City of Healdton v. Beall

1959 OK 77, 341 P.2d 583, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 318
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 28, 1959
Docket38381
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1959 OK 77 (City of Healdton v. Beall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Healdton v. Beall, 1959 OK 77, 341 P.2d 583, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 318 (Okla. 1959).

Opinion

HALLEY, Justice.

This action was commenced on October 11, 1957, in the District Court of Carter County, by a number of resident citizens and taxpayers of the City of Healdton, Oklahoma, against the City of Healdton.

Plaintiffs alleged in their petition that the City was threatening to install parking meters along the sidewalks in the downtown area of Healdton; that there was no necessity for parking meters for police protection or the regulation and control of traffic; that defendant is threatening to install meters for the purpose of “revenue raising only,”; that such installation would *585 be illegal; that the meters would not produce sufficient revenue to pay their way and are not needed for controlling traffic; that unless restrained, plaintiffs, as owners and operators of business will suffer irreparable damage and injury; that plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law. They prayed for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the City from installing parking meters or operating them. This petition was verified by four of plaintiffs.

The City of Healdton moved to vacate the temporary restraining order and demurred to plaintiffs’ petition, which was overruled, and an answer was filed, setting out that parking meters had been installed in the City of Healdton in 1949, but part of them temporarily removed for the widening of Main Street. The City further answered that the acts complained of by the- plaintiffs were a reasonable exercise of the police powers of the City and not subject to judicial review; that the question was moot; that the fee charged by the City is reasonable and only sufficient to cover cost of traffic control and regulation; that no rights of the plaintiffs were being invaded, and that they had an adequate remedy at law.

Defendant further alleged that the present issues are res judicata having been tried before the same court in Hall et al. v. City of Healdton, as Case No. 30,994, and decided in favor of defendants; that the facts alleged by plaintiffs are not sufficient to state a cause of action against the defendant, and prays for judgment for damages, costs and an attorney fee, and for an injunction against plaintiffs barring them from further interference with defendant’s regulation of the traffic within its corporate limits and operation of parking meters in such regulation.

After trial and argument on March 21, 1958, the court made findings of fact and conclusions of law, and entered judgment enjoining the City from installing or operating parking meters and the City of Healdton has appealed. The parties will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court. The plaintiff in error will be referred to as defendant or “the- City”, and B. R. Beall and others as plaintiff.

The only finding of fact by the trial court was as follows:

“There has not been and is not at this time congestion of traffic or sufficient traffic on the business streets of the City of Healdton, Oklahoma, to require regulation of traffic by the use of parking meters.”
The trial court concluded as to the law:
“(1) That the court has jurisdiction to hear this cause.
“(2) That a permanent injunction should be entered, enjoining the defendant, City of Healdton, Oklahoma, its officers, agents, servants and employees, and any person, firm or corporation, acting by, through, or under the defendant, City of Healdton, Oklahoma, from installing or operating machine or other mechanical devices in relation to the use of parking spaces on the streets of the City of Healdton, Oklahoma.”

The City of Healdton submits as its first proposition in this appeal the following:

“That the trial, court erred in failing to vacate the temporary order entered herein, and erred in refusing to sustain defendant’s demurrer to plaintiffs’ petition, and erred in granting the temporary injunction herein, and erred in admitting testimony herein.”

In support of the above contention it cites Sections 642, 657, 660 and 672, 11 O.S.1951. Section 642 provides in part that the mayor and city council “shall have the care, management and control of the city and its finances, and shall have power to enact, ordain, alter, modify or repeal any and all ordinances not repugnant to the laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of this State, as they shall deem expedient and for the good government of the city * * *

Section 657 provides that the council shall have control of the use of its streets and sidewalks, and Section 660 gives to the council even fuller control of its streets, *586 sidewalks and alleys, and Section 672 provides that the council shall have power to enact all necessary ordinances, rules and regulations as may be expedient for maintaining the peace and welfare of the city, its trade and commerce.

The City of Healdton was restrained from doing any act toward the installation of parking meters on its Main Street, and from operating any parking meters already installed. No bond of any character was required or given when this temporary restraining order was issued. The City moved that this temporary order be vacated. We see no necessity of discussing the bond question since we are deciding this case on another ground.

In Walbridge-Aldinger Co. v. City of Tulsa, 107 Old. 259, 233 P. 171, this Court said, that “ * * * a temporary restraining order has for its object the maintenance of the status quo until the court shall determine whether an injunction shall issue.” Under the temporary restraining order issued the City of Healdton was “restrained and enjoined from doing any act whatsoever toward the installation of parking meters on Main Street * * * and from operating any parking meters now installed, and from doing anything or act of any kind or character toward the end of installation and operation of parking meters * * * ” in the City of Healdton.

The Journal Entry of Judgment used the term “permanently restrained and enjoined” from installing parking meters in the City of Healdton.

There is no question but that the Sections of 11 O.S.1951, above cited, give to the city council the authority to control its streets and traffic thereon. It is said in In re Seltenreich, 95 Okl.Cr. 250, 244 P.2d 587, 594, that:

" * * * The city is vested with authority under the statutes herein-above quoted to determine what is the best available method to relieve traffic congestion and the- courts may not be substituted as administrators of municipal affairs in that respect unless it can be clearly shown that the action taken by the municipal authorities was unreasonable or arbitrary and bore no reasonable basis to the object sought to be attained or was clearly in contravention of the statutes or constitution.”

It will be noted that plaintiffs do not allege in their petition that the parking meter ordinance is unconstitutional or void, nor that it is arbitrary or unreasonable.

In Hirsh v. Oklahoma City, 94 Okl.Cr. 249, 234 P.2d 925, 926, the Court said in regard to the power of Oklahoma City to adopt an ordinance relative to parking upon its streets, as follows:

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1959 OK 77, 341 P.2d 583, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-healdton-v-beall-okla-1959.