Case Name: THE PEOPLE ex rel. L. L. WAGNER, Appellant, v. CITY OF POMONA et al., Respondents
Court: District Court of Appeal of the State of California
Jurisdiction: California
Decision Date: 1948-11-12
Citations: 88 Cal. App. 2d 460
Docket Number: Civ. No. 16390
Parties: THE PEOPLE ex rel. L. L. WAGNER, Appellant, v. CITY OF POMONA et al., Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: California Appellate Reports, Second Series
Volume: 88
Pages: 460–480

Head Matter:
[Civ. No. 16390.
Second Dist., Div. Two.
Nov. 12, 1948.]
THE PEOPLE ex rel. L. L. WAGNER, Appellant, v. CITY OF POMONA et al., Respondents.
Allard, Brownsberger & Shelton, James G. Whyte and Roy A. Linn for Appellant.
O’Melveny & Myers, Pierce Works, Deane F. Johnson, Nichols, Cooper & Hickson and Don P. Nichols for Respondents.

Opinion:
McCOMB, J.
The present action was instituted by relator L. L. Wagner in the name of the People of the State of California for the purpose of setting aside an order of the City Council of Pomona, vacating for public purposes a portion of Commercial Street in the city of Pomona lying between Gibbs and Palomares Streets.
Commercial Street runs in an easterly and westerly direction, dead-ending with Rebecca Street on the west and Towne Avenue on the east. It parallels and lies one shallow block north of the side-by-side Southern Pacific and Union Pacific rights of way through Pomona. Throughout its entire length it and the lots abutting upon it are zoned for heavy industry.
The trial court found that the street closing was in the public interest and ordered by the city council "in good faith, and without any fraud, collusion or connivance with any person, firm or corporation, or any abuse of discretion, and solely for and by reason of the public necessity, interest and convenience. ' '
This is the sole question necessary for us to determine:
Is there substantial evidence to sustain the trial court's finding that in vacating, closing and abandoning the portion of Commercial Street in the city of Pomona here involved, "each and every act and thing done in connection therewith, and incidental thereto, the members of the Council of the City of Pomona, and each of them, and each and every officer, agent and representative of the said City of Pomona acting m connection therewith, acted in good faith, and without any fraud, collusion or connivance with any person, firm or corporation, or any abuse of discretion, and solely for and by reason of the public necessity, interest and convenience?"
This question must be answered in the affirmative and is governed by these pertinent rules:
(1) In the absence of evidence of (a) fraud or (b) collusion between a city council and private land owners, the act of a city council in ordering the vacation of a street is legislative in character and is conclusive and binding upon the courts both as to the necessity or convenience of the improvement and as to the extent thereof. (Beals v. City of Los Angeles, 23 Cal.2d 381, 385 et seq. [144 P.2d 839] ; People v. Oakland, 96 Cal.App. 488, 496 [274 P. 438]; People v. City of San Rafael, 95 Cal.App. 733, 739 [273 P. 138].)
(2) The mere fact that a property owner who will benefit by the vacation of the street agrees to pay all the expenses incident to such improvement does not of itself make the proceedings not in the public interest. (City of Oakland v. Parker, 70 Cal.App. 295, 298 [233 P. 68] ; Santa Ana v. Harlin, 99 Cal. 538, 541 [34 P. 224] ; People v. Oakland, 96 Cal.App. 488 [274 P. 438].)
(3) Proceedings taken by a city council in vacating streets for the purpose of general industrial expansion are in the public interest. (People v. Oakland, 96 Cal.App. 488, et seq. [274 P. 438]; Ponischil v. Hoquiam Sash & Door Co., 41 Wash. 303 [83 P. 316, 317].)
In the present case the record discloses that the mayor of respondent city tesified as follows:
"I would have voted to close that street from one end to the other if we could get industries who owned land on each side, any time, would do it today, sir, my thought being that that would bring industrial expansion to the City of Pomona. My purpose in voting to close Commercial Street between Gibbs and Palomares was to encourage and to keep industries in Pomona, give those industries a chance to operate.
"I was elected on an industrial expansion program and reelected and reelected and to vote to close that street for the expansion of an industry or as many industries as could be established on that street was according to my policy. It was my wish to increase our industries and bring other industries to Pomona. With reference to industry zoning, there is nothing on the south side of the railroad tracks that is adjacent to the Union Pacific. Only the north side of the Southern Pacific is available and there is probably not anything available on that side. Neither is there an inch available on the Union Pacific side so we have to economize on every square foot we can get with railroad frontage. The portion of the industrial zone shown on this map which abuts the main line trans continental facilities includes Commercial Street as shown on the map, defendant's Exhibit E, throughout its entirety. Commercial Street is just back of the Southern Pacific track and all of it lies within the heavy industry zone.
"The map, defendant's Exhibit E, reflects the industry planning of the City Planning Commission of the City of Pomona as approved and carried into effect by the City Council in its zoning ordinance.
"I also took into consideration in arriving at my decision in this matter the recommendation of Gordon Whitnall as expressed in the letter read to the Council by Mr. Nichols at one of our meetings. I took into consideration the following statement contained in Mr. Whitnall's letter: 'Normal industrial uses desire sites having depths. City lots cramped between streets forming limited size blocks do not lend themselves satisfactorily to substantial industrial • purposes. This is amply demonstrated by what has already happened in cases where given industries continguous to the railroad have been forced to expand plants on the properties across Commercial Street. Fairbanks Morse and Sanitary Laundry are examples. '
"Modern planning practices recognize these facts and they have developed the policy of providing suitable industrial sites by: 1. Consolidating areas where possible in developed sections of cities. 2. Designing new areas ample as to size and shape and well served with all required transportation facilities."
Similarly, various councilmen testified as follows:
Councilman Lindesmith: "I gave consideration to possible industrial expansion in the City of Pomona adjacent to the Southern Pacific right-of-way on the north side. I gave consideration as to the street closing and as to industrial expansion to the depth of the lots, the location as to the railroads, the fact that the street is not a through street, and also I observed the traffic condition existing on the street before the closing. The traffic, I would say, was comparatively light in reference to trucks and heavy deliveries being made. It is my observation that most of them are made either from Fifth or Garey to the adjacent north and south streets to the plant where the commodity is being delivered and there does not exist, in my opinion, a heavy traffic problem on that street in regard to delivery of commodities.
"The recommendation of the Planning Commission was directed to the Council; all the discussion was as to the traffic condition existing on Towne Avenue and the over-all picture as to the benefit the City, as a whole, would acquire by the closing of the street. I recall at one of those meetings an excerpt was read to the persons present from a letter from Mr. Gordon' Whitnall, a planning expert for the City Planning Commission.
"I took the recommendation of the Planning Commission into consideration and it helped fit into the picture of my final. decision.
"I could not see very much difference in the volume of traffic on Commercial Street after the closing or barricading of the street in 1941—I could see no great change. That particular block has been by-passed for years there as far as traffic is concerned. ' '
Councilman Philpott: "There were and are—there has been no change—more boulevard stops on that piece of street than there is on any other street in town; more widely cut up than any other section of Pomona. There were boulevard stop signs blocking east and west traffic at the intersection of Commercial with Main Street, Garey, Gibbs, and Palomares. From what I have seen of the trucking traffic in that area, there is none. " To a heavy hauler, the most abominable thing he has in his life are boulevard stops at every block. As a result, all heavy traffic, to the best of my knowledge, comes in on Holt or Fifth or one of these through streets and coming in from the other direction, they come in from the west, again avoiding boulevard stop signs.
"As to the factors which I took into consideration in voting for the closing, I have some very definite ideas as to land use, being an engineer. In any one of these small 330-foot blocks, the area of the streets bounding it equals thirteen city lots while in the block itself there are but twelve. In other words, In any residential area, as this town was laid out in the old days, there is actually more area in the streets surrounding a block than there is in the block itself. It is the duty of a city official to determine whether a community is getting the most advantageous benefits of the public domain. A city street or public property has to be evaluated when it comes to closing as to whether it is more valuable as a so-called thoroughfare or a public property. It is my opinion that unless a street serves its purpose best as a thoroughfare, it should always be closed. My personal opinion was confirmed by the Whitnall report and with all considerations then .before me, I decided in my own mind without any equivocation that that street should be closed. I also took into consideration as a factor the question of general industrial expansion within the limits of the City of Pomona.
"What I am trying to convey is this. A piece of land should be used to the best advantage of the community, the greatest return to the community. If there are few vehicles crossing it as a thoroughfare, it is of little value to the community as a street. It has little value because they do not use it. On the other hand, if this same piece of property, Fairbanks, Morse or anyone, I am not concerned, it might be John Doakes —if that same piece of property can be used to support a project, whether it is a business, industry or even an off street parking project, in view of the less usage as a street, it is more important for this other specific purpose. In this particular case, closing it for Fairbanks, Morse, the individual company, to use, I feel that the good to Fairbanks, Morse was incidental to the good of the community in closing that street.
"What I have said here, in effect, Your Honor, is that the value and use of that street to the whole of the City of Pomona was greater closed than open."
Councilman Persons: "I considered the vacation of the portion of Commercial Street in which we are interested here was to the best interests of the public of the City of Pomona. I made up my mind after contacting some businessmen out on the east end of Commercial Street that the closing would not damage any of the business people along Commercial Street that might use it if it was open. I had in mind the industrial zoning which had been laid out by the Planning Commission and approved by the Council and I took very much into consideration the question of present and future industrial expansion of the City of Pomona and I considered such industrial over-all expansion as being to the best interests of the public. I took into consideration the statements of Mr. Whitnall in arriving at my decision on this matter. As a member of the Planning Commission, I was somewhat familiar with that report. The matter was discussed in open Planning Commission meetings when Mr. Whitnall was present.
"In voting for closing Commercial Street between Gibbs and Palomares, that was in line with my idea of what the industrial expansion of the City should be. In other words, anything which would permit industrial expansion in the City of Pomona w.ould be, in my mind, for the public benefit."
Councilman Hart: "Due to the industrial expansion of the town and for the encouragement of industries that were here along with the over-all plan, the railroad being a predetermining factor, I felt it was to the best interests to start steps in that direction and the closing of Commercial Street would be just the beginning of that. I attended the meeting of January 29th when the Whitnall letter was read and I took into consideration, as one of the factors which influenced me in my action, the views of Mr. Whitnall as discussed in that letter. ' '
The foregoing testimony clearly supports the trial court's finding that the city council, in vacating the street in question, acted in good faith and without fraud or collusion and solely by reason of public necessity, interest and convenience, and that the vacation of the street was in the public interest.
Under rule 1, supra, the finding being supported by substantial evidence is binding upon this court. Under rule 2, it was immaterial that Fairbanks, Morse and Company paid the expenses incident to the abandonment of the street. Likewise under rule 3, supra, since the abandonment was for the purpose of industrial expansion, the abandonment was in the public interest. Under this same rule it is immaterial in the present proceeding that the city council had not as yet adopted a master plan for the zoning of the entire city of Pomona.
The case of People v. City of Los Angeles, 62 Cal.App. 781 [218 P. 63], relied on by plaintiff, is not applicable to the facts of the present case for the reason that in the cited case the city was endeavoring to sell to a private property owner street property (Argyle Avenue in the city of Los Angeles), which it was attempting to vacate, and the court in such case held that it was not in the public interest for the city council to sell to a private owner street property of the municipality. The court said at page 785, People v. City of Los Angeles, supra, "To put the matter bluntly, on the evidence adduced the finding of the court was to the effect that, without the interest or convenience of the public being considered in any way the city council sold a public street to the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation for a consideration of $1,000." Again at page 787, "According to the evidence and findings by the court in this case there was no such thing as the public interest or convenience of the public taken into consideration by the city council. ' '
In the instant case the street is not being sold to Fairbanks, Morse and Company by respondent city, but the basis of the vacation of the street is the public interest which as we have heretofore pointed out finds substantial support in the evidence.
In view of our conclusions, the judgment is affirmed.
Moore, P. J., concurred.