House v. City of Texarkana

279 S.W.2d 831, 225 Ark. 162, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 557
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 6, 1955
Docket5-695
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 279 S.W.2d 831 (House v. City of Texarkana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
House v. City of Texarkana, 279 S.W.2d 831, 225 Ark. 162, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 557 (Ark. 1955).

Opinion

Ward, J.

This action was originated by appellant to enjoin the City of Texarkana from enforcing an ordinance which purported to regulate heavy traffic on certain streets. The trial court held the ordinance valid, hence this appeal.

Complaint. Petitioner (appellant) is a resident and citizen of Miller County, residing on East 24th Street outside but near the city limits of Texarkana; he operates a wholesale and retail butane gas business adjoining his home; his business requires the use of trucks of more than one-half ton capacity on East 24th Street. The City Council of the City of Texarkana passed Ordinance B-866 which reads (insofar as material here) as follows:

“Section 1. Hereafter it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, or its agents, officers or employees, to operate any motor truck, truck-tractor with semi-trailer or any full trailer, either of which is of more than one-half ton capacity upon 24th Street, 12th Street or Jefferson Street in the City of Texarkana, Arkansas.

“Section 2. (a) This Ordinance shall not be construed to prohibit motor vehicle trucks from crossing said streets at their intersections with other streets, (b) nor apply to delivery trucks serving the residents in the immediate area, (c) nor shall this ordinance be construed so as to prevent any person living within the corporate limits of Texarkana, Arkansas, from operating such trucks upon said streets where it becomes necessary for them to reach their homes. ’ ’

(Separation of clauses and emphasis supplied for convenience.)

Section 3. Provides for appropriate street signs.

Section 4. Penalty for violation.

‘ ‘ Section 5. This Ordinance being necessary to protect the pavement upon said streets, and for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace and safety of said city, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication.”

The enforcement of said ordinance will cause petitioner irreparable damage, in that it is reasonably necessary for petitioner to make use of said East 24th Street within the city in going to and proceeding from his place of business in connection with the delivery of butane gas to his customers residing within and at points beyond the city. The enforcement of the ordinance will cause petitioner further irreparable damage in that his customers are prohibited from -using East 24th Street within the city, compelling them to purchase butane gas from other distributors, and the enforcement of the ordinance will compel him to discontinue his business.

It was further alleged that said ordinance violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Article 2, §§ 18 and 22 of the Constitution of Arkansas because it is discriminatory, provides unreasonable and inequitable class legislation, is confiscatory of his personal and property rights and deprives him of his property without due process of law. The answer was a general denial.

The testimony (in substance). Appellant’s home and place of business abuts East 24th Street on the north side and is about a block and a half east of Jefferson Street which runs north and south the full length of the City, 24th Street running east and west. About a mile west from appellant’s home 24th Street intersects Highway 71 (sometimes referred to as the State Line) which runs north and south, and it is about the same distance east from appellant’s home to where 24th Street intersects Highway 67 which (from the point of intersection) runs northeast toward Hope and southwest toward Dallas, intersecting Highway 71 on the south side of the City. In conducting his business appellant has several heavy trucks (more than one-half ton) which he uses to deliver gas to 8 or 9 wholesalers and to haul gas to his place of business from the refinery located on or near Highway 71 south of the City. Also as a part of his business he makes deliveries to individual customers and he sells gas to large trucks and other customers who come to his place of business. It is not disputed that the most convenient route for appellant to reach Highway 71 is 24th Street. (It is noted here that in his complaint appellant makes objection only to the regulation of 24th Street.) It is insisted by appellant that in order to reach the refinery or to travel south of the City on Highway 71 it is necessary for him to go approximately 4 to 6 miles farther than he would have to go by using 24th Street. One route, he says', would be to go east on 24th Street to Highway 67, thence southwest on 67 to where it intersects Highway 71 or a distance of approximately 4 or 5 miles. Evidence shows that the corporate line runs in the middle of 24th Street for a distance of about 400 feet from appellant’s home west to the intersection of 24th Street with Jefferson Street. It is also shown that north of 24th Street the corporate line runs in the middle of Jefferson Street from 28th Street to 32nd Street and thence west along the middle of 32nd Street (approximately a mile) to Highway 71 or State Line. It is conceded that appellant can drive his trucks from his home 400 feet west to Jefferson Street, thence north on Jefferson Street (approximately one-half mile) to 32nd Street, thence west on 32nd Street to Highway 71. From this point appellant can drive his trucks south on Highway 71 (approximately one-half mile) to the intersection with 24th Street. From this it- must be observed that by taking the last mentioned route appellant would have to go from one mile to a mile and a half farther to reach the intersection of 24th Street and Highway 71 than he would have to go by direct route west on 24th Street to reach the same point. It is admitted that trucks returning to appellant’s place of business could not follow the route detailed above for the reason that the west half of Jefferson Street (from 32nd Street south to 28th Street) is within the city limits. There is other testimony however to the effect that other return routes are available to appellant which would not be materially longer than the one along 24th Street. The testimony shows that at least a portion of 24th Street has a gravel base with a thin blacktop covering and that the street would be damaged by the use of heavy trucks.

Issues eliminated. Much argument on both sides is directed to the several exceptions contained in Section 2 of the ordinance. One exception is that delivery trucks may serve residents [of the City] living along or near the prohibited streets. Another exception is that the ordinance shall not prevent residents of the City from using the streets where it is necessary to reach their homes, even in trucks of more than one-half ton capacity. Appellant’s argument is that these exceptions provide a classification based on residence and is therefore invalid. ,We do not, in this opinion, reach this question for the reason that these exceptions are not attacked by the pleadings or supported by the evidence. It is not within the province of the duties of this court to declare an entire ordinance invalid merely because we might feel that some portion of it, not attacked, is invalid. In Ferguson Coal Co. v. Thompson, Mayor, et al., 343 Ill. 20, 174 N. E. 896, where a similar issue was raised, it was said:

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Bluebook (online)
279 S.W.2d 831, 225 Ark. 162, 1955 Ark. LEXIS 557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/house-v-city-of-texarkana-ark-1955.