City of Richmond Heights v. Shackelford

446 S.W.2d 179, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 572
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 16, 1969
DocketNo. 33255
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 446 S.W.2d 179 (City of Richmond Heights v. Shackelford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Richmond Heights v. Shackelford, 446 S.W.2d 179, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 572 (Mo. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

WEIER, Commissioner.

The validity of Ordinance No. 51.17 of the City of Richmond Heights is at issue in this appeal. Challenging its force is Harry K. Shackelford, who, on April 19, 1967, drove a truck owned by a motor common carrier on the 1100 block sector of McKnight Road in that city. Mr. Shackel-ford was arrested by a police officer and summoned to appear in City Court. After a finding of guilt, he was fined $10.00 and ordered to pay costs. Upon appeal to the Circuit Court, the judgment below was affirmed. He now seeks to set it aside, contending that the legislature has not delegated to the City of Richmond Heights authority to enact such an ordinance and the ordinance is in direct conflict with state law. We believe these propositions are without merit and affirm the judgment below.

Ordinance No. 51.17 regulates motor vehicle traffic in Richmond Heights. That portion which is material provides:

“51.17 COMMERCIAL VEHICLES, PROHIBITED STREETS.
(a) When signs are erected giving notice thereof, commercial vehicles, except [180]*180local trucks making deliveries to residents thereon of goods, wares, merchandise and household deliveries, including household moving trucks, shall not operate upon the following designated streets:
McKnight Road from Clayton Rd. to south city limits.”

Defendant Shackelford had loaded some freight on his truck in Webster Groves, Missouri, and was enroute to deliver some freight on Clayton Road in Richmond Heights. Instead of operating his truck over city designated truck routes, he chose McKnight Road, which was the shortest and mosf direct way to the place of delivery. Signs on this road gave notice of the terms of the ordinance. Since Mr. Shack-elford had no delivery to a resident along McKnight Road, he was clearly in violation of the terms of the ordinance.

Inasmuch as the City of Richmond Heights is a municipality organized under the statutes of this state, its power to enact ordinances is derived from the state and must be exercised under the authority granted to it by the state. As was so succinctly stated in the early case of Knapp v. Kansas City, 48 Mo.App. 485, 492: “It is a general and undisputed proposition of law that a municipal corporation possesses and can exercise the following powers and none others: First, those granted in express words. Second, those necessarily or fairly implied in or incident to the powers expressly granted. Third, those essential to the declared objects and purposes of the corporation — not simply convenient, but indispensable. * * * And any fair reasonable doubt concerning the existence of the power is resolved by the courts against the corporation.” This statement has been adopted by our Supreme Court in City of St. Louis v. King, 226 Mo. 334, 126 S.W. 495, 497, 27 L.R.A.,N.S., 608. It has been followed in its essential meaning in many other cases, including City of St. Louis v. St. Louis World Publishing Co., 227 Mo. 146, 126 S.W. 1019, 1021; Tietjens v. City of St. Louis, 359 Mo. 439, 222 S.W.2d 70, 73; State ex rel. Sims v. Eckhardt, Mo., 322 S.W.2d 903, 906.

Equally well established with the rule quoted above and used frequently in testing the validity of municipal ordinances, is the one requiring an ordinance to be consistent and in harmony with state law on the same subject. Where the municipal corporation has authority to legislate, its exercise of this authority must not conflict with the laws of the state. This rule is established by statute (Sec. 71.010, RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S.) and is also a part of the common law adopted by our courts (State ex rel. Hewlett v. Womach, 355 Mo. 486, 196 S.W.2d 809, 812; John Bardenheier Wine & Liquor Co. v. City of St. Louis, 345 Mo. 637, 135 S.W.2d 345, 348; City of St. Louis v. Stenson, Mo.App., 333 S.W.2d 529, 536).

Armed with these well-considered principles, defendant Shackelford says that Ordinance 51.17 is not authorized by and is in conflict with state law. He points out that the state has granted to the City of Richmond Heights authority to pass ordinances regulating traffic in Sec. 304.120 RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S., which reads in part as follows :

“2. Municipalities, by ordinance, may:
(1) Make additional rules of the road or traffic regulations to meet their needs and traffic conditions;
4» ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ 4* 4»
(4) Limit the use of certain designated streets and boulevards to passenger vehicles;
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
“3. No ordinance shall be valid which contains provisions contrary to or in conflict with this chapter, except as herein provided.”

Following the rule of strict construction, he further says that the specific authority granted the city under subsection 2(4) of the statute would allow the city to prohibit [181]*181the passage of all motor vehicles other than passenger vehicles on McKnight Road. But to provide an exception with respect to trucks making deliveries to residents on McKnight Road does not follow the exact letter of the statutory authorization and, in effect, or so defendant contends, is in conflict with the statute since it does not conform to its terms and requirements. In other words, he claims that the city’s power to regulate is limited to the prohibition of all commercial vehicles and the statute does not allow the city to inject an exemption as to particular types of vehicles performing certain services. He urges that there must be absolute prohibition or none.

Much reliance is given by defendant to the case of City of St. Louis v. Stenson, Mo.App., 333 S.W.2d 529, decided by this court in 1960. In Stenson, the city had enacted an ordinance restricting the use of a city street by commercial vehicles with an over-all length of 33 feet except those making deliveries. The state law authorized the operation of a vehicle on the highways of the state with a total length of 45 feet. We decided that the ordinance was in conflict with the state law and was void. This was for the reason that the ordinance made a requirement that was contrary to the state law with respect to a matter on which the state law was intended to be controlling. If the state says you can drive a vehicle on its highways up to 45 feet in length, the city cannot revoke that privilege. Where the state has prescribed the standard, unless the city is specifically authorized, it cannot legislate contrary to the standard required by the statute.

In support of this decision we quoted at length from the case of City of St. Louis v. Klausmeier, 213 Mo. 119, 112 S.W. 516, 519. In this case the state had fixed the total solid content of milk at not less than 9.25%, whereas the ordinance fixed the total solids at not less than 10.5%.

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Bluebook (online)
446 S.W.2d 179, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-richmond-heights-v-shackelford-moctapp-1969.