This appeal is from a judgment in favor of Peter J. Celander and Felix A. Kirby in a suit brought by the city of Kewanee against the defendants to recover a penalty for erecting and maintaining a garage without a permit, in violation of an ordinance. A trial was had, and at the conclusion of the evidence the court instructed the jury to *Page 477 find defendants not guilty, and upon a verdict so returned rendered judgment. The trial judge made the certificate required by the statute, and the city appealed directly to this court.
The city council of Kewanee in 1919 adopted an ordinance of two sections, entitled, "Public garage, livery, blacksmith shops, etc.," of the revised ordinances of the city of Kewanee, which was published in a book of ordinances of the city. Section 1 required anyone desiring to build a public garage in any block in the city, in which block a majority in area of the land therein is occupied for residence purposes, to first obtain the written consent of the owners of a majority of land in the block. The section contained a proviso that the ordinance should not apply to a garage and other buildings named, "already erected and conducted as such before the passage of this ordinance." The second section provided penalties for its violation.
Ordinances containing a provision similar to the proviso of section 1 referred to have been held invalid. (City of Chicago
v. Rumpff,
This is not like the case of an ordinance containing several sections or provisos and one of the provisos is invalid and unenforcible. The other sections or provisos may be enforced if it was the apparent intention of the legislature to enact them and the valid provisos are not dependent upon the invalid. (State v. Kantler, 21 N.W. (Minn.) 856; Johnson v. People,
For the reason that the amendment referred to did not render the void ordinance valid, the judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
