176 N.E. 261 | Ill. | 1931
William McKinley, the plaintiff in error, was found guilty in the municipal court of Chicago of a violation of section 3855 of the Chicago municipal code of 1922 by permitting an automobile to stand for a period of time longer than was necessary for the reasonably expeditious loading or unloading of passengers and for a greater length of time than three minutes, in front of 167 West Quincy street, within the area of restricted parking established by the ordinance. It was shown that he drove his car, a passenger sedan, in Quincy street and stopped at No. 175, between Wells and LaSalle streets, about 2:10 P. M. and went into *299 the building, leaving the car standing there until 2:40 P. M. The ordinance is in the following language:
"An Ordinance amending Section 3855 of the Chicago
"3855. Parking prohibited on certain streets during certainhours. — On and after March 28, 1929, no person, firm or corporation owning, controlling, driving or operating any passenger vehicle shall cause or permit such vehicle to stand for a period of time longer than is necessary for the reasonably expeditious loading or unloading of passengers, provided such loading or unloading shall not consume more than three minutes; or to stand any commercial vehicle for a period of time longer than is necessary for the reasonably expeditious loading, unloading and delivery or pick-up of materials, provided such loading, unloading and delivery or pick-up shall not consume more than thirty minutes, on any public street or alley in the city of Chicago within the district bounded on the north by the south line of Wacker drive, on the east by the west line of Michigan boulevard, on the south by the south line of Harrison street, on the west by the east line of Market street, nor upon the upper level of Michigan avenue between the north line of Randolph street and the south line of Wacker drive, during the hours from 7:00 o'clock A. M. to 6:00 o'clock P. M. of any day except Sundays, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, and except on Saturdays when the restriction within the above designated area shall be in force from 7:00 o'clock A. M. to 3:00 o'clock P. M.; provided that this section shall not apply to any duly licensed taxicab *300 when standing in any cab-stand fixed by ordinance; provided, further, that it shall not apply to any ambulance nor to any emergency vehicle of the city of Chicago, Federal government, the county of Cook, or to the vehicle of any public utility while the operator of any such vehicle is engaged in the necessary performance of emergency duties; and further provided, that this section shall not apply to any vehicle brought to a stop to avoid collision, or standing in compliance with the orders of any public officer or the direction of any traffic control signal. Any person, firm or corporation that shall violate or fail to comply with the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $1 nor more than $25 for each offense."
The defense was that the ordinance is unreasonable and that it is void upon the ground that it is an amendment of a void ordinance.
As appears from the ordinance set out above, it is an amendment of section 3855 of the Chicago municipal code of 1922 as amended, which was the ordinance held unreasonable, and therefore invalid, in Haggenjos v. City of Chicago,
The violation of the ordinance occurred between Wells and LaSalle streets. The building of the Central Trust Company occupies the entire south side of Quincy street in that block. It is twenty-two stories high, and there is considerable traffic of patrons of the bank stopping there and *302 of Brinks express wagons taking money to and from the Federal Reserve Bank on the opposite side of the street. Big trucks also unload coal on the north side of the street. On the northwest corner of LaSalle and Quincy streets is the Federal Reserve Bank building, extending west on Quincy street about 100 feet, and immediately west of it is the Old Colony Life building, occupying the remainder of the block — about 200 feet. The Federal Reserve Bank building is occupied in part by the Federal Reserve Bank and on several of its floors are private offices. The Old Colony Life building has fifteen stories, the lower four occupied by the offices of the Old Colony Life Insurance Company and the upper eleven stories used for offices. The street is 45 feet wide. LaSalle and Wells streets where they intersect Quincy are busy streets. Wells is a through street, on which are both surface and elevated railway lines.
The plaintiff in error argues that an ordinance prohibiting all passenger vehicles from standing for any length of time except the time required to load or unload passengers, not exceeding three minutes, during an entire business day over an area of seventy-two city blocks, is unreasonable and void, and that this case is controlled by the Haggenjos case notwithstanding the amendments to the ordinance. The amendments were passed before the decision in the Haggenjos case was rendered, and could not, therefore, have been made with that decision in view. The first question presented in the brief is, therefore, whether the change made by the amendments of March 18, 1929, saves the amended ordinance from invalidity under theHaggenjos case, and the plaintiff in error insists that it does not; that to prohibit the standing of any vehicle for any purpose except for loading or unloading amounts substantially to total prohibition. It does amount to total prohibition of the use of the street for the parking or storage of vehicles. The argument of the plaintiff in error is that the amended ordinance prohibits standing for any purpose except as an incident *303 of traffic; that no person having any business in the loop can stop his automobile during any business day for any length of time for the transaction of business or for any purpose except as an incident of transportation; that he must keep traveling, and his only business must be that of traveling, and the question is asked, Is such an ordinance a reasonable exercise of power by the city? A negative answer to this question must be based upon the premise that persons using the street for personal transportation have a right to park their vehicles on the street for their convenience while they leave them for the transaction of business with the merchants, lawyers, stores, banks, hotels and the occupants of offices and buildings in the street.
It was held in Tolman Co. v. City of Chicago,
No doubt it often would be convenient for a person to leave his car temporarily at the curb for such time as suits his convenience while he walks across the sidewalk to do *305 an errand, make a purchase, leave a message, make an appointment, telephone, or attend to some other business in his own or some other person's office, but if one person may do it so may every other person, and soon the curbs on both sides of the street might be lined with parked automobiles, the street crowded, traffic clogged and great inconvenience caused to all persons having occasion to use the street for its primary and legitimate purpose. There is no such right of individuals so to park their cars on the street which may not be regulated by ordinance. Parking may be regulated as to time when, place where and length of time permitted, due consideration being given to the necessities and convenience of those desiring to use the streets for going from one place to another and of those who desire to use them for the transportation, delivery and shipping of merchandise, materials, fuel and supplies and the character of the traffic affected.
This ordinance applies to seventy-two blocks, which include the loop district in the city of Chicago. The plaintiff in error contends that the extension of the ordinance over all this territory is unreasonable. The plaintiff in error testified that Quincy street was not a busy street, but the officer who was the only other witness in the case testified that beginning in the morning it was a very busy street until three o'clock in the afternoon. It is argued that while in certain streets or parts of streets in the loop no parking should be allowed at any time, in Quincy street between LaSalle and Wells, where there is practically no traffic at all during the business day, parking might very well be allowed at all times, and again at different times of the business day the same street may require or admit of different kinds of regulation. This argument is not based on the evidence, which does not show that there is practically no traffic during the business day on Quincy street between LaSalle and Wells. The city council had the right to regulate the use of the streets by ordinances, so as to prevent, *306 as far as possible, the loss and inconvenience arising from traffic congestion. It was for the council to determine what means should be adopted to remove the causes of such congestion, and its determination of such means cannot be disturbed unless the means adopted are unreasonable. It is the province of the council to decide in what streets or parts of streets, during what hours and for what length of time limitation of the right to park or allow a vehicle to remain standing on the street is necessary to a proper regulation of traffic, and we are not justified in holding those contained in the ordinance to be unreasonable unless they are clearly so, and in our judgment this cannot be said of them.
The plaintiff in error cites in support of his positionEx parte Battis,
The plaintiff in error contends that the ordinance of March 18, 1929, is void and should not have been received in evidence because it is an attempt to amend the ordinance of December 14, 1927, which was declared void in the Haggenjos case. The title given to the ordinance is, "An ordinance amending section 3855 of the Chicago municipal code of 1922 as amended," and the ordinance proceeds to enact that section 3855 be amended to read as follows, (then follows the section as amended.) It is a complete ordinance of itself, prescribing rules in regard to the subject matter of the parking of vehicles within the limits defined in the ordinance. In School Directors v. SchoolDirectors,
In People v. Bowman,
The judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed. *309