City of Astoria v. Nothwang

351 P.2d 688, 221 Or. 452, 1960 Ore. LEXIS 460
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedApril 27, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 351 P.2d 688 (City of Astoria v. Nothwang) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Astoria v. Nothwang, 351 P.2d 688, 221 Or. 452, 1960 Ore. LEXIS 460 (Or. 1960).

Opinion

*454 GOODWIN, J.

The City of Astoria, plaintiff below, appeals from a decree denying injunctive relief prayed for against Babe R. Nothwang, defendant, who placed a trailer house on a city lot in what the city contends was a violation of a municipal ordinance. The parties will be referred to in this opinion as the City and the Defendant.

There is substantial agreement on the facts. Defendant purchased, some time prior to October 13,1957, a city lot, and is now the owner thereof. There is no zoning ordinance in Astoria.

On August 21,1939, the City of Astoria adopted the following ordinance:

“ORDINANCE NO. G39-43
“Introduced by Commissioner Otto A. Owen.
“An ORDINANCE RELATING TO PARKING OP TRAILER HOUSES, AUTO HOMES, AND CAMP CARS, AND MAKING VIOLATIONS UNLAWFUL, AND PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY.
“BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF ASTORIA AS FOLLOWS:
“SECTION 1. Definition. Trailer house, auto home, or camp car is defined as any unit for living or sleeping quarters which is equipped with wheels or similar devices and use [sic] in transporting said unit from place to place whether by motor power or other means.
“SECTION 2. It shall be unlawful for any person operating a trailer house, auto home, or camp car or similar vehicle to park the same from 6:00 o’clock p. m. to 6:00 o’clock a. m. following within the City of Astoria upon any street, highway, alley, park, or other public place, except that the motor vehicle to which such trailer, auto home, or camp *455 car is attached can not proceed because of a breakdown.
“SECTION 3. It shall be unlawful at any time for any person to park any such trailer, auto home, or camp car upon private property in the City of Astoria, except when the same is not in use and except at overnight camps or cabins, municipal camp grounds, or state licensed parking places, and all such places shall be equipped to properly care for the disposal of rubbish, garbage, excreta, and waste, and such places shall be under the supervision of the police and health departments of the City of Astoria at all times for the purpose of protecting public health and sanitation.
“SECTION á. Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall upon conviction thereof in the Municipal Court of the City of Astoria be piinished by a fine not exceeding $100.00, or by imprisonment in the City Jail for a period not exceeding 50 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
“Passed by the Common Council this 21st day of August, 1939.
“Signed and approved by the Mayor this 21st day of August, 1939.
“W. C. Logan
Mayor
“Attest:
O. K. Atwood_
City Auditor.”

Defendant does not question the validity of the ordinance above set out, but only its application to her situation.

On or about October 13,1957, Defendant purchased and caused to be delivered to her city lot a prefabricated dwelling 45 feet long and 10 feet wide described by the City as a trailer and by the Defendant as a *456 mobile home. This structure was mounted- on wheels and was delivered to the site by means of a truck and tractor. Defendant caused electrical and water connections to be made, and obtained city sewer service under a city permit. These utility connections have continued from' October 1957 to date. The wheels with which the structure was equipped at the factory remained mounted until after the City filed this suit, whereupon they were removed. The structure is equipped with the usual modern conveniences found in homes built on the site, but in compact arrangement. The City filed suit December 3,1957, and, pleading the above ordinance, demanded an injunction and damages, neither of’which is provided for in the ordinance.

The trial court’s findings state that the Defendant’s structure is her permanent residence and that the wheels have been removed. The court then concluded that the device is not a trailer within the definition of the city ordinance. The court further concluded that the structure was not “parked” upon the premises but was permanently installed thereon.

The City challenges the court’s conclusion that the structure is not a “trailer” and that the structure was not “parked” on Defendant’s property.

If the structure complained of falls within the prohibition of the city ordinance both as a “trailer” and as a “parked” trailer, the city is entitled to injunctive relief.

Webster (New International Unabridged 2d ed) defines a trailer as “4 c A nonautomotive highway vehicle designed to be hauled, as by a tractor, a motor truck, or a passenger automobile.” Followed in Moffitt v. State Automobile Ins. Ass’n, 140 Neb 578, 300 NW 837. (Trailer was a hay chopper.)

*457 Webster has this to say of the transitive verb, park: “* * * . To stop and keep (a vehicle, esp. a motor vehicle) standing for a time on a public way, or to leave temporarily on a public way or in any open space, esp. in a space assigned for the occupancy of a number of automobiles * * Followed in O’Brien v. Dunigan, 187 Or 227, 210 P2d 567 (a negligence case)..

Both words have received scrutiny by courts in the years since structures on wheels have been used for dwelling purposes. The word “trailer” is construed in numerous decisions, few of which are helpful without a full recital of the context in which the definition is made. See 42 Words and Phrases, Trailers 817 et seq.

The Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1959 defined “trailer” as either a “mobile home” or a “vacation trailer”. ORS 446.002 (5). And see OES 481.022 (1) (c), which took effect January 1, 1960, making certain trailers fixtures. A “mobile home” is defined:

«# * # a or structure constructed with wheels for use on the public highways, that has sleeping, cooking, and plumbing _ facilities, is intended for human occupancy and is being used for residential purposes.” OES 446.002 (3).

By the current statutory definition, Defendant’s structure is a mobile home. In 1957 when the suit was filed, the legislature had not defined “mobile home”, but had defined a “camp car” or “trailer house” as:

“* * * any unit for living or sleeping purposes which is equipped with wheels or similar devices used for transporting the unit from place to place by motor power or other means.” OES 446.110 (since repealed).

*458

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Bluebook (online)
351 P.2d 688, 221 Or. 452, 1960 Ore. LEXIS 460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-astoria-v-nothwang-or-1960.