Skalko

The appellant, as owner of real property in the city of Sunnyvale, sought a declaratory judgment that a zoning ordinance restricting the use of his property is void as to him. Ruling adversely to his contentions, the trial court decided in favor of the city.

There is little dispute concerning the facts. It appears that by the challenged enactment, property within the city of Sunnyvale has been placed in either a residential, commercial or industrial zone. The appellant’s land is in a residential district, but its north line is also the boundary between that district and an industrial district. A cannery, said to be the largest in the world, employing about 3,000 workers during six months of the year and many hundreds for an additional three months, is located about 100 feet from the appellant’s property. This cannery works night and day, with three shifts of employees.

At one side of the appellant’s property but upon the land of the cannery are a warehouse and some huge piles of empty boxes. In front of the property there are also four piles of these boxes, each about a city block in length and apparently more than twenty feet high. During most of the year boxes are being placed…