Wheatley v. Superior Court

LANGDON, J.

This matter comes to us upon a petition for a writ of review to determine the legality of the findings and judgment and other proceedings leading up to the formation of the proposed Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, which matter has been determined by the defendant Superior Court contrary to the contentions of petitioner.

Petitioner is a resident, freeholder, taxpayer and elector of the county of Napa, California, and as such filed a protest against the formation of the proposed Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District and the inclusion of his lands within said district.

The proceedings under attack here were had under the authority of an act of the legislature passed in 1923 and entitled: “An Act to provide for the incorporation and organization and management of bridge and highway districts and to provide for the acquisition and construction by said districts of bridges and approaches thereto, and for the acquisition of all property necessary therefor, and also to provide for the issuance and payment of bonds by said districts, for the levying of taxes and the collection of tolls by said districts and for the annexation of additional territory thereto.” (Stats. 1923, p. 452.)

In 1925 said act was amended so as to provide for the acquisition and construction of highways by the corporation to be formed under the act and in other particulars hereinafter mentioned. (Stats. 1925, p. 714.)

After the passage of the act of 1923, the proceedings herein discussed were instituted in an attempt to form a bridge and highway district. A voluntary organization sent a written application to the boards of supervisors of the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Marin and the city and county of San Francisco, to pass a uniform ordinance, therewith submitted. The uniform ordinance provided that the county therein named desired to join with the others above mentioned in forming a bridge and highway district to embrace contiguous territory under .the provisions of chapter 228, page 452, of the Statutes of

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1923; it directed that a petition be circulated in the county in accordance with the provisions of said act and that the ordinance should be published in a manner prescribed. This uniform ordinance was passed by six only of the counties mentioned, to wit: Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, Napa, Del Norte and the city and county of San Francisco. Petitionto the Secretary of State were circulated accordingly and signed by ten per centum of the number of qualified electors of each county from which the petitions were presented who voted for Governor of the state at the last general election. The counties of Humboldt and Lake refused to act upon the application and no such ordinance was passed by them nor petition circulated. After the passage of these ordinances and the signing of the petitions the legislature amended the act governing the formation of bridge and highway districts at its session in 1925 in the particular hereinbefore stated and in other particulars with reference to the representation allowed to the various counties forming the district, and also with reference to the necessity for the district being formed from contiguous territory and in some other particulars not important to be mentioned here.