32 A.2d 881 | Pa. | 1943
Four bills in equity were filed and the issues raised were tried together in the court below. They were so considered here on argument and, as they all involve the same fundamental questions, the appeals will be disposed of in one opinion. Plaintiffs sought to enjoin defendant from putting into operation an ordinance providing for the installation of parking meters in a congested section of the city of Easton, and asked for the removal of such meters if they were installed before the *544 entry of the decree sought. Three of the bills were brought by owners of property abutting on streets in the meter zone and the fourth was a taxpayer's bill. The chancellor, affirmed by the court below, dismissed the bills. We agree with that conclusion.
The ordinance is attacked generally as being in violation of abutting owners' constitutional rights of property and as a deprivation of legal rights of plaintiffs and of all those entitled to use the public highways of the Commonwealth. Complaint is also made to its particular terms which are alleged to be illegal even if a proper parking meter ordinance could be enacted.
This is the first time that the legality of a parking meter ordinance, now so generally used, has been before this court,1 but the underlying principles are fairly well settled in this jurisdiction. The ordinance by its preamble declared that in certain sections of the city the free movement of traffic had been impeded for a long period, that attempts to regulate it were not successful, that the existing conditions were a menace to life, limb and property, and that in the opinion of the council the best method to correct these conditions was to designate individual parking spaces in the congested area for parking purposes "for reasonable intervals of time" and to require the users of such space to pay "a portion of the cost of establishing and maintaining the same". The ordinance then provided for the installation of registering meters and a charge of one cent for twelve minutes and five cents for one hour. It did not permit parking for more than one hour in the designated area. Parking space was to be free "for loading and unloading purposes", and free parking was permitted on holidays and after business hours. Penalties were provided for violation of the terms of the ordinance.
It is first contended that an abutting property owner ordinarily has title to the fee to the center of the highway *545 subject to the public easement and that, therefore, the right of way may only be employed by the state for the purposes for which it was taken, and that, specifically, each property owner and his business and social guests have the right to park their motor vehicles on the streets in front of such property for a reasonable time free of any charge.
When land is taken for use as a highway the owner does not surrender his entire title to the land so taken but reserves rights above, below and on the surface that do not interfere with the use of such land for highway purposes: Cain v.Aspinwall-Delafield Co.,
In a congested district there is bound to be an interference between the rights of those who are lawfully *546 using the public highways and abutting owners just as there are between different travellers and between different abutting owners. It is due to these impacts that the state under its police power may regulate the use of highways in the interest of the whole public in so far as such regulations are not unreasonable or oppressive.
The advent of the automobile with its element of speed has added to the difficulties that are met in any attempt to maintain an orderly movement of traffic. The remarks of Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS are peculiarly applicable where he said inFrost v. R. R. Comm.,
The first question that arises in solving the issue raised here is whether parking a motor vehicle on a public street is within the purposes of the public easement. Highways are primarily for travel. As Lord ELLEN-BOROUGH said in an early case, Rex v. Cross, 3 Camp. 224, 227: "No one can make a stable-yard of the King's highway." To paraphrase that statement as applied to the present day: "No one may make a public garage of a public highway." That, however, is not the situation here for today temporary and reasonable stops of motor cars are lawful incidents of travel. It would unduly interfere with convenient travel by motor car if one could not stop for a short interval for the accomplishment of the purpose or purposes of the trip. "Doubtless temporary and reasonable stops of automobiles on highways are lawful as an incident to travel": In re Opinion of the Justices,
The declared purpose of this act is not to promote parking but to limit parking in the interest of all travellers on the public highways. The recital of the purpose in the ordinance is not to be lightly set aside and must be treated as conclusive of the existence of the facts recited in the absence of strong evidence to the contrary: In re Beechwood Ave.,
The state has delegated to municipalities its police power in such matters, which it has a right to do.2 By § 1103 of the Vehicle Code of May 1, 1929, P. L. 905 (75 Pa.C.S.A. § 663) it is provided that "local authorities shall have power to provide by ordinance for the regulation of traffic by means of peace officers or official traffic signals on any portion of the highway where traffic is *548 heavy or continuous, and may regulate or prohibit parking,stopping or loading of vehicles." [Italics supplied.] Section 2403 of the Third Class City Law of June 23, 1931, P. L. 932 (53 PS 12198-2403 (17)) is sufficient authority for the placing of the parking meters on the sidewalks or curbs.
"If anything can be considered as settled under the decisions of our Pennsylvania courts it is that municipalities under the guise of a police regulation cannot impose a revenue tax":Kittanning Boro. v. American Nat. Gas Co.,
We do not deem the charge imposed by this ordinance to be in conflict with § 723 of the Vehicle Code (75 Pa.C.S.A. § 332).3 The legislature by this section intended to prevent the imposition of taxes by municipal subdivisions for the general operation of motor vehicles. The fee charged here is not primarily for the operation of the vehicles but only as an aid to the enforcement of the time limit on parking. We find no interference between the ordinance and the statute.
The appellants further argue that the actual receipts arising from this ordinance are so far in excess of its own budgetary estimates of expenses as to compel the inference that the ordinance is strictly a revenue measure and therefore unlawful. "It is incumbent on the party who alleges the invalidity of an ordinance upon the ground of unreasonableness to aver and prove the facts that make it so: Kittanning Boro. v. Nat. Gas Co.,
In matters of this character municipalities must be given reasonable latitude in fixing charges to cover anticipated expenses to be incurred. All doubt should be resolved in favor of the fairness of the charge: Kittanning Boro. v. AmericanNat. Gas Co., supra, p. 215. At the same time the municipality must keep in mind at all times that it may not employ this device to raise general revenue under the guise of a police regulation. The appellants so far have failed to show that the municipality has done so.
We find no merit in assignments of error 26 to 29 inclusive. The gist of the complaints is the weight given to the conclusion of Professor Frank R. Hunt called as an expert. It is sufficient to say that the profit made in other cities was not shown to involve the same conditions as existed in Easton and was of no guide in determining the immediate question. Such expenditures are bound to vary with the size of the municipality, extent of traffic, congestion of a district and similar matters. None of the matters complained of in these assignments of error would have had any effect upon the result.
The decree entered in each of the four appeals is affirmed at the cost of the respective appellants.