Brook Ledge, Inc. v. Public Utilities Commission
| Decision Date | 28 October 1958 |
| Citation | 145 A.2d 590,145 Conn. 617 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | , 27 P.U.R.3d 299 BROOK LEDGE, INC., et al. v. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
Hugh M. Joseloff, and Thomas W. Murrett, Hartford, for appellants (plaintiffs).
Abner W. Sibal, Norwalk, for appellee (defendant Barry).
Louis Weinstein, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, was John J. Bracken, Atty. Gen., for appellee (named defendant).
Before DALY, C. J., and BALDWIN, KING, MURPHY and MELLITZ, JJ.
The public utilities commission, acting pursuant to General Statutes, § 5676, granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to William J. Barry of Norwalk for the operation of common carrier vehicles for the transport of horses, ponies and equipment incidental thereto upon the highways of this state. This appeal is from the judgment of the Superior Court dismissing the appeal of the plaintiffs Brook Ledge, Inc., a New Jersey corporation, and Nyconn Horse Transportation Corporation, a New York corporation. It raises two issues of law: (1) Was there competent evidence to support the commission's conclusions that public convenience and necessity required the service for which the certificate was sought? (2) Could the commission issue the certificate after having denied an identical application
Section 2638d of the 1955 Cumulative Supplement provides, inter alia, that Supplement provides, inter alia, that in passing upon an application for a certificate to operate a motor common carrier the commission shall take into consideration 'the public need for the service the applicant proposes to render.' The commission concluded that public convenience and necessity required the granting of the permit. The plaintiffs challenge this conclusion. Upon an appeal under General Statutes, § 5427, the court, as in appeals from other administrative boards and agencies, cannot retry the cause but can determine only whether the commission has acted illegally or abused its powers. Coppola v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., 143 Conn. 109, 112, 119 A.2d 730; Kram v. Public Utilities Commission, 126 Conn. 543, 548, 12 A.2d 775. A conclusion of the commission not legally supported by the evidence would constitute an abuse of its powers. The weight and credibility of the evidence offered are, however, matters within the province of the commission. Wilson Point Property Owners Ass'n v. Connecticut Light & Power Co., 145 Conn. 243, 264, 140 A.2d 874; Gibson v. Connecticut Medical Examining Board, 141 Conn. 218, 221, 104 A.2d 890; Paley v. Connecticut Medical Examining Board, 142 Conn. 522, 528, 115 A.2d 448; Atlantic Refining Co. v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 142 Conn. 64, 67, 111 A.2d 1; Gulf Oil Corporation v. Board of Selectmen, 144 Conn. 61, 66, 127 A.2d 48.
There was evidence that the plaintiffs' headquarters and equipment were located outside of this state until shortly before the hearing on this application, when the plaintiff Brook Ledge, Inc., made a horse van available in Greenwich; that their availability for service was not well known, that their business was largely of an interstate character, that one of the plaintiffs was not interested in doing business throughout the entire state; and that the service offered by Barry would be more convenient to prospective Connecticut users and was needed. The trial court properly sustained the commission's conclusion, upon its record, that there was a public need for the service offered by Barry. The plaintiffs' claim that the commission failed to find that Barry was a suitable person, as required by § 2638d of the 1955 Cumulative Supplement, was not included in their assignments of error. Nevertheless, having considered it, we conclude that it has no merit and requires no discussion. General Statutes, § 5688.
The plaintiffs claim that the commission abused its power in granting Barry's application because only eleven...
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