Santa Clara County Contractors & Builders Ass'n v. City of Santa Clara

232 Cal. App. 2d 564, 43 Cal. Rptr. 86, 1965 Cal. App. LEXIS 1502
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 1965
DocketCiv. 21887
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 232 Cal. App. 2d 564 (Santa Clara County Contractors & Builders Ass'n v. City of Santa Clara) 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
Santa Clara County Contractors & Builders Ass'n v. City of Santa Clara, 232 Cal. App. 2d 564, 43 Cal. Rptr. 86, 1965 Cal. App. LEXIS 1502 (Cal. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

BRAY, J. *

Defendants appeal from judgment of court without a jury, in favor of plaintiff, declaring invalid certain requirements of section 22, Santa Clara City Ordinance No. 1046, 1 and enjoining their enforcement.

*567 Questions Presented

1. Does plaintiff have standing to sue?

2. Is section 22 unconstitutional because of preemption of field by the Subdivision Map Act?

3. Is the fee provision severable from the other requirements of section 22 ?

Record

Plaintiff sought declaratory relief against defendants who are the City of Santa Clara, a chartered city, its elected councilmen and its city manager, upon an amended complaint which alleged, in pertinent part, that it is a nonprofit California corporation, formed and existing, inter alia, “to take unified action upon matters of legislative or governmental action affecting the contracting, building, or construction industry, and to promote and protect the best interests of the public served by said industry” (attached to the complaint was a list of its members); that it was duly authorized to and does bring this action on behalf of all its members, in a representative capacity and for the benefit of each and every member; that section 22 of Ordinance No. 1046 of the City of Santa Clara is illegal, unconstitutional and void for the reasons hereinafter discussed; that defendants insist on compliance with the terms thereof. The complaint seeks a declaration of the rights of plaintiff, its members, and all others of the same class, and their legal relationships with defendants; that said ordinance section is void and asks that defendants be enjoined from enforcing it.

Defendants demurred generally. The demurrer was overruled. Defendants answered, denying the pertinent allegations of the complaint and affirmatively alleging that the complaint did not state facts to constitute a cause of action. At the trial, defendants moved to dismiss the action on the ground that plaintiff was not a real party in interest as required by section 367, Code of Civil Procedure. 2

The motion was denied. Plaintiff’s articles of incorporation and section 22 of the ordinance in question were introduced in evidence and oral testimony had.

*568 The court made findings of fact and conclusions of law finding a judieiable controversy between plaintiff, its members and all subdividers of the same class who would be adversely affected by the enforcement of section 22, and defendants; that plaintiff is a real party in interest; that the requirements of section 22 are invalid, illegal, unconstitutional, null and void; and that defendants should be permanently enjoined from enforcing its provisions. Judgment was entered accordingly.

1. Plaintiff's standing to sue.

Defendants contend that plaintiff corporation is not a member of the class for whose benefit the action is maintained because there is no evidence that either it or its members engage in the business of subdividing property. The bylaws reveal that active membership is open to anyone whose principal business is building construction or general contracting, including homebuilders.

As will hereinafter appear, it is the fee requirement section of 22 that is under attack. Subdivision (a) requires a fee from every “subdivider or builder or developer or owner” of land in Santa Clara desiring approval of a map or a building permit. As plaintiff’s membership includes homebuilders who would be affected by the necessity of paying a fee to obtain a building permit, it is immaterial that no evidence was offered that plaintiff’s membership includes subdividers.

Defendants also contend that as plaintiff does not itself engage in building, it is not a party in interest for purposes of suit. Section 382, Code of Civil Procedure, provides in pertinent part: “Of the parties to the action, those who are united in interest must be joined as plaintiffs or defendants; . . . and when the question is one of a common or general interest, of many persons, or when the parties are numerous, and it is impracticable to bring them all before the court, one or more may sue or defend for the benefit of all.”

In Professional Fire Fighters, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1963) 60 Cal.2d 276 [32 Cal.Rptr. 830, 384 P.2d 158], an incorporated labor union representing members of a city fire department sought to restrain the city from discriminating against its members. The trial court concluded that as a matter of law the union had no capacity to sue. In holding that the conclusion that the plaintiff had no standing to sue was erroneous, the reviewing court, at page 284, stated, “. . . the *569 plain meaning of both the Labor Code and the Government Code provisions hereinabove alluded to [Lab. Code, §§ 1960-1963, Gov. Code, §§ 3500-3509] is that unions such as plaintiff may be organized for the sole purpose of representing their members. An action at law on behalf of such members is one form of such representation. Plaintiff is incorporated. Its members are all employees of the fire department and as such have a clear beneficial interest in the subject matter of the complaint. Its interest is joint with theirs. The entire action is one such as is contemplated by Code of Civil Procedure section 382 and (if-injunction be equated with mandate) under section 1086 as well.” While plaintiff in the action at bar is not a labor union, and, therefore does not have the benefit of the code provisions relating to labor unions, it is a professional association, incorporated, organized for the purpose of representing its members, who have a beneficial interest in the subject matter of the complaint, and whose members authorized it to bring the action. “A representative suit is not permissible unless there is a community of interest between the members of the class with respect to the questions of law and fact involved (Parker v. Bowron, 40 Cal.2d 344, 352 [254 P.2d 6]; Weaver v. Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assn., 32 Cal.2d 833, 837-838 [198 P.2d 514]), and a determination of whether a particular plaintiff can fairly protect the rights of the group he purports to represent is necessarily dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each ease.” (Bowles v. Superior Court (1955) 44 Cal.2d 574, 587 [283 P.2d 704].)

In Jellen v. O’Brien (1928) 89 Cal.App. 505 [264 P. 1115], the plaintiff sued to obtain a permanent injunction restraining the chief of police from enforcing a “licensing” ordinance against the plaintiff or any member of the voluntary San Francisco Furniture Dealers Association.

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Bluebook (online)
232 Cal. App. 2d 564, 43 Cal. Rptr. 86, 1965 Cal. App. LEXIS 1502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santa-clara-county-contractors-builders-assn-v-city-of-santa-clara-calctapp-1965.