Court Opinion

ID: 9544541
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:56:42.456726+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:13:08.677149
License: Public Domain

CLARK, J., Dissenting.
For the reasons stated in my concurring and dissenting opinion in State of California v. Superior Court (Lyon) (1981) ante, page 210, [172 Cal.Rptr. 696, 625 P.2d 239], the public trust declared today by the majority applies only to tide and submerged lands and does not apply to the shorezone. While the shorezone at Lake Tahoe may be a ring around the lake only a few feet in width, shore-zones on navigable streams encompass hundreds of square miles which are presently in productive use for other than trust purposes, and we should not at this late date declare such uses unlawful.
*250I must also dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the People may not be estopped from asserting the trust. The holding of the sole authority relied on by the majority, City of Long Beach v. Mansell (1970) 3 Cal.3d 462 [91 Cal.Rptr. 23, 476 P.2d 423], is directly contrary to today’s decision.
In Mansell, the City of Long Beach had claimed portions of a residential subdivision were tidelands subject to the trust. Estoppel was urged on the ground: “[T]he subject lands were filled and improved with the knowledge and acquiesence of the state and city and. .. since annexation of the area in 1923 the city has exercised full municipal jurisdiction over it—granting building permits, approving subdivision maps, constructing and maintaining streets and city services, collecting taxes.” (Id., at p. 487.)
This court first discussed estoppel as applicable to private parties in land title cases, concluding that the circumstances would be sufficient to estop private claims. The court continued: “It is settled that ‘[t]he doctrine of equitable estoppel may be applied against the government where justice and right require it. (United States Fid. & Guar. Co. v. State Board of Equalization (1956) 47 Cal.2d 384, 388-389 [303 P.2d 1034] and cases there collected.)’ (Driscoll v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 67 Cal.2d 297, 306 [61 Cal.Rptr. 661, 431 P.2d 245].) (See generally 28 Am.Jur.2d, Estoppel and Waiver, §§ 122-133, pp. 782-802; 31 C.J.S., Estoppel, §§ 138-147, pp. 675-733.) Correlative to this general rule, however, is the well-established proposition that an estoppel will not be applied against the government if to do so would effectively nullify ‘a strong rule of policy, adopted for the benefit of the public,.. . ’ (County of San Diego v. Cal. Water etc. Co. (1947) 30 Cal.2d 817, 829-830 [186 P.2d 124, 175 A.L.R. 747], see also cases there cited.) The tension between these twin principles makes up the doctrinal context in which concrete cases are decided.” (Id., at p. 493.)
After lengthy discussion of the leading cases on the issue of estoppel against government, Mansell distilled the controlling rule: “After a thorough review of the many California decisions in this area, as well as a consideration of various out-of-state decisions, we have concluded that the proper rule governing equitable estoppel against the government is the following: The government may be bound by an equitable estoppel in the same manner as a private party when the elements requisite to such an estoppel against a private party are present and, in the considered view of a court of equity, the injustice which would result from a *251failure to uphold an estoppel is of sufficient dimension to justify any effect upon public interest or policy which would result from the raising of an estoppel.” (Id., at pp. 496-497.)
The court concluded that the great injustice to homeowners which would result from failure to uphold an equitable estoppel against the state and city justifies the minimal effect upon public policy resulting from raising an estoppel. (Id., at p. 501.)
The majority in the instant case rely upon the language quoted above that “an estoppel will not be applied against the government if to do so would effectively nullify ‘a strong rule of policy, adopted for the benefit of the public,.. The majority conclude that establishing trust rights to the shorezone is so important that the People may not be estopped as to thousands of linear miles of shorezone. (Ante, pp. 244-247.)
The majority decision is arbitrarily contrary to Mansell. That case established that in appropriate circumstances the People could be estopped to assert the trust, when the resulting injustice would outweigh the public policy. There are no doubt, thousands of homeowners in cities of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, as well as other areas of the shorezone, in substantially the same position as were the homeowners in Long Beach. These homeowners, and thousands of farmers will suffer thousands of “great injustices,” clearly outweighing the public trust loss in respect to individual lands. (3 Cal.3d at p. 501.)
While it would be a tremendous burden on the judicial system to determine in individual cases whether imposition of the trust involves “great injustice” outweighing trust detriment, the courts’ business is the administration of justice. However burdensome the alleviation of “great injustice” may be, courts should not shirk their duty.
I would deny mandate.
Richardson, J., concurred.
The petitions of real parties in interest for a rehearing were denied April 29, 1981. Richardson, J., was of the opinion that the petitions should be granted.