Costello

This is an appeal from a judgment holding void the assessments on three pieces of property within an assessment district created by the City of Los Angeles under the Street Improvement Act of 1911 (Sts. & Hy. Code, §§ 5000-6794).

I

On the merits, the case involves the question of whether the method used to spread the assessments for a work of street improvement resulted in an over-assessment of the three lots herein involved. The trial court held that it did; we agree.

On October 10, 1967, the Los Angeles City Council adopted an ordinance providing for the improvement of Aqua Vista Avenue, in that city, between Fair Avenue and Vineland Avenue “in accordance with the Improvement Act of 1911.” The work involved the widening of Aqua Vista Avenue to a uniform width of 46 feet. The total cost of the improvement was $49,554.53. All of the property within the assessment district was zoned for multiple residential housing. The properties lying on the north side of Aqua Vista Avenue are relatively short, running from 132 to 232 feet in depth. The lots on the south side of the street are substantially longer, running from the street back to a curving flood control channel; those…