Manchester Sand and Gravel Co., Inc. v. Town of South Windsor

• Decision Date: 21 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. 12811,12811
• Citation: 203 Conn. 267,524 A.2d 621
• Parties: MANCHESTER SAND AND GRAVEL COMPANY, INC., et al. v. TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 621

524 A.2d 621

203 Conn. 267

MANCHESTER SAND AND GRAVEL COMPANY, INC., et al. v. TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR.

No. 12811.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Dec. 9, 1986.

Decided April 21, 1987.

Richard M. Rittenband, Town Atty., with whom was Barry Guliano, Manchester, for appellant (defendant).

James H. Throwe and Thomas W. Fahey, Jr., East Hartford, with whom was Anita D. Cobb, for appellees (plaintiffs).

Before PETERS, C.J., and HEALEY, SHEA, CALLAHAN and FREEDMAN, JJ.

CALLAHAN, Associate Justice.

This action was commenced to enjoin the town of South Windsor from enforcing a town ordinance ¹ passed on December 17 1984, which prohibits trucks with a gross vehicle weight (gvw) in excess of 15,000 pounds from traveling over Rye Street, Graham Road, Troy Road, Nevers Road, Miller Road and Niederwerfer Road in South Windsor except while on a trip with a point of origin from or a destination on those streets or certain neighboring streets within the town. ² The action was commenced by the named plaintiff, Manchester Sand and Gravel Company, Inc., which obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting the enforcement of the ordinance. Prior to a hearing on the named plaintiff's request for a permanent injunction, the town of East Windsor filed a substitute complaint and the city of New Britain, on motion, was allowed to intervene and file a substitute complaint. Both East Windsor and New Britain claimed an interest in the action and also requested injunctive relief.

The trial court, after hearing extensive testimony and viewing numerous exhibits, granted the plaintiffs' request for a permanent injunction. The trial court filed a memorandum which indicated that it rested its decision on three grounds: (1) the ordinance violates the equal protection clauses of both the federal and state constitutions; (2) the ordinance regulates through truck traffic and such regulation has been preempted by the state by virtue of General Statutes § 14-298; and (3) there are no reasonable alternative routes available for through truck traffic. ³

We conclude that the South Windsor ordinance is invalid because it constitutes a regulation of through truck traffic, ⁴ a function reserved to the state traffic commission by General Statutes § 14-298. Since this issue is dispositive of the case, it is unnecessary to address the other two issues. "Constitutional issues are not considered unless absolutely necessary to the decision of a case...." State v. DellaCamera, 166 Conn. 557, 560-61, 353 A.2d 750 (1974); Alexander v. Robinson, 185 Conn. 540, 548, 441 A.2d 166 (1981).

The facts necessary for our determination may be stated briefly. Manchester Sand and Gravel Company, Inc. (Manchester Sand & Gravel), operates a concrete manufacturing and sand and gravel processing plant in Manchester, just south of the boundary between Manchester and South Windsor. It also has a sand and gravel pit in East Windsor, north of the north-south boundary line between East Windsor and South Windsor from which it obtains raw material to operate the plant in Manchester. Prior to the enactment of the ordinance in question, Manchester Sand & Gravel utilized trucks with a gvw in excess of 15,000 pounds to haul material between its pit in East Windsor and its plant in Manchester. The route normally taken by its trucks in making the trip took them through South Windsor and over Graham Road in South Windsor, one of the streets specified in the ordinance as prohibited to trucks with a gvw in excess of 15,000 pounds.

In addition, trucks with a gvw well in excess of 15,000 pounds were used by the city of New Britain, which is located about twenty miles southwest of South Windsor, to haul refuse from New Britain to the North Capitol Region landfill (NORCAP), which is located in East Windsor, at a site a short distance north of the South Windsor-East Windsor boundary line. ⁵ The route normally traveled by these trucks also took them through South Windsor and over Rye Street in South Windsor, another of the streets specified in the ordinance as prohibited to trucks with a gvw in excess of 15,000 pounds. The trucks hauling for both Manchester Sand & Gravel and the city of New Britain made numerous daily trips. ⁶

The South Windsor ordinance, if valid, effectively closes, to trucks with a gvw in excess of 15,000 pounds, all roads that run directly between South Windsor and East Windsor on the north, except U.S. Route 5, which is located near the westerly boundary of both towns and Scantic Road, which is almost entirely in East Windsor, but intersects with Route 5 in South Windsor at its northerly boundary with East Windsor. ⁷ East Windsor complains that if South Windsor is allowed to accomplish that result by ordinance it will route all through trucks emanating from points south of East Windsor, with a gvw in excess of 15,000 pounds and with a destination in East Windsor, over roads and bridges in East Windsor, particularly those leading to the NORCAP landfill and the sand and gravel pit, that are unsuitable and unsafe for heavy truck traffic. Manchester Sand & Gravel and the carrier for New Britain complain that any alternate routes they are forced to travel, if their trucks are prohibited from using their normal routes through South Windsor, are circuitous and will cost them time and money.

South Windsor contends that its ordinance is not an attempt to regulate through trucks because it applies to all trucks in excess of 15,000 pounds, whether through or intratown, and that the ordinance is a reasonable regulation to promote safety and to prevent deterioration of town streets. A review of the transcript, however, makes it abundantly clear that the impetus leading to the passage of the ordinance, and its principal target, is the through truck traffic generated by Manchester Sand & Gravel and the NORCAP landfill. Whatever its purpose, the effect of the ordinance is to prohibit, through the medium of a weight limit, all through trucks weighing more than 15,000 pounds from every street in South Windsor that crosses the South Windsor-East Windsor boundary except Route 5 and Scantic Road. The result is local regulation of through truck traffic.

"The fact that a local ordinance does not expressly conflict with a statute enacted by the General Assembly will not save it when the legislative purpose in enacting the statute is frustrated by the ordinance." Dwyer v. Farrell, 193 Conn. 7, 14, 475 A.2d 257 (1984).

A review of the policy and purposes behind General Statutes § 14-298, as evidenced by the legislative history of the statute, is necessary to determine whether the legislature intended to vest the ultimate authority to regulate through truck traffic in the state traffic commission. See Dwyer v. Farrell, supra at 12, 475 A.2d 257; Sullivan v. Town Council, 143 Conn. 280, 284, 121 A.2d 630 (1956). In the 1955 legislative session, special acts were passed which gave the cities of Hartford and New Haven the power to regulate through truck traffic on local streets. ⁸ In the 1957 legislative session, both special acts were repealed. ⁹ In the same session, General Statutes (1949 Rev.) § 2517, ¹⁰ which established a state traffic commission and defined its duties, was repealed and the following language was added by substitute House Bill 501 to No. 331 of the 1957 Public Acts, the predecessor of General Statutes § 14-298 ¹¹ which contains similar language: "Said [state traffic] commission shall also make rules and regulations, in cooperation and agreement with local traffic authorities, respecting the use by through truck traffic on streets and highways within the limits of, and under the jurisdiction of, any city, town or borough of this state for the protection and safety of the public; and any rules and regulations so adopted may be amended in the same manner."

The statement of purpose accompanying substitute House Bill 501 at the time of its introduction in the General Assembly was, "[t]o eliminate conflicting regulations arising from local restrictions as to the use of streets by through truck traffic." Substitute H.B. 501 (1957 Reg.Session). The statement of purpose of a bill, on its introduction into the legislature, may be considered in determining its intent. Seals v. Hickey, 186 Conn. 337, 345, 441 A.2d 604 (1982); Miller v. Board of Education, 166 Conn. 189, 194, 348 A.2d 584 (1974).

In moving for the passage of substitute House Bill 501, after a favorable report from the committee on roads and bridges, Representative Gennaro W. Frate, chairman of the committee, stated: "This bill would permit the State Traffic Commission to route truck traffic in cooperation with the local officials of the towns involved. The reason for this bill, in the 1955 session there were two special acts passed, one for the city of Hartford and one for the city of New Haven, which gave these two cities the powers to route truck traffic. This year four more cities requested the same powers. The committee on roads felt this power should be handled by the State Traffic Commission, on page 10, file 840, there is a bill that would repeal these two special acts." (Emphasis added.) 7 H.R.Proc., Pt. 4, 1957 Sess., p. 2056. The statement of the legislator who reported the bill out of committee carries particular weight and deserves careful consideration. Robinson v. Unemployment Security Board of Review, 181 Conn. 1, 15 n. 4, 434 A.2d 293 (1980).

On the floor of the House of Representatives, just prior to the passage of substitute House Bill 501, Representative Frederick Pope, Jr., remarked: "Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that I don't quite understand why there's so much question on this bill. I think it stands to reason that the State Traffic Commission has to be in on this; otherwise you would have 169 towns solving a state-wide problem in separate ways. You can well imagine that if one town routed the traffic on one road, and the town adjoining picked another...