Los Angeles Country Club v. Board of Public Service Commissioners

This is an appeal by defendants from a judgment in favor of plaintiff after a hearing upon an agreed statement of facts, and involves the determination of the water rate properly chargeble by the city of Los Angeles' for a combined irrigating and domestic service under city ordinance No. 40,342, new series, adopted May 28, 1920. By section 3 of the ordinance a rate is named for combined irrigating and domestic service; and plaintiff insists that it is entitled to the benefit of that rate. Defendants contend, on the other hand, that the rates specified in section 3 for water used in irrigating are available only to those consumers who use the water in the production of agricultural, horticultural, or floricultura! crops grown for commercial purposes. So construing the section, defendants imposed on plaintiff the rate specified in section 2 of the ordinance, governing what is called commercial or domestic service, which is a higher rate than that fixed in section 3. In opposition to the defendants, plaintiff takes the position, first, that the benefit of the rate for a combined irrigating and domestic service is not dependent on the production of crops for commercial purposes; and,…