Cromwell-Franklin Oil Co. v. Oklahoma City

• Decision Date: 20 September 1930
• Docket Number: No. 1143.,1143.
• Parties: CROMWELL-FRANKLIN OIL CO. v. OKLAHOMA CITY.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Oklahoma

14 F. Supp. 370

CROMWELL-FRANKLIN OIL CO. v. OKLAHOMA CITY.

No. 1143.

District Court, W. D. Oklahoma.

September 20, 1930.

P. J. Carey, of Oklahoma City, Okl., and George N. Otey, and L. E. Beattie, both of Ardmore, Okl., for complainant.

M. W. McKenzie, Municipal Counselor, A. L. Hull, Asst. Municipal Counselor, both of Oklahoma City, Okl., and Fred Hansen, Asst. Atty. Gen., state of Oklahoma, for defendant.

VAUGHT, District Judge.

In this action, hearing was had upon the motion of the defendant to dismiss complainant's bill. The bill alleges that the complainant is a Delaware corporation, licensed to do business in Oklahoma; that the city of Oklahoma City is a municipal corporation; that the amount in controversy exceeds $3,000; that on the 15th of October, 1929, and for a long time prior thereto, one W. F. Harn was the owner and in possession of certain real estate adjacent to Oklahoma City, which we will designate for brevity as the Harn tract, and that on said date, the said W. F. Harn and wife executed an oil and gas mining lease to the complainant; that said lease requires the complainant to commence the drilling of an oil and gas well on said property within one year from date of the lease. At the time of the execution of said lease, the said Harn tract was not included within the city limits, but soon thereafter, on the 22d of October, 1929, the city passed an ordinance known as Ordinance No. 3743, extending the corporate limits or attempting to extend the corporate limits so as to include among other pieces and parcels of land adjacent to Oklahoma City the said Harn tract; that said tract consists of 104 acres, and has never been platted, but used as a farm; that said tract was not adjacent to or abutted by the city of Oklahoma City on three sides thereof; that no consent of the owner was had at the time said ordinance was passed, and that the owner did not give his consent thereto, but, on the other hand, protested against the bringing of said property within said city; that the purpose of bringing the said property within the limits of the city was to prevent the drilling of oil and gas wells thereon, and to prevent the development of said tract for oil purposes; that prior to the adoption of Ordinance No. 3743, the defendant city on the 26th of July, 1928, passed an ordinance known as Ordinance No. 3429, by which there was adopted a general code of ordinances by the city of Oklahoma City, among which, and as a part thereof, is what is known as chapter 22 of the general ordinances of Oklahoma City; that said chapter 22 of said general ordinances is what is known as defendant's zoning ordinance, which has been amended by several ordinances passed from time to time down to and including July, 1930; that said general code of ordinances of defendant city divides the city of Oklahoma City into districts or zones and attempts to, on its face, regulate the use of property in each of said zones or districts, and designates the use of property in what is called U-1 district as residence district or use, and provides that no oil or gas well shall be drilled in said district. It further provides that oil and gas wells can be drilled only in what is designated as U-7 zone or use district, and places the Harn tract covered by the lease of this complainant in what is known as the U-1 zone or district, and provides that an attempt to drill oil and gas wells in said district shall be unlawful, and that no permit for the drilling of oil or gas wells shall be granted by the superintendent of buildings except in what has been designated as the U-7 zone or district; that said defendant city by its ordinances by which it is seeking to enforce under what it terms its police power to protect the health and safety of its citizens, denies to complainant the right to use its said property for the purpose of developing the same for oil and gas, and at the same time allows the drilling of oil and gas wells within other parts of the corporate limits of said city where same is densely surrounded by residence buildings, and allows said wells to be drilled within 100 feet of residences in such other sections where it has designated the same as part of the U-7 zone, and is allowing the drilling of oil and gas wells in parts of the city where the land has been platted into lots and blocks, and allows the drilling of wells on such city blocks, which blocks contain less than 5 acres, while it denies this plaintiff the right to drill on a tract of land of 104 acres which has never been platted or divided into smaller tracts, and which tract of land was, and still is, used as farm land.

The bill makes further allegations with reference to complainant's ability to drill oil wells so that the same would not be within 500 feet of residences or other buildings, and that same could be drilled without objection or annoyance or conditions which would be objectionable to residents of the adjoining property; that by denying the complainant the right to drill for oil and gas upon said lease, that the said act on the part of the defendant city is the taking of complainant's entire property without compensation which is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the United States, and the Fourteenth Amendment thereto; that the acts of the defendant city in the enactment of said ordinances were unreasonable, arbitrary, and discriminatory; that the oil pool developed south of Oklahoma City underlies the lease of the complainant, and that the drilling of oil wells in the recognized U-7 district is damaging to the complainant's rights in that it reduces the gas pressure therein, and constitutes the unlawful taking of property without compensation; that the value of said lease is $1,000,000, and that unless said complainant is permitted to begin the drilling of a well on or before the 15th of October, 1930, it will lose its entire right, and that said act on the part of the city amounts to a confiscation by said city of complainant's property without compensation, and without due process of law; that the said defendant city has refused, on petition of the landowner, W. F. Harn, to place the said property known as the Harn tract in the U-7 zone or district, and under its present ordinances the superintendent of buildings is denied the right to even issue a permit, and the drilling of a well for oil and gas on said properties is declared unlawful, and said bill prays for an injunction perpetually enjoining the said city from the enforcement of its ordinances by interfering with the drilling of said lease by the complainant.

The motion of defendant prays for the dismissal of the bill of complaint in this action, and for the purposes of said motion alleges that under chapter 177, Session Laws of Oklahoma, 1923, the said city created a city planning commission for the purpose of preparing plans for the systematic development and betterment of such municipality as a place of residence, and for business; that under and by virtue of and pursuant to chapter 178, Session Laws of Oklahoma, 1923, the city of Oklahoma City adopted a zoning ordinance for the systematic development and betterment of said city based upon a comprehensive plan, designed to lessen the congestion in the streets and to secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers, and to promote the health and general welfare, and to provide adequate light and air, and prevent the overcrowding of land, and to avoid undue concentration of population, and to facilitate the adequate provisions of transportation, water, sewage, schools, parks, and other public requirements, the same being chapter 22, Oklahoma City general ordinances of 1928, which said ordinance was in full force and effect, together with the amendments thereto, at and prior to the commencement of this action, and at and prior to the times set out in the bill of complaint of the complainant. A copy of chapter 22 of said Oklahoma City general ordinances of 1928 is pleaded as Exhibit O; that chapter 22 aforesaid was amended on the 3d day of December, 1929, by Ordinance No. 3774, which became effective on the 3d day of January, 1930, whereby there was provided in and made a part of chapter 22 aforesaid, the provisions relating to the U-7 use district for the development of oil and gas, and a copy of said Ordinance No. 3774 is pleaded as Exhibit 1; that said chapter 22, Oklahoma City general ordinances 1928, was further amended by adding thereto an ordinance known as Ordinance No. 3865, which said ordinance was passed on the 15th of April, 1930, and went into effect on the 15th of May, 1930, in which the property set over into the U-7 use district, and upon which the development for oil and gas mining purposes was permitted within the corporate limits of said city, is fully set out and described in detail, a copy of which Ordinance No. 3865 is pleaded as Exhibit 2.

The defendant further states that by Ordinance No. 3743, passed on the 22d day of October, 1929, with the emergency which went into effect on the same date, that the corporate limits of the city of Oklahoma City were extended, and there was set out in detail in said Ordinance No. 3743, a complete and accurate description of the property annexed to and included within the corporate limits of said city, in which was and is included the property set out in the bill of complaint in this case, a copy of which ordinance is pleaded as Exhibit 3.

The defendant further states:

(1) That the bill of complaint fails to state facts sufficient to constitute an action for equitable relief in favor of the complainant and against the defendant.

(2) That the bill of complaint fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action in equity in favor of the complainant and against the defendant.

(3) That the bill of complaint shows upon its face that the complainant has a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy at law.

(4) That this court is without jurisdiction of the...