Contras v. Mayor & Aldermen of Jersey City

• Decision Date: 04 May 1926
• Docket Number: No. 281.,281.
• Citation: 134 A. 122
• Parties: CONTRAS v. MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF JERSEY CITY et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

134 A. 122

CONTRAS

v. MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF JERSEY CITY et al.

No. 281.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

May 4, 1926.

Mandamus on the relation of Joseph Contras against the Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City, and others. On rule to show cause. Peremptory writ denied; alternative writ granted.

Argued January term, 1926, before TRENCHARD and KATZENBACH, JJ.

John Milton, of Jersey City, for relator.

Thomas J. Brogan, of Jersey City (Charles Hershenstein, of Jersey City, of counsel), for defendants.

PER CURIAM. This is a proceeding in mandamus. It is before this court upon a rule to show cause why the respondents should not issue to the relator a permit for the erection of a one-story fireproof public garage upon premises owned by the relator in the city of Jersey City. Under the rule depositions were taken. These depositions show that the relator owns three lots, Nos. 62, 64, and 66 St. Pauls avenue in the city of Jersey City. Upon 64 there is at present erected a frame shed used as a combination garage and stable for the storage of trucks and the shelter of horses which the relator uses in a general moving business. On August 3, 1925, the relator made application for the erection of a one-story fireproof public garage upon the three lots. The lots have a frontage of 75 feet on St. Pauls avenue and a depth of 100 feet. The proposed garage would cover the entire plot of land. The proofs show that it was intended to accommodate 65 cars. There would be stored upon the premises gasoline, oil, and other accessories incidental to its use as a public garage.

The depositions further show that in the neighborhood in which the proposed garage is to be located there are numerous apartment houses. On one side the proposed garage would adjoin a nine-family house. On the other side it would be within 6 or 7 feet of a three-family dwelling house. In the immediate neighborhood there are some 86 families housed in apartments.

The superintendent of buildings, the zoning commission of Jersey City, and the board of commissioners each refused to issue to the relator a building permit. They based their refusal upon a zoning ordinance of the city of Jersey City, which under the provisions the second section thereof makes the district in which the relator's lots are located a residential district, and prohibits the erection of a public garage, and a private garage, any part of which shall be nearer than 10 feet to any public building used for living purposes.

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