Owens v. Owens, 14050.

Decision Date01 April 1940
Docket NumberNo. 14050.,14050.
CourtSouth Carolina Supreme Court
PartiesOWENS . v. OWENS, Mayor, et al. MAXWELL & QUINN REALTY CO, Inc. v. CITY OF COLUMBIA.

8 S.E.2d 339

OWENS .
v.
OWENS, Mayor, et al.
MAXWELL & QUINN REALTY CO, Inc.
v.
CITY OF COLUMBIA.

No. 14050.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

April 1, 1940.


[8 S.E.2d 340]

Appeal from Common Pleas Circuit Court of Richland County; Philip H. Stoll, Judge.

Action by H. F. Owens, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, against L. B. Owens, mayor, W. D. Bar-nett, and others, City Councilmen of the City of Columbia, and the City of Columbia for a permanent injunction restraining use by defendant city of parking meters. From a judgment denying the permanent injunction and dismissing the complaint, the plaintiff appeals. An action by Maxwell & Quinn Realty Company, Inc., against the City of Columbia, a municipal corporation, involving substantially the same issues, was consolidated with the above case so that they could be heard together by the Supreme Court.

Affirmed and all restraining orders vacated.

Odom, Bostick & Taylor, of Spartanburg, for appellant.

Paul A. Cooper, Jos. L. Nettles, and C. T. Graydon, all of Columbia, for respondents.

E. H. HENDERSON, Acting Associate Justice.

Columbia is the capital of South Carolina, and is situated near the geographical center of the State. A number of highways enter it from all directions. With the growth of the city, and the great increase in automobile travel, the regulation of traffic on the streets of the city has, for many years, presented a serious problem to its law enforcement officers.

Of even greater moment has become the matter of the regulation of the parking of automobiles on the streets, especially in the congested business district.

For some time ordinances have been in force limiting the time allowed for parking, but enforcement of these regulations has been most difficult. The city has assigned members of the police to make chalk marks on the tires of parked cars, and to note the time, so that they may see, on making their rounds an hour later, if the cars remain parked beyond the permitted time.

This method has proved to be quite unsatisfactory, as the chalk marks are very easily removed, and differences of opinion between the officers and the owners of automobiles are hard to settle.

As a result, on August 26, 1939, the City of Columbia, pursuant to an ordinance duly adopted by the City Council, entered into a contract with an electric company for the installation of automatic parking meters on certain streets of the city.

These meters are devices about the size of a mantel clock, containing a clock mechanism, and mounted on iron standards installed along the curbing, one to each parking area. The parking areas are marked off on the street by white painted lines. The motorist who parks in one of these spaces is required to deposit into the nearest meter a penny for twelve minutes of parking time in some areas, and a five cent coin for one hour in other areas. The placing of the coin in the meter starts the clock mechanism. The dial of the clock is visible from either side, so that the number of minutes of parking time used is at all times apparent to the police and to others.

When the legal parking time has elapsed a red marker shows on the meter. When a second coin is inserted the meter reverts to that time. If a motorist has not used all of his parking time and moves away, another motorist parking his car in the same space does not have to place a coin in the meter in order to use the remaining time as indicated upon the face of the clock.

The contract with the electric company provides that the company will furnish 1, 000 to 2, 000 mechanical parking meters, at a price of $57.50 each for one kind of meter, or $59.50 each for another. Seventy-five per centum of the revenue accruing from the meters is to be paid monthly to the electric company until the purchase price is paid in full. The revenue collected is to be kept in a special fund. A trial period of six months is provided for. The city has the right within fifteen days after the expiration of the trial period to terminate the proposed contract. If the contract is thus terminated the electric company is obligated to remove the meters at its own expense, and all obligations between the parties cease.

Pursuant to the ordinance and contract, the electric company proceeded to place the

[8 S.E.2d 341]

meters on six blocks of Main Street, and on one block of each street intersecting Main Street to the East and West, from the southern side of Laurel Street to Ger-vais Street. There are no meters on Sumter Street or Assembly Street, and there is no limit for the parking of cars on those streets.

There are two cases, and they were heard together by this Court.

On November 1, 1939, the plaintiff H. F. Owens, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated...

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