Jones v. City of Long Beach

VALLÉE, J. Appeal by plaintiffs from a judgment which denied their petition for mandate to command defendants to terminate proceedings for annexation of territory described as “Increment 117” to the city of Long Beach.

Territory, which we call Parcels one and two for convenience, is entirely surrounded by the city of Long Beach, consisting largely of so-called “shoestring strips.” A narrow strip, part of Long Beach, separates Parcels one and two except for a distance of about half a mile where they are contiguous. Parcels one and two, with the exception of Increment 117, are inhabited. They are unincorporated. [611]Increment 117 is an area consisting of parts of Parcels one and two. It is small in area compared with the combined area of Parcels one and two. It is uninhabited.' It is owned jointly by Douglas Aircraft Company and the United States. It is bounded on the north and west by Parcel one, on the south partly by Long Beach and partly by Parcel two, and on the east by Long Beach. The following very rough diagram will assist in understanding the areas involved:

This action was commenced after proceedings had been duly and regularly had for the annexation of Increment 117 to Long Beach to the point where the city council of Long Beach had a first reading of an ordinance annexing Increment 117. The annexation proceedings were had under the “Annexation of Uninhabited Territory Act of 1939.” (Gov. Code, § 35300 et seq.)

The theory of plaintiffs is that annexation of Increment 117 to Long Beach would cause Parcels one and two to be completely surrounded by Long Beach contrary to section 35326 of the Government Code.

The court found that annexation of Increment 117 will not result in unincorporated territory being completely surrounded by Long Beach for the reason that all of such [612]unincorporated territory is, and was long prior to the institution of this proceeding, completely surrounded by Long Beach.

Section 35326 of the Government Code reads: ‘ ‘ Territory shall not be annexed to a city pursuant to this article if, as a result of such annexation, unincorporated territory is completely surrounded by such city.” The article referred to is the “Annexation of Uninhabited Territory Act of 1939.” Section 35326 was added in 1951. (Stats. 1951, ch. 1702, §6.)