Miller v. City of Bakersfield

Plaintiff Milton Miller, individually and as trustee of the Hotel Padre Trust, appeals from a judgment entered pursuant to an order sustaining demurrer without leave to amend. The demurrer alleged that the judgment in a prior action, City of Bakersfield v. Miller, 64 Cal.2d 93 [ 48 Cal.Rptr. 889 , 410 P.2d 393 ], is res judicata. This action and the prior action arose out of the enforcement by the city of building code provisions enacted long after the construction of appellant’s building. The facts surrounding the transaction are fully set forth in the Supreme Court opinion, at page 96 et seq. Insofar as the matter before us is concerned, the pertinent fact is that at the time appellant answered and filed a cross-complaint in the city’s action against him, he also filed this separate action against the city and certain city officials for damages alleged to have been suffered by reason of enforcement of the Uniform Building Code adopted by the City of Bakersfield.

Appellant’s charging allegations all rest on the premise that application of building code requirements to buildings constructed prior to the adoption of the code is unconstitutional. Upon this basis he alleges that the…