A Fire Hazard Ordinance Held by Its Terms to Be Unreasonable and Void An ordinance of the city of Sidney, Mont., was declared to be unconstitutional for unreasonableness in the case of Bettey vs. City of Sidney, 257 Pacific Reporter, 1007. In the course of its opinion the Court said: "The cases hold without exception, so far as we are aware, that minor repairs upon wooden buildings cannot be prohibited. As to major repairs, those which amount to a large percentage of the value of the buildings, the authorities are not altogether in harmony. "A distinction is made between repairs upon buildings lawfully erected before inclusion within the fire limits and those created thereafter. Those who erect buildings within a fire district must be held to have done so in contemplation of ordinances governing the same. "But even as to buildings lawfully erected and existing when included within the fire limits, it may not be doubted that cities may exercise a reasonable control over the making of repairs, and may prevent repairs which will increase fire hazards or create nuisances. But an ordinance which arbitrarily deprives the city council of the right to exercise its discretion in granting the owner of the building the right to repair if it has been T damaged to exceed a certain percentage of its value, unless the loss is so great as to require a practical reconstruction of the building, is not reasonable. The municipality may require the property owner to obtain a permit before proceeding with his repairs. It may prescribe reasonable regulations as to how the repairs shall be made and within reasonable limitations the character of the material which shall be used. It may fix a point at which the council in its discretion may reasonably refuse to grant a permit for the repair. But it is a fallacious notion that a building, not so seriously damaged that its repair will entail practical reconstruction, may be doomed to go to rack and ruin, thus becoming a nuisance. "The ordinance at bar does not base its percentage upon the true value of the building but upon its value 'according to the last assessment roll of the county of Richmond.' That an assessment roll is not a true criterion of value everybody knows. In this case it is admitted that the actual value of the property is $4,200, while the assessed value is $1,800. This ordinance arbitrarily denies to the city council the right to exercise its discretion in the matter of issuing a permit where the damage is 35 per cent of the assessed value. Clearly the ordinance upon this feature is arbitrary and unreasonable." The Municipal Bond Market By Sanders Shanks, Jr. Editor, The Bond Buyer HE fact that one-half of the issues listed in the appended tabulation were sold at prices which bring the net interest cost of the loans down to less than 4 per cent, illustrates nicely the steady advance in the market value of municipal loans. With the exception of the U. S. Government, no other class of borrower is in a position to obtain such cheap accommodation in the money market as the American state or city. The trend of bond prices is, at all times, of interest to the officers of a municipality contemplating the issuance of additional bonds. At this time, in view of the substantial advance recently made in bond values, the city treasurer or comptroller is tempted to market his authorized bond issue, whether the funds are actually needed or not, in order to take advantage of comparatively attractive bond prices. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the advance is complete. In fact, it is the consensus of opinion among investment banking experts that a further fall in interest rates, which means a rise in bond prices, is inevitable in view of the great plethora of money and the inadequacy of available investment opportunities. When it is realized that high-grade railroad bonds are selling on a 4 per cent interest basis, that the best public utility loans yield the investor less than 41⁄2 per cent, that the U. S. Government's credit is now on a 34 per cent basis, it is apparent that high-grade state and municipal loans are, if anything, selling at less than their intrinsic worth. Were it not for the fact that there is a huge and continuous supply of new municipals coming on the market, whereas the supply of Government and first-grade railroad bonds is actually being re Zoning Notes Prepared by Frank B. Williams Author of "The Law of City Planning and Zoning" From data collected by the Zoning Committee of New York (233 Broadway) Recent Zoning Ordinances MERIDEN, CONN.-October 3, 1927. Recent Zoning Decisions ILLINOIS.-Minkus v. Pond, 158 N. E. Rep. 121. An amendment of a zoning ordinance expanding a single-family residential district so as to include certain vacant territory, is not an unfair or unreasonable exercise of the city council's discretion. It is primarily the province of the municipal body to which the zoning function is committed, to draw the line of demarkation as to use and purpose to which property shall be put, and it is neither the province nor the duty of the courts to interfere with such body's discretion, in the absence of clear showing of abuse. Where it is fairly debatable whether the city zoning ordinance was reasonable, the court will not substitute its judgment for that of the city council. NEW JERSEY.-Karke Realty Associates v. The Mayor, etc., of Jersey City, 5 N. J. Advance Rep. 1512. Appeal from Supreme Court to Court of Errors and Appeals. Commissioners of the city for a permit allowing The plaintiff applied to the the erection of a building of stores with apartments above them. The application was denied on the ground that it was contrary to the zoning ordinance of the city to grant it. The plaintiff applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of peremptory mandamus for the granting of the permit, and obtained judgment therefor, on the authority of the Nutley case. The ordinance was passed prior to the passage of the zoning amendment to the state constitution. The Court of Errors and Appeals sustained the judgment of the lower court. In accord; Township of Maplewood v. Margolis, 5 N. J. Advance Rep. 1495; Margolis v. Township of Maplewood, ib. p. 1530; Robert Realty Co. v. City of Orange, ib. p. 1514. NEW JERSEY.-State ex rel. Savitz-Denbigh Co. v. Bigelow, 5 N. J. Advance Rep. 533. A zoning ordinance forbidding the erection of motor-vehicle service stations within a specified distance of a public school, church, etc., is valid. The distance is to be measured from the nearest part of the school, etc., and not from that of the lot upon which it is situated. NEW YORK.-Matter of Calton Court, Inc., v. Switzer, 221 App. Div. 799. Appeal from a peremptory mandamus order directing the building inspector of the city of New Rochelle to issue a permit for the erection of an apartment house in accordance with plans duly filed. The neglect or refusal of the inspector to act was for the purpose of enabling the Common council of the city to change the zoning ordinance so as to prohibit the erection of the apartment house on the lot in question; and such change was made. Held that the order of mandamus be affirmed. NEW YORK.-Matter of Oppenheimer v. Kraus, 221 App. Div. 773. The prohibition in a zoning ordinance of any structure to be used for business unless it "has a frontage of at least 20 feet and a depth of at least 50 feet, and if the structure consists of only a ground floor then and in that event the ceiling must be at least 10 feet in height from the floor and the cornice must be at least 16 feet from the pavement," is arbitrary and unreasonable. It does not serve a purpose either useful or esthetic, nor does it in any way promote the public health or safety or the general prosperity. NEW YORK.-Matter of Pelham View Apartments, Inc., v. Switzer, 130 Misc. 545. The petitioner, relying in good faith upon a permit duly issued, purchased the real property in question, paying a substantial sum down, employed an architect who prepared and filed the plans, paid additional sums on account of the purchase price, took title, executed a purchase-money bond and mortgage, had the land surveyed, and excavated the cellar at an expense of approximately $1,000. Thereafter the zoning ordinance of the city was amended and for that reason the permit was revoked. Held that it was beyond the power of the Common Council to amend the zoning ordinance so as to invalidate and of the inspector to revoke the permit, the petitioner having vested property rights protected by the federal and state constitutions. NOTE BY EDITOR.-The cases have not heretofore gone so far as to hold that there is in such cases a vested property right against the exercise of the police power, although they do decide that a permit cannot be validly revoked. The California Planning Act of 1927 is a notable achievement, made generally useful by its issue in book form with helpful notes and references by Charles Henry Cheney, Secretary of the California Conference and member of the American City Planning Institute. Our readers will remember that recently the Depart ment of Commerce at Washington prepared a Standard City Planning Act intended to embody the best thought of the country on the appointment and duties of planning commissions, the preparation and adoption of official city and regional plans, and platting. In using this act as a model, California has given this country an example of its wisdom. state will have an excuse for crude legislation on this In the future no subject. The California law does not follow the Standard Act slavishly. On some adopted methods of its own. doubtful points it has it has followed the recent legislation in New York, In some respects also prepared with the assistance of the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs. On these and other points there will, of course, be differences of opinion. Only experience and the interpretation which the courts give to laws on this subject in this country, can enable us to tell which of these laws is the wisest; and they will doubtless lead us to try means of accomplishing our ends, not yet formulated. This is all as it should be. And in the progress which is coming so rapidly in this branch of the law the California statute is a most important one. 67 pp. $1.50. (Apply to Mr. Cheney, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) Municipal and Civic Publications Prices do not include postage unless so stated Principles of Real Estate Appraising.-By John A. Zangerle. The Stanley McMichael Publishing Organization, Cleveland, Ohio. Second edition, 1927. $5.00. 443 pp. Mr. Zangerle has achieved a nation-wide reputation in real-estate appraising during his long experience in Cleveland as auditor and assessor for Cuyahoga County, and his book is a recognized authority. enlarged and revised edition. This is an entitled Unscientific Bond Issue Appraisals," "Legal Three new chapters, Decisions Regarding Appraisals," and "Sensing the Market,' have been added, and the length of treatment of the following subjects has been increased: plottage value; effect of auto transportation; store rental capitalization; corner lots; rate of capitalization; rent in relation to gross sales; effect of re-appraisal leases on land values; the capitalization of 99-year lease rentals; depreciation and appreciation. Public Welfare Administration in the United States. -By Sophonisba P. Breckenridge, Professor of Social Economy, University of Chicago. of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. The University pp. $4.50. XXIII + 786 1927. This is a collection of select documents, grouped in three chronological periods: prior to 1863, when the first board of state charities was 1917, when the first state department of public welcreated; 1863 to fare was established; and from 1917 to 1927. are also broadly grouped according to briefer phases of They the public welfare movement and to some extent according to special problems and jurisdictions. welfare work in cities receives its chief treatment in Public a section of 46 pages entitled "The Central Authority and the City." The materials included illustrate the intricacies and difficulties of public welfare activity and organization, and, according to the author, indicate the great amount of work yet to be done before a really comprehensive treatise on prepared. the subject can Some papers, addresses and articles from be periodicals are included, but the bulk of the contents consists of official documents. been tested for the past five years in the Graduate The materials have School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago. Reports of the Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research. A list of the reports, memoranda, and publications of this Bureau, from March 22, 1916, to September 30, 1927, constituting the October 15, 1927, number of Public Business. pages, is arranged by topics. (Apply to the Bureau, The list, which covers 12 51 Warren Avenue West, Detroit, Mich.) "Where Play?"-A 4-page folder of the Department of Playground and Recreation of Los Angeles, Calif., describing the various means of recreation available in or about that city after working hours. (Apply to the Department.) Public Library Branches in Public School Buildings. -A 46-page mimeographed booklet of the Education Committee of the City Club of Chicago, favoring the utilization of appropriate public-school buildings for public-library branches to serve both school and community. Nation-wide data and statements of experts are given. (Apply to the Committee, Plymouth Court. Chicago, Ill.) Smoke Abatement Methods used in Cleveland.-An article by Elliott R. Whitlock, Commissioner of Smoke Inspection, Cleveland, Ohio, in the October number of Mechanical Engineering. Several charts and other illus trations are given. Mechanical Engineering, 29 5 pages. 60 cents. (Apply to York.) West 39th Street, New School Fires.-The October, 1927, Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association devotes 49 pages to this subject, describing six famous school fires where 353 deaths occurred, and giving data on loss of life and other elements in the record of school fires. (Apply to the Association, 40 Central Street, Boston, Mass,) The Microscopy of Drinking Water.-By George Chandler Whipple, late Professor of Sanitary Engineering, Harvard University; revised by Gordon M. Fair, Assistant Professor of Sanitary Engineering, and Melville C. Whipple, Assistant Professor of Sanitary Chemistry, at Harvard University. Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. Illustrated. $7.00. Fourth Edition. John 1927. XIX + 586 pp. The first two editions of this invaluable volume were welcomed by the water-works fraternity. edition, with its complete revision and the addition The third of color plates and of considerable material on the study of lakes, completely overshadowed the two earlier editions. The fourth edition, just published, with the revisions by those carrying on George Chandler Whipple in the Department of Sanithe work of the late tary Engineering at Harvard University, perpetuates the admirable work begun by that noted biologist and teacher. The volume is intended not only as a textbook, but as a reference book for the water analyst and the water-works operator, and field in a most thorough manner. covers the entire need for microscopic examination of water, careful atAfter showing the tention is given to types and sources of microscopic organisms, the equipment for the collection and examination of samples of water, from the microscopic standpoint, and a discussion of odors and tastes in watersupplies as caused by algae. devoted to the method of recording results of examinaAn entire chapter is tions and analysing these results. limnology or the study of lakes, to which it was ProThe science of fessor Whipple's ambition to devote an entire volume, is given admirable treatment in a series of chapters that show the effect of heat, wind and light on growths of plankton in lake waters and trace the food supply and results of plankton growth. devoted to the storage of water and the self-purification Other chapters are of streams. Methods of controlling algae by prevention of growth and destruction of growth, and the purification of water containing algae, are well worth close study by water-works operators. are devoted to the classification of microscopic organSeventeen chapters isms and specific groups of organisms. of the volume are 19 colored plates of inestimable value At the back in identifying the common and some of the less frequently seen organisms. copies of the earlier editions of this book will undoubtThose who have possessed edly wish to own the revised fourth edition, and those who have recently entered the field cannot do without it. Quality of the Surface Waters of New Jersey.-Water Regulating the Sale of Cigarettes to Minors.-3 type- Traffic Regulation and General Cooperation between Municipally Owned Passenger Automobiles.-A report of the Finance Commission to the Mayor and City Council of Boston, Mass., which criticizes as wasteful the policy of operating municipally owned passenger automobiles. 12 mimeographed pages. (Apply to Finance Commission, 11 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.) |