People Ex Rel. Department of Public Works v. Investors Diversified Services, Inc.

262 Cal. App. 2d 367, 68 Cal. Rptr. 663, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 2321
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 22, 1968
DocketCiv. 31207
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 262 Cal. App. 2d 367 (People Ex Rel. Department of Public Works v. Investors Diversified Services, Inc.) 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
People Ex Rel. Department of Public Works v. Investors Diversified Services, Inc., 262 Cal. App. 2d 367, 68 Cal. Rptr. 663, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 2321 (Cal. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinions

FILES, P. J.

This is an action in eminent domain brought by plaintiff to acquire a 10-foot-wide strip from the frontage of defendant’s property 408.51 feet in length for the widening of Devonshire Street. There was a pretrial hearing at which the court was called upon to decide certain questions of law. At that hearing it was represented to the court that the property was zoned Al, but that the highest and best use of the property would be for residential purposes, which would require a change of zone; and that under Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 12.32 and 12.37, an applicant for a change of zone of this property might be required to dedicate a 20-foot strip for the widening of the street. Such a dedication would include the identical land condemned in this action. At the pretrial hearing plaintiff advised the court that it [369]*369expected to prove at the trial that the owner had made an application for a change of zone, and that other properties in the area which had obtained zone changes had been required to dedicate land for the widening of this street as a condition of the zone change; and that in the opinion of an appraiser a reasonable purchaser would take that into consideration if he were to purchase defendant’s property.

The court then made an order which includes this:

“It Is Ordered, Adjudged And Decreed, in valuing the defendant’s property, the expert valuation witnesses may not consider the fact that, in order to put the property to its highest and best use by obtaining a zone change, defendant might be required to dedicate the identical parcel of land being condemned in this action, and may not value said parcel differently from the rest of the larger parcel on that account.
“It Is Further Ordered, Adjudged And Decreed, that if the expert valuation witnesses find that there is a reasonable probability of a change of zone, they shall value the parcel being taken in the same manner as the balance of defendant’s property, at least to the extent of not allowing for any reduction in the value of the property taken on account of any possible required dedication."1

Following that order, on October 11, 1965, the parties entered into a written stipulation which declared that (1) had the matter been tried, plaintiff would have made an offer of proof that a qualified valuation witness would have valued the property at $100 but for the pretrial order above quoted, and (2) that giving effect to the pretrial ruling, the just compensation is $3,000. The stipulation concluded with the statement that the parties reserved the right to appeal from the judgment based upon that pretrial order. That stipulation was filed January 12,1966.

On January 14, 1966, the parties filed a second stipulation which provided for the entry of a judgment, a copy of which was attached to that stipulation. The proposed judgment, attached to the January 14 stipulation, quotes in full the October 11, 1965, stipulation, and provides for compensation to defendant in the amount of $3,000. On January 17, 1966, there was entered a judgment in the exact form provided in the January 14 stipulation.

[370]*370Plaintiff is appealing from that judgment.

Despite the obfuseatory draftsmanship, whereby a stipulation is incorporated within a judgment within a stipulation, the January 14 document is not a consent to the judgment which was entered. It is clear that the parties did not mislead each other or the trial court. The effect of the stipulation was simply to admit that under the theory of valuation adopted by the trial court, the damages were $3,000. Plaintiff at all times contended in the trial court, as it does here, that the trial court made an error of law in adopting that theory. In stipulating, plaintiff simply acknowledged that no other contested issue remained undecided. The right to carry on the controversy in a reviewing court was preserved. Defendant does not contend otherwise. The sole issue argued in the briefs is whether the trial court erred in deciding that the appraiser could not consider the possibility that the defendant might be required to dedicate the property to the city.

The portions of the Los Angeles Municipal Code referred to in the pretrial proceedings are a part of the comprehensive zoning plan of the City of Los Angeles. Section 12.32 provides in part that in the consideration of an application for a change of zone, it may be required that provision be made for adequate streets. Section 12.37 provides in effect that, with certain exceptions, no building or structure may be erected on any lot in an R3 or less restricted zone, if such lot abuts on a major highway, unless the half of the highway located adjacent to such lot has been dedicated or improved to its master plan width. The section also prescribes procedures by which a variance from its requirements may be procured.

A dedication is not an inevitable result of a request for a change of zone or the issuance of a building permit, because the Municipal Code allows for an exercise of discretion by city authorities.

In some instances the practical effect of these provisions in the zoning laws is to compel a property owner to dedicate a portion of his property to the city without receiving the compensation which would be required if the property had been taken by a condemnation. The statutes and ordinances which bring this about have been held constitutional under the police power. (Ayres v. City Council of Los Angeles, 34 Cal.2d 31 [207 P.2d 1, 11 A.L.R.2d 503]; Sommers v. City of Los Angeles, 254 Cal.App.2d 605 [62 Cal.Rptr. 523]; Southern [371]*371Pac. Co. v. City of Los Angeles, 242 Cal.App.2d 38 [51 Cal.Rptr. 197].) The latter two eases deal specifically with Los Angeles Municipal Code section 12.37.

In the Sommers ease at page 613 the court said: “It should here be noted that the provisions of section 12.37 do not require the dedication or improvement of private property ; they do under the police power sharply limit the use of private property adjacent to important city highways as part of the comprehensive zoning plan until such time as the development of the adjacent half of such highways is completed or reasonably assured, by whatever means. No doubt the practical effect of these provisions, in many instances, is to procure the dedication of the highway rights-of-way in order to gain the immediate right to use the remainder of the land to its maximum economic use. These dedications which are made under the police power pursuant to the provisions of section 12.37 are of course in sharp contrast to acquisitions under eminent domain where property is taken and paid for or purchased under threat of such proceedings. ’ ’

In the case at bench the pretrial order contains some so-called “findings of fact” which include this statement :

“Dedication of defendant’s property for the widening of Devonshire Boulevard [sic] to the width and standards set forth in the Los Angeles Municipal Code and in the Master Plan of Highways and Freeways, adopted by the City Planning Commission of the City of Los Angeles, would not favorably affect or benefit in any way the suitability of defendant’s land for any residential uses, and would not be reasonably required by, or related to, planning or traffic needs resulting from the use of the property for residential purposes.

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People Ex Rel. Department of Public Works v. Investors Diversified Services, Inc.
262 Cal. App. 2d 367 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
262 Cal. App. 2d 367, 68 Cal. Rptr. 663, 1968 Cal. App. LEXIS 2321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-department-of-public-works-v-investors-diversified-calctapp-1968.