27 S.E.2d 334 | Ga. | 1943
1. In order for a constitutional attack to be valid, the statute which the party challenges and the particular provision of the constitution alleged to have been violated must be clearly specified, and it must also be shown wherein the statute violates such constitutional provision.
2. It not being alleged in the petition that as a matter of fact no slum area exists in the territory of the Regional Housing Authority, or that the activities of the Authority complained of do not in fact concern a slum area, the averments (a) that the property sought to be exempted is not public property, (b) that the project does not provide for the clearance of slums except by the agreement of the farmer that he will demolish a substandard house, (c) and that certain low income families are to be given priority in the occupancy of houses over other low-income families, there being no charge that such is to be done by the Housing Authority arbitrarily, show no right in the plaintiff, a citizen and taxpayer, to enjoin the Housing Authority from constructing the project, or to attack the validity of carrying out the contracts made by the Housing Authority pursuant to the housing-authorities law.
Other allegations were, that the board of commissioners adopted resolutions wherein one member from each of said counties was appointed as a commissioner for the Regional Authority, as prescribed by the act, which appointments were approved in writing by the State Director of Housing; that the Commissioners of said Regional Authority met and duly organized under the name of "Southwest Georgia Regional Housing Authority," and purported to assume all of the outstanding obligations and contracts of the county authorities, and to be vested with all of the powers and functions set forth in said housing-authorities law, and proposed to construct certain dwelling units, and to enter into similar contracts with other farmers. There was no denial that the insanitary and unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations existed in the territory involved. *677
The following contentions were made in the petition:
"That all of the proposed acts, including those already performed by the county authorities and those to be performed by the regional authority, are and will be illegal, invalid, and unconstitutional; for
"1. The proposed scheme of building houses in rural communities is not for a public purpose, and is in reality for the private purpose of certain landowners and tenants in violation of the aforementioned housing-authorities law as amended, and is not authorized by said law, and, if authorized by said law, is in violation of the constitution of the State, in that public moneys are being expended for private purposes.
"2. That the property acquired by said defendant and to be acquired is not exempt from taxes as `public property,' nor is it exempt from taxes as being property belonging to `institutions of purely public charity' within the meaning of article 7, section 2, paragraph 2, of the constitution.
"3. That said low-income families are given priority in the occupancy of the homes comprising the project, over other low-income families, because they are tenants or tenant-farmers or wage-earners and selectees of the farmers, and, as such, amounts to an illegal and unlawful discrimination in favor of these tenants, in violation of the State and Federal constitutions.
"4. That said project does not provide for the clearance of slums except by the agreement of the farmer, and that he will demolish a substandard house located on his farm, and does not constitute a clearance of slums within the meaning of the housing-authorities law, as amended.
"5. That the issuance of said bonds and notes is unlawful, and that they are not issued for a public purpose nor a charitable purpose, nor for public property, within the meaning of said housing-authorities law and the constitution of Georgia."
The prayers were, that the said housing-authorities law "in so far as it authorizes rural housing by the defendant Regional Housing Authority, be declared null and void;" that the proposed actions as set out in the petition be declared invalid and unconstitutional; that the authority be enjoined from constructing the project, from entering into additional contracts with farmers, from issuing bonds and notes, and from carrying out the contracts made *678 by the county authorities, the same to be declared null and void; that the real and personal property of the Regional Authority be declared subject to taxation; that the bonds and the income derived therefrom be declared subject to taxation; and for general relief.
A general demurrer to the petition was sustained; and the plaintiff excepted.
1. The record does not properly present for decision the constitutionality of any of the housing-authority acts referred to in the petition, or the validity of any portion thereof. No specific provision of the constitution is alleged to have been violated, nor is it shown wherein the statute violates any such provision. Abel v. State,
2. It is not alleged in the petition that as a matter of fact no slum area exists in the territory of the Regional Authority, or that the activities of the authority complained against do not in fact concern a slum area. In the absence of a valid attack on the constitutionality of the act, the allegation that the proposed scheme of building houses in rural communities is not for a public purpose raises only a question as to the construction of our statute; and for the same reason the further allegation that the same is in reality for the private purpose of certain landowners and tenants, in violation of the law, raises no issue, provided the authority is proceeding to apply the provisions of the law to a situation contemplated by the law; and there is no allegation to the contrary. Likewise the allegation that the property is not exempt from taxes as "public property," or exempt as belonging to "institutions of purely public charity," states a mere conclusion of law, no facts *679 being alleged to support it. The allegation that certain low-income families are to be given priority in the occupancy of the houses comprising the project, over other low-income families, is not a charge that one or more was arbitrarily to be given preference over another; and for that reason it affords no basis for the contention that it amounts to an unlawful discrimination, even if the plaintiff, in the absence of an allegation that he, although entitled thereto, was denied the right to occupy one of the houses, could be heard on such a complaint. Finally, an analysis of the averment, "That said project does not provide for the clearance of slums, except by the agreement of the farmer, and that he will demolish a substandard house located on his farm, and does not constitute a clearance of slums within the meaning of the housing-authorities law as amended," construed most strongly against the pleader, fails to show that there is here anything to entitle the complainant to any of the relief sought. The allegation that the scheme does not constitute a clearance of slums within the meaning of the law is a mere conclusion with no fact stated on which to rest it, except the clause immediately preceding, that the project contemplates an agreement of the farmer that he will demolish a substandard house. The project might well contemplate just that, and still, if it be in fact a slum clearance project, it would not be invalid because of such an agreement. Here again is the absence of an averment that the project does not operate in a slum area, and that the houses to be demolished are not slums. An averment that a house is substandard does not negative the idea that it is a part of a slum district.
Paragraph 3 of the petition says that the United States Housing Authority has made loans to the county authorities for the purpose of financing ninety per cent. of the cost of construction of houses for farmers of low income; the agreement being that each landowner "shall demolish or eliminate at least one unsafe or insanitary dwelling unit." In paragraph 9 it is said that the Regional Authority "proposes to rent same to farmers or their selectees."
Paragraph 10 contains the statement that "The proposed scheme of building houses in rural communities is not for a public purpose;" and "that said project does not provide for the clearance of slums except by the agreement of the farmer that he will demolish *680
a substandard house located on his farm, and does not constitute a clearance of slums within the meaning of the housing-authorities law, as amended." We find in none of the resolutions adopted by the Authority, and set forth in or attached to the petition, any declared purpose to demolish a house merely because it is substandard, or any agreement with a farmer that he will do so. Whether a house that is merely substandard, and not otherwise objectionable, could in any event be treated as a slum or a slum unit, the petition properly construed does not show that the houses involved in this project were not otherwise or additionally of such character as to be classed as a slum or slum district, in that by reason of "dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities, or any combination of these factors, [they] are detrimental to safety, health, and morals." The most that can be said of the complainant's contention, as found in the allegations of his petition, is that he takes the position that as a matter of law under our statute there can be no such thing as a slum area in a rural community. To this we can not agree. The facts in Williamson v. HousingAuthority of Augusta,
Our conclusion is that it is nowhere alleged that defendant is proceeding or about to proceed in any manner other than as it is authorized to do under the terms of the acts hereinbefore referred to; and that the action was properly dismissed on demurrer.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. *681