Moore v. Valley Garden Center

185 P.2d 998, 66 Ariz. 209, 1947 Ariz. LEXIS 113
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 3, 1947
DocketNo. 5002.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 185 P.2d 998 (Moore v. Valley Garden Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Valley Garden Center, 185 P.2d 998, 66 Ariz. 209, 1947 Ariz. LEXIS 113 (Ark. 1947).

Opinion

UDALL, Justice.

The facts in this case aré not in dispute. By two deeds (dated November 23, 1934, and January 12, 1935, both properly recorded in the office of the Maricopa County Recorder) *210 the City of Phoenix acquired property for park purposes which comprises a portion of the area now known as Encanto Park. About ten years later (December 12, 1946). the Parks, Playgrounds and Recreational Board of the City of Phoenix (a board of five members appointed by the Mayor and City Commissioners to control, regulate and develop the city’s parks) leased eleven lots and a tract in this area for 99 years to the Valley Garden Center, a nonprofit corporation. By the terms of this lease the lessee was obligated to: (1) Pay rent of $1 per year; (2) erect a clubhouse and horticultural gardens on the premises at an approximate cost of $25,000; (3) make the gardens available to the Phoenix Public School System for tbe study of Botany; (4) promote and sponsor junior gárden clubs; (5) maintain in the proposed building a horticultural library open to the public at fixed hours and supervised by a librarian employed by and under the control of the lessee; (6) turn the premises and improvements thereon back to the City of Phoenix at the expiration of the lease.

The lease was executed by the Chairman of the Parks, Playgrounds and Recreational Board of the City of Phoenix on the one hand and the President and Secretary of the Valley Garden Center on the other, and it was approved as to form by the City Attorney of Phoenix.

On February 28, 1947, the' plaintiff-appellant Fred V. Moore, as a resident and taxpayer, filed his complaint in the Superior Court of Maricopa County contesting the validity of the lease through á declaratory judgment action. Defendants filed their answer and later a motion for summary judgment, which motion was granted after a hearing, and formal judgment was entered thereon. It is plaintiff’s appeal from that judgment that constitutes the- case -at bar.

Plaintiff bases his appeal on three assignments : First, he contends that the lease is invalid for the reason that it fails to comply with Ch. IV, Sec. 2, subsec. 39 of the Charter of the City of Phoenix which provides that the City .Commission shall have the power:

“(39) To provide for the lease of any land or buildings now or hereafter owned by the city; but all leases shall be made at public auction to the highest responsible bidder at the highest monthly rent, after publication of notice thereof for at least ten (10) days, stating explicitly the time and conditions of the proposed lease; provided, that the Commission may in its discretion reject any and all bids.”

Specifically, in this regard,' plaintiff points to the admitted fact that there, was no notice given, no public auction, and that therefore the lease was not awarded to the highest responsible bidder.

Second, plaintiff maintains the lease was executed in violation of Ch. XXIII (misprinted as Ch. XXII in - the 1939 Munic *211 ipal Code of the City of Phoenix), Sec. 2, subsec. 3 of the Charter of the City of Phoenix which, in providing for a Parks, Playground and Recreactional Board and designating its powers and duties states that it may: “ * * * purchase real estate for park, playground or recreational purposes, and * * * sell or lease same if and when it be deemed no longer necessary for park, playground or recreational purposes.” As to this assignment, plaintiff points out that no finding was made to the effect that the leased property was no longer necessary for park, playground or recreational purposes.

Third, plaintiff assigns as error the fact that the lease was to a private corporation for private purposes which he contends is contrary to Ch. XXIII, Sec.' 2, subsec. 7 of the Charter which allows the Parks, Playgrounds and Recreational Board:

“To make and enter any contracts with others,, for the .lease or use of buildings or tracts of land for recreational purposes.”

There can be no question of the fact that the Charter is controlling in this case over ' any inconsistent or contradictory law relating to cities containing a population of more than 3500 inhabitants so long as it is not in conflict with the State or Federal Constitutions. Sec. 16-303, A.C.A. 1939; Gardenhire v. State, 26 Ariz. 14, 221 P. 228. Nor is there any disagreement over the fact that the Charter can be amended, Sec. 2, Art. 13, Constitution of the State of Arizona; and that it was amended by proper processes to provide for a Parks, Playgrounds and Recreational Board. Ch. XXIII of the Charter of the City of Phoenix.

Likewise it is a well settled law of construction of constitutions, statutes, charters, and similar instruments that the courts must, if consonant with reason, interpret such instruments in a manner such as will give effect to each and every provision thereof. Amish v. City of Phoenix, 36 Ariz. 21, 282 P. 42.

Defendants appear to rely upon a secondary rule of statutory construction to the effect that when two provisions in such an instrument are in conflict or are inconsistent with each other, the one most recent in point of time shall .control, citing: City and County of Denver v. New York Trust Co., 229 U.S. 123, 33 S.Ct. 657, 57 L.Ed. 1101, and the last paragraph of Subsec. 5, Sec. 3, Ch. XXIII. of the Charter which states:

“Insofar as the provisions of this amendment are in conflict with any other part of the Charter of the City of Phoenix, this amendment shall govern.”

While we certainly have no quarrel with this rule of law as a general proposition, we believe that there exists here, .no inconsistency .or contradiction which;.calls for *212 its use. Concretely, as applied to the Charter of the City of Phoenix it does not seem unreasonable that when the City Commission leases city property generally, it must give notice, have a public auction and lease to the highest responsible bidder, but that when the Park board leases park property for recreational purposes, it shall not be so bound. The goal of the leasing activities of each of these bodies is entirely different. In one case it is to raise the largest possible amount of revenue for the City Treasury, while in the other the prime consideration should be, and is to secure the greatest possible improvement and development of the parks for the recreation and convenience of the residents of Phoenix. The Charter has recognized this necessary distinction in Ch. XXIII, Sec. 2, Subsec. 7, quoted supra, which instead of contradicting the provisions of Ch. IV, Sec. 2, Subsec. 39, quoted supra, seems intelligently to supplement it. For this reason we find no merit to plaintiff’s first assignment to the effect that the lease was invalid because it was not executed under the formalities of notice, etc., required by Ch. IV, Sec. 2, Subsec. 39 of the Charter.

Plaintiff’s second and third assignr ments should properly be considered together.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 P.2d 998, 66 Ariz. 209, 1947 Ariz. LEXIS 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-valley-garden-center-ariz-1947.