City of Del Mar v. Burnett

223 Cal. App. 2d 754, 35 Cal. Rptr. 920, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1599
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 23, 1963
DocketCiv. No. 7298
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 223 Cal. App. 2d 754 (City of Del Mar v. Burnett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Del Mar v. Burnett, 223 Cal. App. 2d 754, 35 Cal. Rptr. 920, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1599 (Cal. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

COUGHLIN, J.

The City of Del Mar brought this action to determine the validity of assessment proceedings for a proposed sewerage improvement district. (See Sts. & Hy. Code, § 5265; Code Civ. Proc., §§860-870.) The defendants challenged the proceedings upon the ground (1) that a valid protest by affected property owners had not been overruled as required by law; and (2) that, in ordering the proposed improvement, the city council acted arbitrarily, unreasonably exercised its power, and abused its discretion in the premises.

Pursuant to statutory requirements, the city engineer filed a report showing each parcel of land to be assessed for the proposed improvement and the amount of assessment against such (Sts. & Hy. Code, §§ 2824, 2825); the city council noticed a hearing on this report, at which protests might be considered (Sts. & Hy. Code, §§ 2851 et seq.); and the hearing was conducted accordingly.

Prior to this hearing protests had been filed by the owners of over one-half of the area to be assessed. This constituted a majority protest under the governing statute. (Sts. & Hy. Code, § 2930.) However, the engineer’s report did not disclose the area of each of the parcels subject to assessment. At the meeting in question the engineer advised the council that there were 59 assessment parcels; that 25 protests had been filed; that 42 per cent of the owners protested; and that more than 50 per cent of the owners were “in favor of the sewer.” At that time he had made no computation to determine the amount of land owned by the protestants which, as previously noted, was more than 50 per cent of the area within the proposed assessment district.

The protesting owners were given the opportunity to appear and state their opposition at the hearing; some of them did so; but none of them advised the council that their total protests represented over one-half of the land to be assessed.

Where a proposed improvement is other than a sewerage or drainage project, a majority protest per se effects an abandonment of the proceedings. (Sts. & Hy. Code, § 2930.) On the other hand, where the improvement is for sewerage facilities, the council may proceed therewith even though a majority [757]*757protest has been filed if, at the protest hearing, by a four-fifths vote, it makes statutorily designated determinations and overrules the protests. Section 2932 of the Streets and Highways Code provides: “If the ... improvement is for sewerage ... facilities only and is deemed by the legislative body conducting the proceedings to be necessary for the in-habitation or use of the property benefited, and such body shall, by a four-fifths vote of all members thereof entered upon its minutes, determine that said project is feasible and that the lands to be assessed will be able to carry the burden of such proposed assessment, it may by like vote overrule a majority protest in the proceedings hereunder or in the improvement proceedings to follow. Such finding and conclusion shall be final and conclusive in the absence of fraud.” In the instant ease, the council unanimously adopted a resolution making the determination required by section 2932 and declaring that “all protests against said proposed improvement, if any, are hereby overruled. ”

The defendants contend that the council did not overrule the subject protests because it did not recognize them as the majority protest designated by the statute; did not determine that these protests were made by owners of over one-half of the area included within the proposed district; did not know what proportion of this area was owned by the protestants; and acted under the information given them by the city engineer that “more than 50 per cent of the property owners in the district were in favor of the sewer.”1 They also contend that the failure of the council to recognize and thus act upon the protests in question as a majority protest deprived the council of jurisdiction to proceed in the premises, and denied them due process of law.

The trial court found, among other things, that at the conclusion of the protest hearing the council, by unanimous vote, overruled all protests against the proposed improvement; and, as a conclusion of law, declared that the council overruled the majority protest in question pursuant to the provisions of section 2932. The defendants contend that this finding and conclusion are not supported by the evidence.

A majority protest, i.e., a protest by the owners of more than one-half of the property to be assessed, is a fact; [758]*758terminates all improvement proceedings except those involving sewerage or drainage facilities; and as to the latter also terminates the proceedings unless the council, by a four-fifths vote, makes certain determinations, and overrules the protest. It is the actual existence of a majority protest rather than a determination by the council respecting its existence, that terminates the previously undertaken improvement proceedings or, in the case of a sewerage facility improvement, requires a four-fifths overriding vote of the council to prevent such termination. Section 2932 of the Streets and Highways Code, in substance, confers upon the council the power to overrule a majority protest; declares such a protest ineffective as against the council’s four-fifths vote; and thus prescribes a method by which, under certain conditions, a sewerage improvement may proceed regardless of the representative size of the protest. To act under the authority conferred by this section, the council is not required to determine what area of the proposed assessment district is represented by the protesting owners. It may assume that the area so represented is sufficient to constitute a valid majority protest. If such assumption is the fact, the council's adherence to the procedure prescribed by section 2932 permits the improvement to proceed in spite of the protest. On the other hand if, contrary to such assumption, the protests do not constitute a majority protest, the action of the council in proceeding under that section, although unnecessary, is harmless. In either event a hearing is conducted as required by the statute. The owners subject to the assessment are given an opportunity to challenge the regularity or sufficiency of the proceeding and to present whatever protests they may wish to urge in opposition to the proposed improvement, the cost thereof, the amount of their proposed assessment, or other pertinent matters. Such a hearing affords them the due process guaranteed by the Constitution. (Brill v. Los Angeles, 209 Cal. 705, 707-708 [289 P. 850]; Chase v. Trout, 146 Cal. 350, 359 [80 P. 81]; Gianni v. City of San Diego, 194 Cal.App.2d 56, 61 [14 Cal.Rptr. 783].) If the protestants represent more than one-half of the property to be assessed, and this is a fact which is pertinent to a determination whether to proceed with or abandon the project (see Sts. & Hy. Code, § 2829), the protestants have an opportunity to present this fact to the council at the time of the hearing and, failing to do so, they may not urge that the council acted in ignorance thereof. [759]*759Contrary to the defendants’ contention, a determination that the protests filed constitute a majority protest is no.t a jurisdictional prerequisite to the exercise of the authority conferred by section 2932.

In the instant case, when the council proceeded in the manner authorized by section 2932, obviously, it acted under the assumption that a majority protest had been filed.

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Bluebook (online)
223 Cal. App. 2d 754, 35 Cal. Rptr. 920, 1963 Cal. App. LEXIS 1599, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-del-mar-v-burnett-calctapp-1963.