In Re Angelus

150 P.2d 908, 65 Cal. App. 2d 441, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 727
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 8, 1944
DocketCrim. 2313
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 150 P.2d 908 (In Re Angelus) 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
In Re Angelus, 150 P.2d 908, 65 Cal. App. 2d 441, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 727 (Cal. Ct. App. 1944).

Opinion

STURTEVANT, J.—

This is an application for a writ of habeas corpus brought for the purpose of determining the validity of sections 2-6.01 and 7-1.08 of the Municipal Code of the City of Oakland. Further facts will be stated as we proceed.

The charter under which it is now acting was adopted by the city of Oakland July 1, 1911. Zoning ordinances were authorized by the act of 1917, page 1419. On February 5, 1935 a zoning ordinance thereafter codified in the Municipal Code was adopted. Section 2-6.01 is as follows:

“Excavations other than in streets. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, or cause or permit to be made, any excavation in or under the surface of any land, public or private, in the City of Oakland, without first obtaining a permit so to do from the City Manager in the manner hereinafter provided, excepting, however, excavations provided for in Article 2 of Chapter 6 of this Code, and excavations for foundation or basement for the erection of a building on the premises in which the excavation is to be made and for which a building permit has been issued. Any excavation referred to herein shall include the removal of any soil, rock, sand, or other material for purposes of sale, fill, building, or other construction usage off the premises from which removed. ’ ’

Section 7-1.08 is as follows:

“ ‘A’ District Uses. In the ‘A’ One-Family District the following regulations shall apply, and the following uses only are permitted:
“One family dwellings,
“Museums, libraries, parks, playgrounds or community centers owned and operated by the City of Oakland.
“Golf Courses.
“Farms and truck gardens.
“Churches.
*443 “Public and parochial elementary and high schools.
“Cemeteries, mausoleums, columbariums and crematories existing on January 1, 1935; alterations or additions thereto; uses requisite to, necessary for, related to, or incidental thereto.
“Accessory buildings on the same lot with any of the above uses, including one private garage, or one private stable for the keeping of not to exceed three (3) horses, when located not less than sixty (60) feet from the front lot line nor less than five (5) feet from any other street line, or a private garage constructed as a part of the main building.
“No outdoor advertising or display or sign of any character shall be permitted in the ‘A’ District, except: a name plate not exceeding one (1) square foot in area, a sign not exceeding six (6) square feet in area appertaining only to the lease, hire, sale or display of a building or premises; provided further, that no sign or name plate shall be permitted in a front yard or its projection across the entire width of the lot. ’ ’

Within the extreme southeast corner of the boundary lines of the city of Oakland is a tract called Sheffield Village. It comprises about 100 acres. As shown by photographs introduced in evidence the village is small and stands at the foot of some hills which nearly surround it and gently roll back from the village. Like all rolling hills they do not have any uniform slope. On some the slope is very gradual, say one foot in four. In other places the slope seems to be nearly one foot in one. The photographs do not indicate any out-crop-pings of rock. On the 20th day of July, 1942, the petitioner entered into a conditional contract of purchase under the terms of which E. B. Field Corporation, as owner, contracted to sell a tract of about 29 acres to petitioner for the price of $11,000. The first installment was fixed at $1,100 and was payable on the delivery of said contract and the balance was payable in installments of $250 every three months until the purchase price was fully paid. The boundaries of the tract so agreed to be sold are not contained in the contract. It recites that the boundaries are contained in Exhibit “A,” however no copy of Exhibit “A” is contained in the record.

Prior to June 22, 1944, the petitioner entered upon the tract which he had agreed to purchase, proceeded to dig and *444 excavate a truck load of soil, hauled it off the tract and sold and dumped the truck load. Later he was arrested and thereafter applied for a writ of habeas corpus. Had he not been arrested it was his plan and intention to remove 900,000 yards of the surface soil from his property and haul it away and sell it. The cut which the petitioner proposed to make is not clearly shown by the record before us. There are a number of gullies or small creek beds leading down the side of the hill toward Sheffield. They are studded with live oak trees. The petitioner had done some work and had at that time driven trucks through the village of Sheffield. The excavation involved at the time of the trial was work which he expected to perform by using trucks which he proposed to drive around the village rather than through it. His property lay across one of these small canyons taking in a part of the slope on one side and a part of the slope on the opposite side. How deep he proposed to cut is not clear. However, he did propose to cut off the sloping banks on a grade of one and a half to one. There was evidence that the bottom of the canyon was approximately 100 feet above the village. How deep that cut was to sink in the gully or canyon does not appear. However, it distinctly appears that the work, if completed, would leave immediately adjacent to said village in the place of the canyon studded with live oak trees two naked sloping banks more or less in the form of the letter “V,” having a valley in between of approximately seven acres. In the work already done the operation of the steam shovel caused a noise that was heard throughout the village. The hauling that was done caused rock to be scattered on the roads and highways which impeded travel. Dust and broken rock rolled over the side of the road. Some broken rock rolled against the fences of the residential district and broke or loosened the boards on the fences. The petitioner claimed he was placing a private road over the lands of the scavenger company. The length of that new road is not stated. However, it was not claimed by the petitioner that he would not use any of the roads. It was shown in detail that he would be operating as many as fifteen loaded trucks and the empties over some of the roads. The village of Sheffield contains 198 residences which had cost from $4,500 to $7,500. The residences are occupied by young families. There are 180 children, many of them attending *445 schools that are closely adjacent to the roads which the petitioner expected to use. As the Superintendent of Streets testified: “I started to say as to the safety of the inhabitants of that neighborhood, Revere Avenue runs through about the center of Sheffield Village, and that is the street that would be used in hauling rock from this quarry under Mr. Angelus ’ original application. The street passes the land that has been set aside for a public school and is now used as a grade school. Also, right in front of a small nursery school. Naturally— the street bisecting the village, the children on one side would have to cross the road to get to the school.

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Bluebook (online)
150 P.2d 908, 65 Cal. App. 2d 441, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-angelus-calctapp-1944.