Opinion ID: 1513273
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Consent of the City.

Text: It is contended that the consent of the city to the construction of the expressway was obtained by fraudulent or reckless misrepresentations made by the Department engineers to members of the City Council. Affidavits were submitted from the Councilmen who had voted against the resolution of consent. The affiants allege that they had been misinformed by the Department with respect to six different matters bearing upon the necessity or desirability of the modified Adams-Jackson Street route. Affidavits to the contrary were filed by the seven Councilmen who voted for the resolution, and by the Deputy Engineer of the Department. Upon these facts it is contended that the passage of the resolution was attended by fraud or bad faith, and that the consent of the City to the construction of the expressway was never validly obtained. In any event, it is said, there was a genuine issue of material fact before the trial court, arising out of the conflicting affidavits. These contentions are based upon misconceptions of the law and of the effect of the evidence adduced. (a) It is assumed that the law requires the consent of the City to any highway construction by the Department through the City. This is not correct. The applicable statute is 17 Del.C. § 134(a) and (b). It reads: (a) The Department shall have no power, authority, or jurisdiction of the streets of any incorporated city or town, except as otherwise provided in this section, unless such power, authority or jurisdiction shall be voluntarily given and surrendered by such city or town to the Department, and then only upon such terms as the Department shall prescribe. (b) When in the judgment of the Department, the route for the construction or reconstruction of any State highway should continue through any incorporated city or town, the Department shall construct and maintain the highway through such incorporated city or town, such construction and maintenance to be at the sole expense of the Department. Whenever the Department shall construct a State highway through any such incorporated city or town, it shall not change the widths of the streets of the city or town except with the consent of the duly constituted governing body of the city or town. [Emphasis supplied.] We had occasion to construe this statute in Campbell v. Commissioners of Town of Bethany Beach, Del., 139 A.2d 493, 498. It was contended in that case, in effect, that certain provisions of the city charter limited the authority of the Department under the quoted statute. Overruling this contention, we said: It seems obvious to us that 17 Del. C. § 134 gives the Highway Department the power to construct highways through municipalities with or without the consent of the municipal governing authorities, as long as the width of existing streets is not increased. Only when an increase in width is proposed, as is the case before us, is such consent required. That consent, when given, is not, as appellants seem to argue, a delegation of the Commissioners' power to lay out streets, but is merely consent on their part that the Highway Commission may exercise its own statutory power of condemnation (17 Del.C. § 132(c)) within the municipality. It follows that the consent of the City to the proposed construction is not required unless one or more of the City streets is to be widened. The Vice Chancellor suggested a different conclusion, but we are compelled to disagree. Plaintiffs insist, however, that there is an issue of fact whether one or more of the city streets will be widened as a result of the construction of the expressway. Plaintiffs filed an affidavit from an engineer, which alleges that the interchange in the City would result in the widening of streets and affect existing street patterns. This is explicitly denied by the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Department, who certainly has full knowledge of the plans. We are inclined to think that the affidavit for plaintiffs refers to nothing more than the breaking of the curb line of existing streets at points of interchange, that no proof of change of street width has been made, and that the consent of the City is unnecessary. But even if the consent of the City was required, we are satisfied that it was properly given. (b) The legal basis for the contention that the resolution was adopted in bad faith is found in an exception to the general rule that courts will not inquire into the motives of or inducements to legislators that may influence them in the passage of acts or resolutions. State ex rel. Craven v. Schorr, 50 Del. 365, 11 Terry 365, 131 A.2d 158 (general rule). The exception is that the validity of municipal ordinances or resolutions may be attacked if fraud or bad faith is proved. This rule is recognized in Delaware, although in none of the decided cases was any fraud or bad faith found. See Taylor v. Smith, 13 Del. Ch. 39, 46, 115 A. 405; Drexler v. Commissioners of Town of Bethany Beach, 15 Del.Ch. 214, 216, 135 A. 484; Lynch v. Town Council of Georgetown, 21 Del.Ch. 25, 29, 180 A. 594; Klaw v. Pau-Mar Construction Co., 50 Del. 487, 495, 11 Terry 487, 135 A.2d 123. But the fraud or bad faith required to be shown refers to conduct of the legislators, not to conduct of third persons. Thus in Taylor v. Smith, supra [13 Del. Ch. 39, 115 A. 408], Chancellor Curtis speaks of fraud or corruption with which the council's approval may be tainted. A fraudulent betrayal of the public interest by the councilmen must be shown. That interested parties misrepresented the facts to the councilmen is immaterial for the validity and effect of legislative acts is not to be determined by the inducements that led to their enactment. Rosenberg v. Village of WhiteFish Bay, 199 Wis. 214, 225 N.W. 838, 840. To the same effect is Morgan v. Banas, 331 Mass. 694, 122 N.E. 2d 369. And see 5 McQuillen, Municipal Corporations, § 16.90; and Merrimon v. Southern Paving & Construction Co., 142 N.C. 539, 55 S.E. 366, 370, 8 L.R.A.,N.S., 574. Nothing in plaintiffs' proof even remotely suggests any bad faith on the part of any councilman. This disposes of plaintiffs' principal contention with respect to the giving of the City's consent. A subsidiary objection is lodged to Council's action. It is said that the consent should have been given by ordinance rather than by resolution. This distinction is sometimes of importance, since an ordinance must be adopted under certain rules and in Wilmington it must be submitted to the Mayor for approval or disapproval. The Wilmington City Charter does not prescribe what acts of Council must be embodied in an ordinance. The general rule is stated in 5 McQuillen, Municipal Corporations, § 15.02:    a resolution deals with matters of a special or temporary character; an ordinance prescribes some permanent rule of conduct or government, to continue in force until the ordinance is repealed. Because of differences in municipal charters, a lengthy examination of decided cases would be of little value. In practice, so far as can be determined from our decisions, the above distinction has been recognized in Delaware. In cases in which the required action of the governing body is the giving of consent to proposed action by another body, involving no permanent legislation, a mere resolution has been used. See Drexler v. Commissioners of Town of Bethany Beach, supra; Lynch v. Town Council of Georgetown, supra; and Randolph v. Wilmington Housing Authority, Del., 139 A.2d 476. This, we think, is perfectly sound practice. This conclusion receives some support from the section of the Wilmington City Charter granting to the Council the power to enact ordinances for numerous purposes. Rev.Code of Wilmington, 1942, § 43, pp. 65-66. A reading of such powers shows that legislation of a general character and of a permanent nature is contemplated. A further objection to Council's action is that the City's consent does not convey the street beds that the City owns and the Department is to acquire, and that the City cannot transfer title to the bed of its streets without a deed. We have had some difficulty in understanding just what conclusion plaintiffs seek to draw from these facts. Apparently plaintiffs suggest that the Department cannot condemn the property it needs but must rely on the City's willingness to convey it. Since the Department is given power to condemn public property (as hereafter shown), there is nothing of substance in this contention. Finally, it is said that the contract between the Department and the City is too vague and indefinite to be enforced. A mere reading of its terms shows the utter lack of merit in this contention. It is based upon a clause (Par. 5) providing that supplemental agreements are contemplated from time to time to deal with specific subjects that may arise. This does not make the agreement unenforceable. The Vice Chancellor held that the City's consent to the construction of the expressway had been validly given. We agree with his conclusion.