White

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment denying them declaratory and injunctive relief against special assessments levied by defendant San Diego County to help pay the cost of widening and improving Mission Gorge Road, a major thoroughfare adjacent to the assessed parcels. Plaintiffs contend (1) that the assessments were not justified by any special benefits to their property, and (2) that each parcel's assessment was not in proportion to that parcel's benefits.

As explained below, well-established rules answer the first contention. The second contention presents this issue, new in this court: When a right-of-way is obtained for street widening, is the requirement of proportionality necessarily violated by a policy that fixes the part of each assessment attributable to the cost of acquisition at an amount equal to what was paid for that segment of the right-of-way acquired from the assessed parcel when (1) no similar component is included in the assessment made against parcels from which other segments previously have been dedicated without compensation, and (2) the record and judicially noticed facts are consistent with a reasonable legislative conclusion that…

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment denying them declaratory and injunctive relief against special assessments levied by defendant San Diego County to help pay the cost of widening and improving Mission Gorge Road, a major thoroughfare adjacent to the assessed parcels. Plaintiffs contend (1) that the assessments were not justified by any special benefits to their property, and (2) that each parcel’s assessment was not in proportion to that parcel’s benefits.

As explained below, well-established rules answer the first contention. The second contention presents this issue, new in this court: When a right-of-way is obtained for street widening, is the requirement of proportionality necessarily violated by a policy that fixes the part of each assessment attributable to the cost of acquisition at an amount equal to what was paid for that segment of the right-of-way acquired from the assessed parcel when (1) no similar component is included in the assessment made against parcels from which other segments previously have been dedicated without compensation, and (2) the record and judicially *901 noticed facts are consistent with a reasonable legislative conclusion that each…

I dissent.

This matter is controlled by the venerable case of Spring Street Co. v. City of Los Angeles (1915) 170 Cal. 24 [ 148 P. 217 ], Indeed, the facts here are remarkably similar to those in Spring Street.

*910 In that case (1) the city adopted a scheme through which it attempted to recoup its costs of acquiring land for a street widening project by assessing the costs against the abutting property; (2) the city took the right-of-way through condemnation proceedings; (3) the city assessed the abutting property owners the same amount as was awarded for land taken in the condemnation proceedings.

In this case (1) the county, through Board Policy J-16, adopted a scheme by which it sought to recoup the costs of acquisition of the property for street widening by assessing the acquisition costs against the landowners; (2) the county took the right-of-way through settlement negotiations, under threat of condemnation, with the various landowners; (3) the county assessed the landowners the precise amount awarded to them for the right-of-way, thus effectively cancelling out all compensation paid for the taking of private property.

The law at the time of Spring Street, and the law…