Title: Konitz v. Board of County Commissioners
Citation: 180 Kan. 230, 303 P.2d 180
Docket Number: 40,164
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: November 3, 1956

180 Kan. 230 (1956)
303 P.2d 180
HAROLD KONITZ, REED BYERS and THE JOHNSON COUNTY CIVIC LEAGUE, INC., Appellants,
v.
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS, GEORGE RUSSELL, MARTIN J. ZIEGLER, and L.R. PENNER, Successor to the Office of CLYDE R. CURRY, Appellee.
No. 40,164

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed November 3, 1956.
James B. Pearson, of Olathe, was on the briefs for the appellants.
John W. Breyfogle, Jr., of Olathe, argued the cause, and Frank L. Hagaman, of Kansas City, Missouri, Lyndus A. Henry, of Overland Park, and James H. Bradley, county attorney, of Olathe, were with him on the briefs for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
WERTZ, J.:
This was an action brought pursuant to G.S. 1949, 19-2913, to have declared unreasonable the acts of the board of county commissioners of Johnson County in sustaining the acts of the Mission Township zoning board in classifying by alphabetical designation minimum ground floor areas of residences in Nall Hills, a newly platted subdivision in Mission Township. From a judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiffs appeal.
No useful purpose would be gained in narrating the pleadings. Suffice it to say that after the pleadings were joined, the case was tried and the trial court filed its memorandum opinion and entered judgment thereon. That opinion recites the pertinent part of the pleadings, the issues involved, and determines the questions presented. It reads:
Plaintiffs filed a motion for a new trial asserting (1) that they were not afforded a reasonable opportunity to present their evidence; (2) erroneous rulings of the court, and (3) the judgment and decision were contrary to the evidence. Plaintiffs first contend the court erred in overruling their motions for continuance of the case. Their petition was filed June 22, 1955. On July 7, the court set the trial for August 1. On July 8, the defendant filed its answer and the issues were joined. On July 26, plaintiffs filed a verified motion for continuance which was overruled July 29. On the same day, with permission of the court, plaintiffs filed an amended petition. On August 1, plaintiffs again filed a motion for a continuance supported by the affidavit of one of the plaintiffs. This motion was overruled with the provision that after plaintiffs had presented their evidence then available, they would have until August 5 to obtain any further evidence.
Plaintiffs concede the general rule that the granting or refusing of a continuance rests in the discretion of the trial court. (Shore v. Cantor, 159 Kan. 642, 157 P.2d 528; Richmond v. Clinton, 144 Kan. 328, 58 P.2d 1116.) They conclude, however, that the trial court's failure in this case to grant a reasonable continuance constituted an abuse of discretion.
G.S. 1949, 60-2932, provides that actions shall be triable on the issues of fact in ten days after the issues are made up. Issues were joined in this action on July 8, and the preceding day the court had set the case for trial on August 1. The record fails to disclose any objection made by plaintiffs to this date.
Plaintiffs' motion for a continuance was on the ground of absence of material evidence. G.S. 1949, 60-2934, provides that a motion for continuance on account of the absence of evidence can *235 be made only upon affidavit showing the materiality of the evidence expected to be obtained, and that due diligence had been used to obtain it, and if it is for an absent witness, the affidavit must show where the witness resides, the probability of procuring his testimony within a reasonable time, and what facts he believes the witness will prove, and that he believes them to be true.
Plaintiffs' first motion for continuance was not filed until July 26. This motion failed to comply with the statute, and was properly overruled. Plaintiffs' second motion for continuance was filed on the morning of the trial. The affidavit supporting the motion states that on July 27, the absent expert witness advised defendant that he would be unable to testify on several questions contained in the issues, by August 1. There was no mention in the affidavit when this absent witness was first contacted concerning the case. No showing was made when the witness could be obtained, or that due diligence had been exercised in this regard. Nor was it alleged that the affiant believed the nature of the evidence to be true. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in overruling the motion by reason of plaintiffs' failure to comply with the statute. Moreover, as disclosed by the record, what plaintiffs thought the absent witness would testify to was nothing more than cumulative evidence of other witnesses who testified for plaintiffs. (See Lamer v. Lamer, 170 Kan. 579, 583, 228 P.2d 718.)
Plaintiffs next contend the defendant's order was unreasonable in establishing classification for Nall Hills without reference to the suitability of the land for platting, and that a portion of the area between 103rd Street and Indian Creek west of Nall Avenue was subject to flooding.
There was ample evidence that the alleged overflow and surface water drainage would be remedied by filling and drainage, and the land made suitable for residential development. Inasmuch as the trial court found the land was suitable for residential use, the question whether the zoning board may classify unsuitable land for such use is not before us.
Plaintiffs also contend that the construction of residences in conformance with the classification order of the board will devaluate the property in the vicinity of Nall Hills. There was no evidence that the lands in that vicinity had been developed into a residential district of any classification, nor was there any evidence of other subdivisions closer than a mile from the Nall Hills plat upon which *236 the housing classification order was made. The devaluation of other properties was a question of fact to be decided by the trial court upon the disputed evidence. There was ample testimony that the classification would not depreciate the value of other properties, and the trial court so found.
Plaintiffs' last contention is that the action of the board, approving various classifications with a differential of more than one alphabetically designated district for certain contiguous lots, i.e., an "F" next to a "D" with no intervening "E"; a "G" next to an "E" with no intervening "F," violates section 9, subsection 1 of the township zoning regulations. A review of the record discloses that plaintiffs have not shown themselves to be within contiguous zoned tracts of land. Their right to maintain this action or raise the mentioned question has not been challenged, and will not be decided here. Whether the mentioned section of the zoning regulations is applicable to contiguous lots within a subdivision, or contiguous subdivisions, need not be decided, inasmuch as section 9, subsection 1, grants to the board a certain amount of discretion in skipping classifications, if consecutive graduated reduction is found to be impractical. Moreover, section 9, subsection 7, provides:
Section 18 further provides:
Plaintiffs contend there was no evidence from any member of the board as to any impractical condition, so as to warrant the exercise of its discretion. This is but an attempt on the part of plaintiffs to shift the burden of proof to defendant. There is a presumption that the board acted fairly, reasonably and not arbitrarily. It is incumbent upon those attacking the order of the board to show wherein the board's action was unreasonable, and in this they failed to sustain the burden of proof.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.