Roosevelt Field v. Town of North Hempstead
| Decision Date | 18 May 1949 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 9707. |
| Citation | 84 F. Supp. 456 |
| Parties | ROOSEVELT FIELD, Inc. et al. v. TOWN OF NORTH HEMPSTEAD et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Edwards, Froehlich & McDonough, Mineola, N. Y. (Francis B. Froehlich, Mineola, N. Y., of counsel), for Commissioners of Carle Place Water Dist., for the motion.
James G. Moore, Garden City, N. Y., for plaintiff, in opposition.
This is a motion by all of the defendants, except the Town of North Hempstead, to dismiss the action on the ground that it fails to state a claim, and on the further ground that the court lacks jurisdiction in that there is no federal question involved and diversity does not appear on the face of the complaint and in fact does not exist. In the alternative the defendants move to strike from the complaint paragraphs designated 4, 12, 20 and 21 on the ground that the paragraphs are immaterial, impertinent, sham and scandalous.
The action is brought by Roosevelt Field, Inc., on behalf of itself and 11 other corporations. The complaint alleges the respective capacities of the plaintiff and the defendants (the Town of North Hempstead and the Commissioners of Carle Place Water District). Plaintiff Roosevelt Field, Inc., hereafter referred to as Roosevelt, is engaged in operating an airport consisting of 250 acres of land in the County of Nassau, together with numerous buildings where it furnishes shelter, servicing and repair for aircraft. The land is used by plaintiff as a landing area for the landing and take-off of aircraft and for receiving and discharging passengers and cargo. The landing area is located in two civil airways of the United States, and for many years has been, and still is, an air navigation facility in these airways. The landing area consists of six runways for the ascent and descent of aircraft. The airport (under various names) has been used without interruption for about 40 years.
On June 24, 1948, the defendant Carle Place Water District and its commissioners became vested with title to a plot of land on Mineola Avenue approximately 200 feet west of Carle Road. It is alleged in the complaint that that defendants threaten to erect on that plot a tank for the storage of 500,000 gallons of water of the height of about 162 feet above the level of the plot and that the plot is less than 3,000 feet from the northern boundary of Roosevelt Field and lies directly on line with runways 4 and 22, and in the approach, turning and maneuver zones of each of the other runways. It is claimed that the tank will constitute an aeronautic hazard and violates and will violate the regulations for the protection of air navigation established by the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the United States and the Civil Aeronautics Board of the United States. It is further alleged that the tank will project into the upper air above the minimum safe altitude for aircraft ascending and descending from and upon runways 4 and 22, and for aircraft turning and maneuvering for ascent and descent upon each of the other runways. It is averred that the tank will constitute a public nuisance and that the usefullness of the landing area as a civil airway facility will be impaired and the business of plaintiff and of the related parties greatly reduced.
The action is brought under the Commerce Clause, 28 U.S.C.A. § 1337, and United States Air Commerce Act of 1926, 49 U.S.C.A. § 171 et seq. and section 671.
The landing area is rated as a Class 2 Airport by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. To qualify for such rating it is required by the Administration that the approaches to said landing area shall be clear of obstructions within a glide path of 30 feet horizontally to every foot vertically from the end of the usable area of the landing area. The erection of the tank will disqualify the landing area as Class 2 Airport, and cause a revocation of such Class 2 rating.
It is also urged that for the past 40 years planes taking off from the airfield have flown across the land of the water district at a height of 70 feet and that the plaintiff and the related parties are without adequate remedy at law.
The prayer for relief is as follows: (1) that it be adjudged that the said tank is an aeronautical hazard; (2) that it be adjudged that the said tank is a public nuisance; (3) that the defendants be permanently enjoined from constructing and maintaining the tank; (4) that it be adjudged that Roosevelt have an easement by prescription over and upon the land in question; (5) that it be adjudged that by virtue of the user, the said plot of land by implied contract is servient to intra and interstate air commerce at a height of and above 70 feet thereover; (6) that plaintiff have the cost and disbursements of the action.
In support of the motion to strike, there is an affidavit attached to the moving papers. Paragraph 12 of the complaint sets forth that for the past 40 years aircraft have regularly and continually flown across and over a plot of land upon which the water tower is to be erected at a height of approximately 70 feet. It is pointed out that the allegation is demonstrably false, particularly in view of the history of aviation, concerning which this court can take judicial notice.
Paragraph 4 of the complaint, also attached, deals with the alleged jurisdiction of this court. The affidavit states that "an examination of these sections will show there are no pertinent provisions therein set forth pertaining to the subject matter involved in this particular litigation". If this paragraph be stricken, the complaint must fall.
Paragraph 20 of the complaint, also sought to be stricken, alleges that on or about July 1948 the water district applied to the Civil Aeronautics Administration for approval of the erection of the tank, and that approval was denied, the said tank being held to be a definite hazard. The affidavit points out that there is no law under which that administration has power to prevent the erection of this particular tower, and, therefore, the allegation is palpably false. Attached to the affidavit is a copy of a letter which was received by Sidney B. Bowne, engineer for the District, wherein it is stated that the administration "does not have the authority to prevent this construction". The letter further requests the commissioners in the District to reconsider recommendations previously made to them by the administration.1
In plaintiff's brief it is pointed out that the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics has prescribed...
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