Court Opinion

ID: 9856426
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:47:19.201758+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:44.652016
License: Public Domain

SHEPARD, Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent from the majority opinion for a number of reasons. First, in my judgment the portion of the majority opinion dealing with the validity of the various ordinances involved does not withstand analysis. The majority opinion points out that the tract of land in question herein prior to annexation of the City was zoned under a county zoning ordinance as farm land (F).
Under somewhat similar circumstances the author of the majority opinion herein told us in Ben Lomond, Inc. v. City of Idaho Falls, 92 Idaho 595, 448 P.2d 209:
“Although none of the authority cited is binding on this court, it is our opinion that those cases holding that county zoning ordinances cease to apply to land annexed to a city state the better rule. * * * We believe this is an insufficient reason to justify a continued application of the county law. The cases supporting the majority rule, on the other hand, rest upon the proposition that local subdivisions of government are separate sovereignties and that the ordinances of one political subdivision are of no effect in another.” 92 Idaho at pp. 598-599, 448 P.2d at p. 212.
It is clear to me that just as was the case in Ben Lomond, when the tract in question was annexed to the city, it was unzoned. The majority opinion herein seeks to avoid such conclusion by suggesting that the tract was zoned (F) because the city “adopted by reference the county zoning ordinance for the annexed area.” The majority opinion evidently overlooks the provisions of I.C. § 50-1204 which require certain formalities before any such purported action becomes effective.
The illogic of the majority’s reasoning becomes more apparent when it strikes down the validity of the zoning change from (F) to (C-3) on the basis that the city council did not comply with the formalities of I.C. § 50-1204. In short, the majority opinion overlooks compliance with the statutory formalities when it validates the city’s continued zoning of the property as (F) but strikes down the city’s action in changing the zone from (F) to (C-3) because the second action of the city council failed to comply with the necessary statutory formalities.
I likewise disagree with the novel assertion by the court that the principle of estoppel should not be applied against a municipality within the State of Idaho. Since at least 1909 the Supreme Court of Idaho has been committed to. a different rule than that laid down by the majority herein. In that year Mr. Justice Ailshie, speaking for the court on rehearing in Boise City v. Wilkinson, 16 Idaho 150, 177, 102 P. 148 (1909) stated:
“We recognize that, as a general rule, the doctrine of estoppel does not apply to municipal corporations, and we are not unmindful of the fact that the courts of *250many states have absolutely refused to apply it to such corporations. We are not prepared, however, to announce an unalterable and unexceptionable rule in this state, which would inevitably result in perpetrating wrong and injustice in exceptional cases like this. Courts of equity are established for the administration of justice in those peculiar cases where substantial justice cannot be administered under the express rules of law, and to adopt a rigid rule that recognizes no exceptions would be to rob such courts of much of their efficacy and power for administering even-handed justice. The people in their collective and sovereign capacity ought to observe the same rules and standard of honesty and fair dealing that is expected of a private citizen. In their collective governmental capacity, they should no more be allowed to lull the citizen to repose and confidence in what would otherwise be a false and erroneous position than should the private citizen.”
That same language has been reiterated as recently as 1965 in Dalton Highway District of Kootenai County v. Sowder, 88 Idaho 556, 401 P.2d813 (1965).
It is now desirable, I believe, to turn to the facts of the instant case and state them baldly to determine whether the case at bar presents an exceptional case which would otherwise result in perpetrating wrong and injustice. Also we must determine whether the city has observed “the same rules and standard of honesty and fair dealing that is expected of a private citizen.” In my judgment the city has not so acted in the present case.
The record herein reveals that the land in question abuts on one of the main arterial highways within the City of Lewis-ton leading from the principal downtown business area to the residential area known as the Lewiston Orchards. Almost directly across the street from the tract is located what is perhaps the largest shopping center operation in the State of Idaho, north of Boise.
Prior to purchasing the tract of land herein the respondent it seems to me did all that a reasonable person could be expected to do. He approached the city authorities regarding the possibility of a zone change. Respondent’s predecessor in interest applied to the Planning and Zoning Commission of the city for a zone change from (F) (C-3). That Commission conducted a hearing on the proposed change. A study was made of the traffic problem inherent in the business location and the main arterial highway. The matter was reviewed by the city traffic committee. Respondent’s predecessor was advised that it would be desirable to open a frontage road along the property in question and the city solicited a deed for the requisite right-of-way from respondent’s predecessor in interest. The deed to the property necessary for the frontage road was executed by the respondent’s predecessor in interest and delivered to the city and accepted by it on July 6, 1971.
After the Planning and Zoning Commission and the city traffic committee had recommended approval of respondent’s request for a zone change, the city council approved the zone change from (F) to (C-3) (albeit by a procedure which the majority opinion now denominates as invalid and insufficient). Thereafter respondent acquired the property in question from his predecessor in interest, the Mc-Canns. Thereafter the respondent submitted all required materials along with its request for a building permit. Respondent’s application for the building permit was approved by the county health department, the city public works and traffic commission, and the city building officials. Thereafter, the application for a building permit was submitted to the city council.
At the city council meeting on July 12, 1971 respondent learned, evidently for the first time, that he did not enjoy the favor of the City Council of Lewiston. At that meeting the council by resolution attempted to rescind its prior acceptance of the right-of-way deed. At its meeting on July *25126, 1971 the city council voted to deny the building permit, not? on the basis that it had theretofore invalidly changed the zone designation for respondent’s property, but, rather, on the basis that the respondent evidently did not convey to the city enough property for right-of-way. It was only at trial that the city for the first time took the position that its own ordinance changing the zone classification of the property herein from (F) to (C-3) was invalid. In my judgment the city should not then, nor should it here be permitted to question the validity or the formalities of passage of one of its own ordinances. Particularly should such a posture of the city be barred when, as in this case, the parties have changed their position to their substantial detriment in reliance upon the city’s purported action.
I suggest in this case that the City of Lewiston has acted wrongfully and to the detriment of one of its citizens. I suggest further that this is just the case as Mr. Justice Ailshie had in mind when he argued that to adopt a rigid rule that recognizes no exceptions “would be to rob such courts of much of their efficiency and power for administering even-handed justice.” In conclusion I would note that the only Idaho authority cited in the majority opinion for the non-application of estoppel against a municipality are the cases of Boise City v. Sinsel, 72 Idaho 329, 241 P.2d 173 (1952), and Yellow Cab Taxi Service v. City of Twin Falls, 68 Idaho 145, 190 P.2d 681 (1948). I regret to point out that neither of said cases provides authority for the majority statement. Yellow Cab and Sinsel only held that no person could acquire title to city streets since such were held in trust for the public. In Sinsel and in Yellow Cab parties sought to have a warehouse and a cab stand respectively authorized, although both were located in a city street. In Sinsel the court pointed out specifically the distinction between the usual estoppel situation and “the exercise by a city of its poiice power over a street open and in use by the public.”