Stevenson v. City of Downey

FILES, J.

This case involves the. effect of a landowner’s abandonment of certain rights of access to an abutting street, and the legality of a subsequent resolution of the city council authorizing the opening of a new entrance to the property. The trial court upheld both the abandonment and the resolution opening a new entrance.

Plaintiff, a nearby resident, appeals because, he says, the city should not have allowed a new entrance. Intervener, as tenant of the property, appeals because, he says, the owner’s abandonment of access rights was invalid.

The ease was tried on stipulated facts plus exhibits, and the appeal comes here on an agreed statement.

The land in question was, prior to January 1, 1953, in unincorporated territory and owned in fee by Mrs. Jenison. On that date the owner leased to Lansdale for 99 years. On March 12,1953, Lansdale petitioned the county planning commission for rezoning. This application remained pending until July 5, 1955, when a county ordinance was adopted granting a change to C-4 and P on certain conditions regarding access rights.

On November 1, 1954, at the request of Lansdale, Mrs. Jenison executed, as a part of a tract map, a certificate which read in part as follows: “As a dedication to public use . . . we hereby abandon all easements of vehicular ingress and egress to the said Woodruff Avenue, except the three private access strips as shown on this map ... so that, owners of lots

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abutting these highways during such time will have no rights of vehicular access whatever in the highway as such, except the general easement of travel which belongs to the whole public____”

On January 25, 1955, the board of supervisors of the county accepted this offer of dedication, and on January 26 the map and certificate were recorded in the office of the county recorder.

On February 1, 1955, Lansdale assigned his lease to the intervener Stonewood, a partnership in which Lansdale was one of the partners. The lease was recorded May 12, 1955.

On June 7, 1955, with the full and prior knowledge of ■Stonewood, Mrs. Jenison executed an instrument whereby she relinquished to the county one of the three private access rights to Woodruff Avenue. To this instrument was attached a formal acceptance on behalf of the county, and the whole was recorded in the office of the county recorder on July 5, 1955. This was done to conform to the conditions of the ordinance which was adopted on July 5 changing the zoning.