the purpose of off premises sale of alcoholic beverages.” It also provided that the restrictions were imposed “for the purpose of protecting the value and the desirability of the Dominant Estate.”

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