Opinion

Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego

  • 26 Cal. 3d 848
  • 164 Cal. Rptr. 510
  • 610 P.2d 407
  • 10 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20862
  • 14 ERC (BNA) 1865
Court
California Supreme Court
Filed
Apr 14, 1980
Status
Published
Author
Richardson
On the bench
Tobriner, Richardson, Clark
Cited by
95 cases
Authority
More cited than 5.8%

Reversed on other grounds by Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 453 U.S. 490 (1981)

The opinion

RICHARDSON, J.

I concur in the judgment. I share some of the substantial doubts raised by the dissent of Justice Clark, who discerns serious constitutional difficulties with any governmental scheme calling for the total prohibition of any legitimate business enterprise. Nonetheless, I am persuaded by the majority’s analysis that the present ban on off-site billboards meets the minimum constitutional standards established by the United States Supreme Court and that, accordingly, the challenged ordinance must be upheld.

The high court has recently dismissed for want of a substantial federal question an appeal which raised identical issues. In Suffolk Outdoor Adv. v. Hulse (1977) 43 N.Y,2d 483 [ 402 N.Y.S.2d 368 , 373 N.E.2d 263 ], the New York Court of Appeals upheld a local ordinance totally banning all off-site billboards as a rational method of improving community aesthetics. The majority herein correctly observes that the subsequent dismissal of the appeal to the United States Supreme Court must be regarded as a dispositive decision on the merits. (Hicks v. Miranda (1975) 422 U.S. 332, 343-344 [ 45 L.Ed.2d 223, 235-236 , 95 S.Ct. 2281 ].) No convincing basis appears for distinguishing Suffolk. Accordingly, I agree with the judgment of reversal.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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