Jaffarian v. Bldg. Com'r of City of Somerville
Decision Date | 03 April 1931 |
Citation | 275 Mass. 267,175 N.E. 641 |
Parties | JAFFARIAN et al. v. BUILDING COM'R OF CITY OF SOMERVILLE. |
Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Exceptions from Supreme Judicial Court, Middlesex County; J. C. Crosby, Judge.
Proceeding by Edward Jaffarian and others for a writ of mandamus to John H. Kelley, Building Commissioner of the City of Somerville. Bill dismissed, and plaintiff brings exceptions.
Exceptions overruled.
See also 175 N. E. 639.
F. R. Mullin and J. E. Hannigan, both of Boston, for plaintiff.
D. J. Kelley, City Sol., of Boston, for respondent.
The petitioners seek by this proceeding to compel the respondent, the building commissioner of the city of Somerville, to issue a permit for the erection of a building upon their land. An auditor was appointed whose findings were adopted by the single justice. These findings, so far as here material, were:
It is provided by G. L. c. 140, § 181, that, ‘The mayor or selectmen may * * * grant, upon such terms and conditions as they deem reasonable, a license for theatrical exhibitions, public shows, public amusements and exhibitions of every description * * * to which admission is obtained upon payment of money or upon the delivery of any valuable thing, or by a ticket or voucher obtained for money or any valuable thing, or in which after free admission, amusement is furnished upon a deposit of money in a coin controlled apparatus. * * *’
We are of opinion that the miniature golf course proposed to be constructed and used as indicated in the auditor's report constitutes a public amusement within the meaning of this section. While it has aspects of athletic interest, it has the attributes of a public amusement. Its construction and arrangement appear to be designed to attract the attention of...
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...N.E.2d 537. A miniature golf course was held to be a place of public amusement under a licensing statute. Jaffarian v. Building Com'r, 1931, 275 Mass. 267, 175 N.E. 641, 74 A.L.R. 403. The Court in that case stated in regard to the miniature golf course at page 642 of 175 N.E.: "While it ha......
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...the idea that places of amusement may "degenerate and become obnoxious to the public welfare." Jaffarian v. Building Commr. of Somerville, 275 Mass. 267, 271, 175 N.E. 641 (1931). Turnpike Amusement Park, Inc. v. Licensing Commn. of Cambridge, 343 Mass. 435, 437, 179 N.E.2d 322 (1962). Anot......
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...333 Mass. 58, 127 N.E.2d 891, as inapplicable to the statute and ordinance rightly construed. In Jaffarian v. Building Com'r of Somerville, 275 Mass. 267, 271, 175 N.E. 641, 642, 74 A.L.R. 403, this court said in an opinion by Chief Justice Rugg, 'The right to require licenses is based on t......
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...consideration and the pertinent facts in Cheney v. Coughlin, 201 Mass. 204, 87 N. E. 744, and Jaffarian v. Building Commissioner of Somerville, 275 Mass. 267, 175 N. E. 641, 74 A. L. R. 403, are so different from those in the case at bar as not to require discussion to demonstrate their ina......