Town of East Haven v. City of New Haven

• Decision Date: 09 June 1970
• Citation: 271 A.2d 110,159 Conn. 453
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: TOWN OF EAST HAVEN et al. v. CITY OF NEW HAVEN et al.

Page 110

271 A.2d 110

159 Conn. 453

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN et al. v. CITY OF NEW HAVEN et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

June 9, 1970.

Roger J. Frechette, Asst. Corporation Counsel, with whom was Thomas F. Keyes, Jr., Corporation Counsel, for appellants (defendants).

Anthony v. DeMayo, New Haven, with whom, on the brief, was Edward W. Cohen, New Haven, for appellees (plaintiffs).

Before Associate Justices Alcorn, House, Cotter, Thim and Ryan of the Supreme Court, concurring.

Justice Charles S. House and Justice John R. Thim, dissenting.

RYAN, Associate Justice.

This action involves questions relating to a municipal airport owned and operated by the city of New Haven and located in New Haven and East Haven. The boundary line between the two municipalities runs through the area used as the airport. The airport was established pursuant to the provisions of Special Acts 1927, No. 267, as amended by Special Acts 1929, No. 266. 20 Spec.Laws 289, 849. The 1929 act provided 'The city of New Haven is authorized to establish and maintain an airport within the limits of said city and the town of East Haven and to acquire property as a site for such airport, either by purchase or by condemnation proceedings under the provisions of the general statutes.'

Prior to April 17, 1940, New Haven purchased a large tract of land for the purpose of expanding the airport. At that time, a highway known as Thompson Avenue ran between New Haven and East Haven, and in order to implement the plans to expand the airport it was necessary to close Thompson Avenue. Following negotiations between the two municipalities, East Haven and New Haven on August 13, 1940, entered into a written contract pursuant to appropriate actions by the board of aldermen of the city of New Haven and the town meeting of the town of East Haven. Under the terms of the contract, New Haven agreed to reimburse East Haven for any damages which East Haven might be required to pay as a result of the closing of the portion of Thompson Avenue which lay within the limits of the town of East Haven. East Haven closed the East Haven portion of Thompson Avenue at a point near the airport boundary. New Haven closed the portion of the highway lying on its side of the boundary between the two municipalities, and what had been a section of Thompson Avenue in both municipalities became a part of the extended airport runway. To replace Thompson Avenue, New Haven constructed a new road south of where that avenue had run. The portion of the new highway which lay within the bounds of East Haven was designated as Ora Avenue, and the portion which lay within the bounds of New Haven was designated as Uriah Street.

In 1967 New Haven purchased an additional seventy-three acres of land in East Haven to expand the airport and extend the north-south runway. Permission for this acquisition was not obtained from the town of East Haven, nor was its approval obtained for the proposed airport expansion. The city of New Haven pays no taxes on the airport property it owns in East Haven, and the town registered its disapproval of the airport expansion. In April, 1967, the board of aldermen of the city of New Haven, in accordance with the plan to extend the runway, formally voted that Uriah Street, in that city, from the city line to the westerly boundary of the airport 'shall be closed, and vacated,' and Uriah Street was effectively closed to through traffic by the action of the city in causing a section of pavement in the road to be torn up.

This summary of the factual background of the present action, although incomplete in many details, suffices for an understanding of the bitterly contested claims of the parties and the reasons for our decision on this appeal. The plaintiffs are the town of East Haven and five residents of the town, acting for themselves and, pursuant to General Statutes § 52-105, in behalf of all other persons similarly situated. The defendants are the city of New Haven, the board of aldermen of that city, and the New Haven board of airport commissioners. The plaintiffs' complaint, dated April 24, 1967, alleged the agreement between the city and the town for the discontinuance of Thompson Avenue and that New Haven, in consideration of the closing of that street, agreed to construct a 'replacement road which road upon completion was accepted by the Town of East Haven, became its property and came under its regulation an control.' The complaint then alleged the closing of Uriah Street by New Haven and that this closing has caused the plaintiffs irreparable damage and was improper, illegal and invalid and breached the existing contract between the respective municipalities dated August 13, 1940. The plaintiffs alleged that the closing of the street deprived them of the use of the highway and of rights of access to which they were entitled under that contract and threatened them with serious safety hazards. They also alleged that necessary legal procedure was not followed in closing the street and that 'said road is the property of and in the control of the Town of East Haven and the City of New Haven has no control over it and had no authority to close the same.'

In a second count the plaintiffs alleged that in April, 1967, the city of New Haven publicly announced its intention to expand the airport further into East Haven, that the approval of East Haven had not been obtained for that expansion, that despite East Haven's disapproval work proceeded on the expansion and that unless New Haven is prevented from continuing the expansion the plaintiffs will suffer irreparable damage. By way of relief the plaintiffs claimed an injunction restraining the defendants from impeding the use of the road known as Uriah Street and Ora Avenue as used from 1940 to April 22, 1967, and from performing any acts to expand the airport over any portion of East Haven for which expansion approval has not been obtained from that town, and an order directing New Haven to repair and restore the Uriah Street-Ora Avenue roadway to the condition in which it was prior to April 22, 1967. In addition the plaintiffs claimed $100,000 damages and a determination of their rights and interests in the roadway, the right of the defendants to close it, and the right of New Haven to utilize real property in East Haven to expand its airport operation.

By way of answer the defendants admitted that the two municipalities had entered into an agreement on August 13, 1940, but expressly denied that the agreement contained the terms and provisions alleged by the plaintiffs and also denied that approval by East Haven was necessary before New Haven could proceed with the work of expanding the airport. By way of special defense the defendants pleaded that their actions were necessary and were designed to operate the airport more efficiently and safely, pursuant to the directives of state and federal agencies, and that to grant the injunctive relief sought by the plaintiffs would be harsh, inequitable and oppressive. The defendants also pleaded that they stood ready, willing and able to construct a substitute or replacement road in the vicinity which would equally, or even more beneficially, facilitate vehicular traffic in the area.

The trial court concluded, inter alia, that East Haven had both a legal and equitable right to the continued existence of the road which replaced Thompson Avenue, namely, Ora Avenue-Uriah Street; that the agreement of August 13, 1940, has been fully performed; that there was ample memorandum in writing to satisfy the Statute of Frauds; that § 15-79 of the General Statutes, as it then existed, ¹ repealed the 1927 and 1929 Special Acts which authorized New Haven to acquire airport property in East Haven by purchase or condemnation; and that the removal from the tax rolls of property purchased by New Haven in East Haven constituted a 'taking' for which East Haven's was required under the provisions of General Statutes § 15-79. The court rendered judgment declaring that East Haven has a legal and equitable right to the continued existence and use of Ora Avenue-Uriah Street and enjoining the defendants from impeding the layout and use of that roadway as it existed from 1940 to April, 1967, and 'from performing any acts calculated to expand its airport into, on or over any portion of East Haven for which expansion permission has not been obtained from said Town, whether such expansion takes the form of physical expansion or the mere maintenance of clear zones over property located in East Have.' It is from this judgment that the defendants have appealed.

Basic to the ultimate conclusions of the court are the conclusions that East Haven has a legal and equitable right to the continued existence of 'this replacement road' and that the 'agreement of August 13, 1940, has been fully performed, in addition to which there is ample memorandum in writing to satisfy the Statute of Frauds.' Both of these conclusions have been attacked by the defendants, who, throughout the trial, pressed objections predicated upon the Statute of Frauds. Without belaboring the point, it suffices to state that we find nothing in the exhibits or the findings of fact which supports these conclusions of the court. The agreement of August 13, 1940, cannot possibly be construed as a grant by New Haven to East Haven of any right, title or interest in Uriah Street, lying in New Haven, or as an agreement for its continued maintenance or existence. The only obligation undertaken by New Haven in that agreement was to reimburse East Haven for any damages which East Haven might be required to pay as a result of the closing by East Haven of the portion of Thompson Avenue which lay within the bounds of that town. If any further or other agreement existed, we find no evidence of it in the record. Nor do we find any written memorandum regarding it, let alone one ample to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. We deem it significant that...