People Ex Rel. Department of Transportation v. Outdoor Media Group

*1073 Opinion

Outdoor Media Group (OMG) appeals from a judgment following the grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of the People of the State of California, acting by and through the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on Caltrans’s complaint for a permanent injunction. OMG also appeals from the dismissal of its cross-complaint.

Facts

In May 1988, OMG applied to Caltrans for permits to erect two billboards within 500 feet of the interchange of 1-15 and 1-215 in Murrieta, an unincorporated area of Riverside County. OMG submitted its applications under the California Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code 1 , § 5200 et seq.) (the Act). Caltrans determined that the area where OMG sought to erect the billboards was outside an incorporated city and not in an urban area. Caltrans therefore refused to issue the permits on the ground the proposed billboards violated section 5408, subdivision (d). 2 OMG nonetheless erected the billboards without permits at such location.

Caltrans issued citations for the billboards in November 1988. When OMG failed to remove the billboards, Caltrans filed a complaint seeking an injunction to compel the removal of the billboards.…

With one exception I agree with the majority’s discussion and I concur completely in the disposition. I do disagree, however, with the majority’s procedural analysis in arriving at its conclusion that the trial court erred in dismissing Outdoor Media Group’s (OMG) cross-complaint. The majority first states that the law provides that a defendant’s summary judgment motion necessarily includes a test of the sufficiency of the complaint and, under certain circumstances, it therefore may be treated as a motion for judgment on the pleadings. I agree with this statement. But the majority then boldly states there is no reason why the same “standard” should not apply to a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on its complaint when a cross-complaint has been filed, i.e., a plaintiff’s summary judgment motion may be construed as a motion for a judgment on the pleadings as to any cross-complaint naming plaintiff as cross-defendant. It then proceeds to construe respondent’s motion for summary judgment on the complaint for injunctive relief to also be a motion for judgment on the pleadings as to OMG’s cross-complaint for mandamus, and determines that the cross-complaint does state such a…

DABNEY, Acting P.J.

Outdoor Media Group (OMG) appeals from a judgment following the grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of the People of the State of California, acting by and through the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on Caltrans's complaint for a permanent injunction. OMG also appeals from the dismissal of its cross-complaint.

In May 1988, OMG applied to Caltrans for permits to erect two billboards within 500 feet of the interchange of I-15 and I-215 in Murrieta, an unincorporated area of Riverside County. OMG submitted its applications under the California Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code [1] , § 5200 et seq.) (the Act). Caltrans determined that the area where OMG sought to erect the billboards was outside an incorporated city and not in an urban area. Caltrans therefore refused to issue the permits on the ground the proposed billboards violated section 5408, subdivision (d). [2] OMG nonetheless erected the billboards without permits at such location.

Caltrans issued citations for the billboards in November 1988. When OMG failed to remove the billboards, Caltrans filed a complaint seeking an injunction to compel the removal of the…