White v. City of Twin Falls

• Decision Date: 27 April 1959
• Docket Number: No. 8711,8711
• Citation: 338 P.2d 778,81 Idaho 176
• Parties: Thomas B. WHITE and J. Eugene White, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF TWIN FALLS, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 778

338 P.2d 778

81 Idaho 176

Thomas B. WHITE and J. Eugene White, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF TWIN FALLS, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 8711.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

April 27, 1959.

Rayborn & Rayborn, Lloyd J. Webb, Twin Falls, for appellants.

Wm. J. Langley, Twin Falls, for respondent.

NORRIS, District Judge.

Appellants own a certain rectangular parcel of real property situate at the northwest corner of the intersection of Blue Lakes Boulevard North and Filer Avenue, within the corporate limits of the City of Twin Falls; its dimensions are 175 feet by 225 feet with the longer frontage facing east and bordering upon Blue Lakes Boulevard North. The City's Zoning Ordinance No. 1034 presently classifies the whole property as C-4, a Plant Nursery District, and limits its business use to restricted floral purposes only. Appellants may otherwise use their property as a one-family residence.

Appellants operate their florist business in and upon the southeast portion of the property, of dimensions 110 feet east and west, by 91 feet north and south. The floral shop is located within 25 feet of the two fronting streets with this 25 feet used as a parking area for patrons of the business. Appellants' greenhouse is located to the rear and connects onto the west wall of their floral shop; several sheds and situate to the rear and west of the greenhouse. Appellants seek a reclassification of this portion of their property to C-2, a Neighborhood Business District, a commercial classification, permitting 'Automobile service stations without major repairs' under section 12 of Zoning Ordinance No. 1034.

If the reclassification is accomplished, appellants desire, and have agreed, to sell such portion of the property to an oil company which has agreed to purchase it, and to erect and maintain a service station thereon.

Section 15 of Zoning Ordinance No. 1034 restricts the use of appellants' property to the raising and sale of flowers, plants, shrubs, bushes and small trees; to the sale of containers, ornamental or otherwise, as are used for growing or containing plant life, and sale of fertilizers and similar materials packaged in quantities not to exceed one hundred pounds; and prohibits 'the sale of gardening tools, wheel-barrows, carts and other similar items * * *.'

The intersection, Blue Lakes Boulevard North and Filer Avenue, upon which appellants' property borders is one of the principal intersections of the City. Blue Lakes Boulevard North, extending north and south, is a part of the State Highway system known as U.S. Highway 93, connecting California and Nevada with Central Idaho and Montana. Filer Avenue, extending east and west, serves the surrounding residential areas, commercial enterprises hereinafter described, and Twin Falls High School having an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students situate about five blocks east of appellants' property.

Appellants and their predecessors have used the property for purposes of a floral business continuously for approximately 25 years, since the early 1930's.

The City of Twin Falls annexed appellants' property November 20, 1944.

By Ordinance No. 670 adopted in 1945, the City was zoned and appellants' property placed in a residential zone. By later Ordinance No. 766, adopted in July 1948, appellants' property was permitted to continue its nursery and floral business as 'non-conforming uses.'

In 1955 the City's Planning and Zoning Commission and its Board of Commissioners began and from time to time held public hearings and considered petitions looking to rezoning the entire city, affording opportunity to all persons, including appellants, to appear and be heard.

The Planning and Zoning Commission at a meeting held March 1, 1956, voted to recommend the rezoning of appellants' property to C-2 classification, a Neighborhood Business District. Later, May 29, 1956, the Commission reversed itself and voted to recommend appellants' property as C-4 classification, a Plant Nursery District.

The City, July 2, 1956, adopted its present Zoning Ordinance No. 1034, by vote of its Board of three Commissioners, two voting for and one against its adoption. This ordinance places appellants' property in its present C-4 restricted classification of Plant Nursery District.

The City later rejected appellants' request for reclassification of their property, from its present C-4, a Plant Nursery District, to C-2, a Neighborhood Business District.

Appellants thereupon commenced the present proceeding, seeking a declaratory judgment determining the City's Zoning Ordinance No. 1034 void in its application to that part of appellants' property in and upon which their floral business is conducted.

The trial court after a hearing, made findings of fact and conclusions of law, and entered its judgment and decree adverse to appellants' contentions, decreeing the City's Ordinance No. 1034 to be valid and enforceable as to the C-4 Plant Nursery classification of appellants' property. Appellants appeal from the judgment.

Appellants admit that the City complied with all statutory requirements in adopting the zoning ordinances. They contend only, that Ordinance No. 1034 is invalid and void insofar as it affects their property.

Evidence presented by both parties at the trial is without conflict. Such being true, only questions of law are involved on this appeal, and the parties so submit the matter.

Appellants' assignments of error present the question whether the City's Zoning Ordinance No. 1034 is arbitrary, unreasonable, discriminatory and confiscatory, and therefore invalid in its application to appellants' property.

Further uncontradicted evidence relevant to the issue presented is substantially as follows:

Four days before the trial, on a Thursday, in two 1-hour periods and one 1 1/2 hour period, 3,066 automobiles traveled the intersection of Blue Lakes Boulevard North and Filer Avenue. At the time of the trial the City had arranged for the installation of traffic control lights at this intersection; and prior thereto at rush times the City had found it necessary to have a policeman in the intersection to control the traffic.

Extending northeasterly from the intersection covering an area of approximately eight acres, is a Neighborhood Business District known as the Lynwood Shopping Center. An automobile service station is situate in the southwest portion of this eight acre tract bordering Blue Lakes Boulevard North; this station is directly east across the street from appellants' property. Immediately east of such service station, facing south on Filer Avenue, is a supermarket. Bordering the supermarket on the east are several professional offices, and to the east of those offices is a drug store which dispenses general merchandise. Further commercial development of the Lynwood Shopping Center is permitted by Ordinance No. 1034 and is within the contemplation of the property owners.

Diagonally across the street from appellants' property and on the southeast corner of the said intersection is located another automobile service station. A commercially zoned strip of property of the approximate dimension of 250 feet by 350 feet bordering Filer Avenue is located just east of this last mentioned service station. Only on the southwest corner of said intersection is there residence property.

About one block south of appellants' property and on the east side of Blue Lakes Boulevard North is located still another automobile service station.

The supermarket and the drug store located in the Lynwood Shopping Center are permitted by the City's Ordinance No. 1034 also to engage in floral merchandising; however, unlike appellants, those businesses are not restricted, but are permitted to sell any and all items conceivably connected with a plant nursery and floral business. The unrestricted competitive uses allowed the owners of the supermarket and drug store (plus unrestricted retail sales allowed in floral and gardening lines of merchandise elsewhere in the city) have resulted in economic disaster to appellants' business. Appellants' net profit in 1956 and 1957 from their floral business amounted to less than $150 each year.

The part of appellants' property upon which the floral business is located, together with such business, has a value of between $12,500 and $16,000. The value of this same property for residential purposes, being the only other use permitted by the ordinance is between $6,500 and $8,000. Appellants, under the existing agreement with an oil company, will be able forthwith to sell this portion of their property, without improvements, for use for 'automobile service station without major repairs,' (per Ordinance No. 1034), for the sum of $32,500, provided it be reclassified as C-2, a Neighborhood Business District.

Two real estate dealers and appraisers, called by appellants, testified that the construction of an automobile service station upon appellants' property would increase adjacent property values and improve the appearance of the area. Further testimony shows that such a service station with adequate parking facilities would add to traffic safety at the intersection and streets adjacent to appellants' property.

The evidence further shows that two automobile service stations presently located at this intersection, are the first service stations in a distance of 25 miles south from Shoshone, Idaho; and that it is necessary for south-bound traffic, using this Highway No. 93, to make a left turn across the north-bound traffic lane in order to enter either of these two service stations.

The power to restrict the uses of property is within the police power of the state, delegable to its municipal subdivisions, and is not per se repugnant to the Constitution of the United States. This power, however, is not without limitations, as was said in Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 48 S.Ct. 447, 448, 72 L.Ed. 842:

'The...