Kroeger v. Stahl, 12189.
| Decision Date | 23 August 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 12189.,12189. |
| Citation | 248 F.2d 121 |
| Parties | Peter T. KROEGER, t/a Mobile Radio Dispatch Service, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Kenneth F. STAHL, Building Inspector of Greenbrook Township, a municipal corporation of New Jersey; The Board of Adjustment of Greenbrook Township, and the Township of Greenbrook, a municipal corporation of New Jersey. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Frederick F. Richardson, New Brunswick, N. J., for appellant.
Before STALEY and HASTIE, Circuit Judges, and SORG, District Judge.
This is an appeal from a judgment for defendants, sustaining the validity of a zoning ordinance, in an action tried to the court below without a jury.
Plaintiff operates a radio station, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, and services his customers' mobile vehicles both within and outside New Jersey. He desires to transfer his station from its present location at New Brunswick to a location on property he has purchased within a district zoned residential in Greenbrook Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. A special temporary authorization (later extended) to conduct radio tests at the new site was granted by the Federal Communications Commission to determine the extent and nature of interference caused to other stations in the area. Plaintiff applied to Kenneth Stahl, Building Inspector of Greenbrook Township, one of the defendants, for a building permit to construct on the proposed new site a 75 foot radio mast together with a small housing at the base of the mast for the necessary electrical equipment. His application was denied on the ground that the site was zoned "residential" under an ordinance of Greenbrook Township and that a variance from the Board of Adjustment would be required. Plaintiff did not seek such a variance but sought equitable relief in the court below to require the defendants to cease and desist from interfering with the construction and operation of the structures to be used in conducting the tests.
On this appeal plaintiff raises the following points:
1. The Greenbrook Township Zoning Ordinance conflicts, in an irreconcilable manner, with the Radio Communications Act.
2. The ordinance is not a proper exercise of the police power.
3. The enforcement of the ordinance adds unwarranted and costly burdens to interstate commerce.
4. The ordinance is arbitrary and unreasonable as applied to plaintiff's property and constitutes a virtual confiscation.
The District Court has found that the property in question is usable for residential purposes and that the evidence does not establish that it is the only suitable and available location for the intended use. There is no reason to disturb these findings. It is also to be noted that the plaintiff acquired the property involved after the ordinance in question was in full force and effect. While this does not preclude the plaintiff from attacking the validity of the ordinance it must weigh heavily against him in evaluating the extent of injury to his property. Ardolino v. Board of Adjustment, Borough of Florham Park, 1957, 24 N.J. 94, 130 A.2d 847.
All presumptions are indulged in favor of the validity and reasonableness of a zoning ordinance if it is within the legislative power of the municipality. Sinclair Refining Co. v. City of Chicago, 7 Cir., 1949, 178 F.2d 214. 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations, § 228(2) c (a), p. 565.
It is also well settled that a municipal ordinance restricting the use of property in certain zones for residential purposes only, is not of itself an improper exercise of police power even though it may limit the marketability of certain property therein, and that, before such ordinance can be...
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...to call its regulations "orders").17 Although the First Circuit cites Kroeger v. Stahl, 148 F.Supp. 403, 406 (D.N.J.), aff'd, 248 F.2d 121 (3d Cir.1957), in support of the contention that "order" in Sec. 401(b) should be given the same meaning that it has under the APA, we note that Kroeger......
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