Louisville, City Of, v. Helman
| Decision Date | 19 December 1952 |
| Citation | 253 S.W.2d 598 |
| Parties | CITY OF LOUISVILLE v. HELMAN et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Gilbert Burnett, Wm. E. Berry, Louisville, for appellant.
Carl K. Helman, N. H. Dosker, Louisville, for appellees.
CULLEN, Commissioner.
In a proceeding under Section 637 of the Civil Code, the City of Louisville, the Municipal Housing Commission of the city (in the capacity of an owner of abutting property), and a taxpayer of the city submitted a controversy concerning the right of the city to expend, for the improvement of part of the carriageway of certain streets, the proceeds of a bond issue voted by the people of the city for the specific purpose of paying for street improvements. The circuit court adjudged that, with respect to certain streets designated in a plan adopted by ordinance, known as the 'Barton Plan,' the city may use the proceeds of the bond issue to pay for improving such portion of the width of the streets as exceeds 26 feet, it being adjudged that 26 feet constitutes a reasonable width for the improvement of which the abutting property owners shall be assessed.
The city has appealed, and the only question raised is whether the judgment is erroneous by reason of KRS 93.370, which provides that street improvements 'shall be made at the exclusive cost of the owners' of abutting property.
The 'Barton Plan' is a plan providing primarily for the widening and straightening of major east-west and north-south streets in Louisville, for the accommodation of through or cross-town traffic. Most of the streets affected now have a carriageway 26 feet in width, which is the normal or average width of the improved portion of the streets throughout Louisville. The plan contemplates widening the carriageway to 36 feet, on the streets covered by the plan. In some instances existing streets will merely be widened, while in other instances new construction will be required to eliminate 'jogs'.
In order to finance the improvements covered by the Barton Plan, the board of aldermen submitted to the voters the question of issuing $5,000,000 in bonds. The question was submitted in this form:
'Shall the City of Louisville incur an indebtedness and issue and sell its bonds therefor in the amount of $5,000,000.00 as provided in Ordinance No. 231, Series 1950, for the purpose of financing a program to facilitate the movement of traffic in the City of Louisville by providing funds to pay all or a part of the cost of the improvement of existing streets in the City of Louisville, including construction, reconstruction and surfacing but excluding maintenance, and including integration of such streets by widening, straightening, extension and connection, and including the procurement of right of way therefor and the establishment of an integrated traffic system thereon * * *.'
The bond issue was approved at the November election in 1950, and thereafter the board of aldermen provided for the issuance of $2,000,000 in bonds of the $5,000,000 authorized. Ordinances were adopted for the improvement of some of the streets designated in the Barton Plan. The ordinances provide that the city will pay for such portion of the improvement as exceeds 26 feet in width, the balance of the cost being assessed against the abutting property. Of course, the theory of the ordinances is that the owners of abutting property should pay the cost of an ordinary street, and the city should pay any additional cost involved in providing a street designed for city-wide, as distinguished from neighborhood, use.
We are required to determine whether the statute stands in the way of carrying out what seems to be a just and fair plan for solving a serious traffic problem of the city.
A well-established rule of statutory...
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