Panebianco v. City of Omaha

37 N.W.2d 731, 151 Neb. 463, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 106
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 3, 1949
DocketNo. 32617
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 37 N.W.2d 731 (Panebianco v. City of Omaha) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Panebianco v. City of Omaha, 37 N.W.2d 731, 151 Neb. 463, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 106 (Neb. 1949).

Opinion

Yeager, J.

This is a class action instituted by plaintiff in his own behalf and in behalf of all others in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, similarly situated, against the said city of Omaha, its mayor, its city councilmen, its chief of police, and its city clerk to have declared null and void and of no effect certain provisions of the city ordinances and for an injunction against the enforcement of the provisions in question.

To the petition which was filed by plaintiff the defendants filed a general demurrer. The demurrer was overruled. The defendants elected to stand on their demurrer whereupon default was entered against them and a decree was rendered permanently enjoining them from in any manner enforcing, or attempting to enforce, the provisions of the ordinance concerning which complaint was made. From the decree the defendants have appealed.

The provisions of the ordinance having pertinence to the inquiry here are the following:

“* * *, it shall be unlawful, on and after January 1, 1948, for any person or persons, firm, corporation, or association to * * * cut or bridge any curbing on or adjacent to any. street, between Leavenworth Street and Cuming Street and 10th Street and 24th Street, all inclusive, for ingress or egress, * * * thereby rendering the street adjacent thereto unavailable for vehicular parking purpose, without first obtaining a permit in accordance with the terms and conditions hereinafter stated, * *

“No permit shall be issued except to * * * the leaseholders, tenants or record owners of the land adjacent to the space sought to be used. No permit shall be issued until the same has been authorized by resolution of the City Council. Once a permit has been authorized by the [465]*465City Council, same may be renewed, unless it has been revoked, or suspended, by paying the yearly permit fee.”

“For the purpose of defraying the cost to the City of regulating, supervising, policing, marking and maintaining the use or privilege of * * * curb cuts, in, along, or upon the streets, there is hereby imposed an annual fee in the amount of $1.00 per front foot so used. * * * Provided, * * * however, that no fee shall be charged for the first fifteen (15) feet that may be needed for a driveway as a means of ingress or egress to any property.”

“The City of Omaha reserves the right to refuse an application when, in the judgment of the City Council, such permit would create a traffic hazard or not be beneficial to the public welfare.”

“The City of Omaha reserves the right to cancel any permit at any time.”

“Any person or persons, firm, corporation, or association violating any provisions of this Article, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any amount not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) and each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense.”

This ordinance purports to control within the area named also the use of space upon streets for loading and unloading but that subject is not embraced in the petition herein and the validity of the ordinance in that respect is not involved here.

The plaintiff has set forth in his petition that he is the owner of Lot 8, Block 2, Kountze and Ruth Addition to the city of Omaha, which property is located on the northwest corner of 17th and Jackson Streets in the city of Omaha, and within the area described in the ordinance; that on the property he operates a filling station, parking lot, and attendant and related activities and that in the conduct of his busines for ingress and egress of customers he requires at least 100 feet of lowered curb; that unless restrained the defendants will enforce this ordinance against him to his damage and to the damage of his business; and that a large number of other persons within [466]*466the described area are in a similar situation to that of the plaintiff.

He alleged that the ordinance is null, void, and invalid for the following reasons:

That the city council was without lawful power to require the plaintiff and the others similarly situated to do the things and make the payments required by the ■ ordinance.

That the city council is without power to pass a valid ordinance levying a charge or tax upon persons or property within a part of the city of Omaha.

That the ordinance is violative of Article I, section 1, of the Constitution of Nebraska, in that it denies plaintiff the protection of his property.

That the ordinance is violative of Article I, section 3, of the Constitution of Nebraska, in that it deprives plaintiff of his property without due process of law.

That the ordinance is violative of Article I, section 21, of the Constitution of Nebraska, in that it takes plaintiff’s property for a public use without just compensation.

That the ordinance is violative of Article I, section 25, of the Constitution of Nebraska, in that it discriminates against plaintiff in respect to ownership, possession, and enjoyment of his property.

That the ordinance is violative of Article VIII, section 1, of the Constitution of Nebraska, in that it does not purport to raise revenue as the Legislature directs and that it operates without uniformity and disproportionately upon property within the city.

That the ordinance is violative of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that it deprives the plaintiff of property without due process of law and without just compensation.

That the ordinance is violative of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that it abridges the privileges and immunities of plaintiff as a citizen of the United States and deprives him of his [467]*467property without due process of law and also denies him equal protection of the laws.

The declarations of the plaintiff as contained in his petition are that the exactions of the defendants pursuant to the ordinance were that as a condition of having ingress to and egress from his property he was required, on application, to be granted and receive a permit for such use; that use of more than 15 feet could not be had without payment of $1 a year for each additional foot; that the city is left free to grant or reject any such application; that the city is left free to cancel any such permit at any time; that the ordinance imposed a penalty in its nature criminal for a violation of the imposed regulation upon the right of plaintiff to-ingress to and egress from his own property, all of which are illegal for the reasons stated.

It should be emphasized here, we think, that this case has come here on the petition of the plaintiff generally demurred to by the defendants which demurrer was overruled. There is no traverse of any fact alleged. Thus every fact well pleaded must be taken as true. In People v. Weston, 3 Neb. 312, it was said: “A party who stands upon his general demurrer to a pleading, thereby admits the material facts averred, and must take all the consequences which result from such admission.” This pronouncement was approved in McArthur v. Clarke Drug Co., 48 Neb. 899, 67 N. W. 861, and in Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District v. Walston, 140 Neb. 190, 299 N. W. 609.

This is a matter of much importance in an approach to the determination of the matters presented.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 N.W.2d 731, 151 Neb. 463, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/panebianco-v-city-of-omaha-neb-1949.